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AUGUST 2011
THIS MONTH
Our last meeting was one of the most enjoyable I have experienced during my six years at the club, not only did we have an excellent turnout for the Tamiya competition but we held the auction that raised over £100 for Peggy Hurst from her late husband’s model collection. Steve did a great job not only as an auctioneer but for cataloguing the collection and liaising with Peggy – thanks mate. I hope not too many people got swept along with the occasion(like me) and arrived home thinking “what the hell have I just spent my cash on?” Of course the other enjoyable moment was my Spit winning the Tamiya competition – big smile!
The visit to Airfix is getting very close now, I have received the itinerary which is published within, it should be a great day out.
I have been contacted by John Tapsell of the IPMS who is after content for the IPMS magazine, there are a few articles that have appeared in this publication that are of interest to him, so not only will I be infinitely grateful for your contributions , there is a chance that they will reach a much greater readership.
Now to this months Romsey Modeller – Once again there us plenty to read, we have two Spitfire builds with the completion of my 1/32 Tamiya IX and Nigel documenting his BTK restoration. Gary contributes a piece on a Herculean diorama, Pat handles part 1 of his build of the new Airfix Hawk and Peter talks about his Tamiya P‐47. Russell and Paul hopefully have a items for those of you for whom aircraft is not your thang, though covering the build of his Ma.K Luna Pawn suit and reviewing Hasegawa’s Honda RS250RW respectively. We also have the Tamiya competition result ( did I mention I won!) while Nigel describes his visit to the War and Peace show.
That’s all…
Tony…
This is the newsletter of Romsey Modellers a group of plastic modellers based in Southern Hampshire. We cater for all modelling genres and skill levels from beginners to well seasoned gurus.
We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from 8pm to 10pm in Ampfield, Hampshire, where we often run workshops and club competitions but more importantly have a good chat about our hobby. We also attend most of the local model shows, where we exhibit our member’s completed projects.
We have an open door policy so if you want to sample how we can help you get more out of your hobby or just come and have a friendly discussion (tea and biscuits provided) please feel free to turn up – see the last page for details or visit our web site
www.romseymodellers.co.uk
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CONTENTS
August 2011 ............................................................................................................................................................ 2
This Month ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Contents ............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Club News ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 New kits on the block by Paul Adams ................................................................................................................ 7 Tamiya P47D Thunderbolt by Peter Lloyd ........................................................................................................ 10 War and Peace Show Visit 24.07.2011 by Nigel Robins ................................................................................... 10 Ma.K Luna Pawn suit part 2. By Russell Eden .................................................................................................. 12 Hawk 120D Airfix 1/72nd Scale by Pat Camp .................................................................................................... 15 SPITFIRE BTK (Part 2)by Nigel Robins ............................................................................................................... 18 Letterbox .......................................................................................................................................................... 20 C‐130 Maintenance – completely changing the Airfix kit by Gary Jarman. ..................................................... 22 Tamiya 1/32 Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXc Part 3 by Tony Adams .................................................................... 25 Club Diary ......................................................................................................................................................... 30 Contact Info ...................................................................................................................................................... 30
CLUB NEWS
TAMIYA COMPETITION
The July Tamiya competition saw our best entry list yet for a ‘Test Trout’ contest, with 22 entries from 15 members. Voting was tight once more, 26 votes were enough to secure Tony the 1st prize with his 1/32nd Spitfire. 4 points back, and a welcome 2nd place went to Malcolm, winning the ‘German halftrack competition’ for his 1/35th version and the top automotive and 3rd place entry fell to Richards excellent Lexus LFA, fending off Russell’s Itasha GTR. The inventive entry award of course
goes to Will Booth with his car park weathered RC Buggy!! Sorry Will, there is no prize for that one! Static models only next time please! Well done to the top three and a big thanks to all those who entered, it really did make for a superb competition night.
Mr Adams receives his prize from Mr Adams ( no relation )
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RESULTS FOR IPMS ROMSEY ‘TAMIYA’ COMPETITION JULY 2011
Entry No
Entrant Model Title 1st’s (3 pts)
2nd’s (2 pts)
3rd’s (1 pts)
Total points
Placing
1 Tony Adams Spitfire MKIXc IIIII IIII III 26 1ST
2 Will Booth 1981 Holiday Buggy
3 Dave Henwood Willys Jeep III 3 11TH
4 Dave Henwood British Utility Vehicle
5 Richard Stewart Lexus LFA II IIII IIII 18 3RD
6 Dale Koppi Calsonic Skyline II I 7 6TH
7 Russell Eden Itasha Ventross GTR I IIIII 13 4TH COMMENDED
8 Keith Farmer US Mortar Team
9 Sean Summers SDKFZ 251 III II 8 5TH
10 Sean Summers Sherman M4 I 1 13TH
11 Andrew Card Churchill Crocodile II I 7 6TH
12 Mark Metters Tiger
13 Mark Metters Panzer III
14 Russell Eden SDKFZ 251 I III 6 8TH
15 Dave O’Meara Kingtiger II 6 7TH
16 Malcolm Grant Halftrack 251/1 IIIIII I II 22 2ND
17 Melvyn Hunt Tiger 1 II I 5 9TH
18 Melvyn Hunt Sturmgeshutz II 4 10TH
19 Mark Metters T34
20 Mark Metters KV1
21 Duncan Dalton Kubelwagan I 2 12TH
22 Peter Lloyd Thunderbolt
PHOTOS BY KEITH HAWKINS
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HASEGAWA COMPETITION – MAY 2012
Start searching through your stash of models, for next years theme will be Hasegawa! First thing you’ll need to note is the contest will be held at the May 2012 meeting, as next year will see the return of the American competition which we hold in July to coincide with the Independence Day celebrations in the US. So, you have just 10 month’s to create your masterpiece based on or entirely from a Hasegawa kit. This manufacturer is of course another huge presence in the worldwide hobby‐kit market, and with somewhere in the region of
2000 kits available in various genres, I’m sure you can find something to suits your tastes and budget.
10 YEARS…10 MODELS…BY PAUL ADAMS
As part of our 10th Anniversary celebrations, this month I shall kick off the 10 years/10 models ‘mini show’ by bringing to the club 10 built models that will hopefully demonstrate an improvement in my modelling ability (you may disagree!!) since joining Romsey Modellers, just over 10 years ago. I have in fact found it challenging to decide upon that 10 and have changed the list several times! I’ve chosen a couple of old car models, some other early cars, a tank, some aircraft and some unfinished projects too. There’ll be a bike or two of course.
There are plenty of other members’s whose collection of built models easily exceeds 10, so let’s have some volunteers for the September and October meetings. You needn’t have been with the club 10 years, just display 10 models that you’ve built and put on your own show. If anyone needs a little help (ie, with labels etc), just ask.
BUILD A MODEL IN A DAY
On Saturday 3rd September we plan to hold our third build a model in a day event. I say plan, but at the time of writing we have still to receive confirmation that that Ampfield Village Hall is available. We will discuss this further on Wednesday and decide if the event will go ahead. Assuming for now that it will, I hope that as many members as possible will come along for what in previous years has been a very enjoyable event. We ask an entry fee of £3 to cover the cost of the hall and trophies for the competition. As usual you are welcome to build any model on the day; the only rule is that to enter it in the competition it must be un‐started at the beginning of the day. We will start at 9am and aim to start the judging at 4:30pm.
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NEW KITS ON THE BLOCK BY PAUL ADAMS
There’s no coincidence that I’ve chosen to review a couple of new bike offerings from Hasegawa this month….I promise!
Late last year Hasegawa released details of an all new race bike kit…something unexpected from them and in the subject matter too. In 2009, the two stroke 250cc era of grand prix racing was at an end, and Moto2 (4 stroke 600cc) beckoned for 2010. The last ever 250cc season then saw an epic battle between the works Aprilia (labelled Gilera) bike of Simoncelli and the ageing private Honda of Hiroshi Aoyama. The Scot Racing Team had persevered with the Honda which had seen little upgrades since 2006 and was someway behind the Gilera in terms of outright speed, but it handled better and was ideal for some of the smaller, twisty tracks. Aoyama rode the wheels off the bike all season, out‐riding and outwitting the better funded Gilera squad. Aoyama took four wins and the last ever 250cc crown much to the delight of the paddock and Honda!
Hasegawa’s release of this kit then was perfect for their home market ‐ Japanese bike, Japanese rider, last ever 250 title, etc…
From the initial test shot’s it was clear Hasegawa had done their home work – the model looks in proportion, very well detailed and with accurate markings. Whilst there isn’t much to a 250c race bike, there is plenty that can be left out, but they’ve gone further than Tamiya ever venture to….none of their 500cc two stroke bike kits have an
airbox….that’s no problem here, the bike can be displayed without the fuel tank on a still look accurate and detailed, a very good feature indeed. My main bugbear with Tamiya, Phillips headed screws, are also virtually non existent and the ones used to fasten the wheels are hidden by caps to
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replicate the large nuts. The steering is fastened this way too. Absent as well are screws to hold the engine in, provided in the kit, are plastic bolts. Tamiya take note! Hasegawa have included plenty of small detail with and ECU control box located in front of the clock‐pod…another area Tamiya skip over. Other small touches are accurately rendered footpegs, and a modern bike stand.
The kit comes in four sprues, moulded in light grey with an option to use a smoke finished clear fairing if you’d like to show off your detail painting. You get one too moulded in white for ease of painting. Markings are available for both Scot Racing riders, Aoyama and De Rosa and there’s even a number 1 to place on the bike for the end of season photo call. The after‐market has already responded with nice releases from Top Studio in the form of a full chain set and a machined set of fork sliders.
In its black, white and silver paint scheme the bike is very handsome and purposeful, and looks superb when built up.
Hasegawa have done a superb job on this kit...proportionally its spot on.
If I had any gripes about the kit, I’d only complain about the over‐scale tubing for wiring and the oh‐so slightly light carbon finish for the exhaust tip. These are both easily remedied by the modeller.
Hot on the heels of this release, Hasegawa (making the most of the moulds) issued the earlier 2007 RS250RW, (ridden by Shuhei Aoyama, Hiroshi’s brother!!) as a limited edition, resplendent in its iconic orange Repsol paint scheme. What’s more they have even managed to portray the scheme correctly, in that they have supplied fluorescent orange and red decals. For me this is a huge relief as I’ve witnessed so many Repsol scheme bike kits that have simply use the wrong orange and red, which is such a shame as some of them are Rossi bikes!! I’m now on the hunt for some extra decal sheets for my Rossi builds. The kit has some updates to retro fit the bike with earlier style parts including a shorter rear mudguard, and an addition to the tank for the shorter riders.
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Nice ref photo on the box Day-glo decals….Brilliant!!
So then, Hasegawa’s first race bike kit release ticks all of the boxes for me and I’m sure for many others. The 250cc bikes have largely been overlooked by the big manufacturers, with only the resin kit makers filling the gaps between this kit and the bikes from the early 1990’s that Tamiya did. So this is a much needed kit for those wishing to build something other than the predictable releases from Tamiya. I have yet to buy the Scot Racing version, but did get the limited edition Repsol kit a few weeks ago and I hope to get the chance to build it soon. I picked up my kit from HobbyLink Japan for £25.
AIRFIX VISIT PROGRAMME
I have now received the itinerary from Ryan Maxwell at Airfix which is as follows:
Date Thursday 22nd September
Venue: Hornby Hobbies, Margate , Kent CT9 4JX
11:00 Arrive at Hornby HQ ( Please use the main reception entrance at the front of the building, car parking spaces will be available.)
11:30 Trade Show Room
12:00 Airfix team presentation followed by Q&A
14: 00 Lunch
14:30 Warehouse walk ( Dispact through to Airfix spares)
15:30 Afternoon Tea
15:45 Visitor Centre and Shop*
16:30 End of Visit
*Please note that Airfix club members receive a 20% discount in the Visitor Centre shop, please ensure you have your Airfix club membership card to hand when purchasing items With around 15 members looking at making the trip to Margate, this will be a fantastic day.
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TAMIYA P47D THUNDERBOLT BY PETER LLOYD
As part of my ongoing project to build operational and other significant aircraft which flew from Chilbolton I decided to try this for the Tamiya competition. It certainly went together better than my earlier Revell bubbletop, for a start the engine fitted inside the cowling. However, the canopy did not fit and had to have the rear sanded back and the gun housings were a poor fit in the wing leading edges. I gave up on the jacks for the inner undercarriage doors as not clear where they were supposed
to go and too fiddly for me.
My major problems were with the painting. I had purchased the relevant Tamiya acrylics but the only thinners I could get were Valejo. Spraying started of fine with the thinned paint but then it started spattering and despite thorough cleaning of my air brush continued and after rubbing down it continued. The airbrush instructions were no help and eventually asked littlecars where I bought the airbrush for advice and they referred me to a table which can be found in the workshop section of their website showing which thinners are compatible with different paints. For Tamiya acrylics an alternative to their own thinners is isopropyl alcohol which I happened to have and this proved satisfactory. I am not convinced about acrylic paint as on my last model there was a reaction between between Humbrol's enamel when overcoated with their acrylic. If someone in the club has had similar experiences or knows some of the answers perhaps they could put some words in next months magazine or point the less expert among in the rignt direction. The finish of the paint is far too matt so I need to apply a varnish to try and lift it.
Finally I realised too late that I only had black decals for the chosen unit identification letters instead of white, will try and change sometime.
WAR AND PEACE SHOW VISIT 24.07.2011 BY NIGEL ROBINS
This year s trip to the War and Peace Show at Beltring came about rather unexpectedly as Harold Hanna of Matador Models needed to pick up some stock from the model tent on the Sunday which another trader had been selling for him and there was a spare seat provided I helped him load up the car.
The show takes place from a Wednesday to the Sunday at the Hop Farm Country Park, Beltring near Paddock Wood in Kent for more details see www.thewarandpeaceshow.com (next year s show is from the 18‐22th July 2012)
The show ground itself is massive, end to end it stretches nearly two miles and there are large areas for militaria sales, living history and of course the vehicle paddocks. There is a sizable arena where the re‐enactments take place as well as marquees where events such as the fashion show, the model show and big band entertainment are provided. There is also a small farming museum in the Hop Farm itself and a
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menagerie of farmyard animals especially for the children. The show is so large it would take you at least four days to see everything there and then you would probably have missed something!!
Being a military vehicle modeler a visit is really a must as often very unusual or rare vehicles are present along with the usual more common military vehicles such as Landover’s and Jeeps. About 3000 Military vehicles ranging from motorbikes to tanks are usually present and around 18,000 people stay on site during the shows duration. Initially the show is a bit disorienting as everyone seems to be wearing some form of military uniform (or a part thereof) and it is a little off putting to encounter re‐enactors dressed as members of the Waffen SS walking around the stalls. However after a few hours this all seems quite normal and often I feel the odd one out in civvies. Also slightly disconcerting are the large numbers of deactivated firearms which seem to be everywhere, particularly in light of the recent tragedy in Norway, although, their owners were being pretty sensible with these weapons and not waving them about or pointing them at people.
The period for the weekend can be best described as Normandy 1944 as this is what most of the re‐enactors are dressed for with a strong Home Front presence. Other periods and theatres of WW2 are re‐enacted as well as conflicts such as Vietnam and Korea and the Gulf. However most re‐enactors seem to either want to be Germans or Americans!! The highlight of each day is the “Big Battle” where perhaps 250 re‐enactors recreate actions in the North West European campaign firing of copious quantities of blank ammunition supported by tanks, halftracks and other vehicles. This battle is usually American forces, with some British support, taking on the Waffen SS and of course the Americans always win!!!
We arrived at the show about 3pm to the sound of gunfire (the big battle was taking place) and were at the show longer than expected so I had about 4 hours to have a look around starting with the Model Tent. Accurate Armour, Armourfast, Bull Models Pol Models, Mr Models and kit crazy were amongst those present inside or around the marquee whilst Airfix were providing the kids make and take, the model being the new Spitfire Mk9 There were club displays and war games taking place but the item that caught my eye was a display of aircraft from each RAF and Luftwaffe squadron that took part in the Battle of Britain and the Night Blitz built to a high standard with little cards giving details of the aircraft and the squadrons. It reminded me a little of Club member Dougie Wotton s 1970s aircraft displays at the Southampton Show, there were that many models.
Around the show there were some nice CMP vehicles; an early Canadian Chevrolet C60L 3ton wrecker caught my eye along with a GMC15TA personnel carrier and Mk 1 Fox armored car (similar to the British Humber) Harold and I also found a Karrier 6X4 from the interwar period – a type neither of had seen before. There were a number of tanks driving around including some ex film props made to look like German vehicles as well as the more common vehicles such as GMC 6X4s, M3 Halftracks and Dodge weapons carriers. It is always good to see a full size vehicle as often a misshapen piece of plastic in a kit can be identified and improved upon or even corrected
once you have an idea how it functions on the vehicle. It also is useful in that it gives you an idea of the scale
Trevor Claringbold s Bedford QLC conversion is soon to feature in Airfix Magazine.
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and thickness of components which a two dimensional photo can never really capture. Being around a real vehicle does give you an idea of how the vehicle weathers, what parts become dirty and where the dust settles and will give you an idea of the colour scheme but beware here as most have been repainted so, despite what the owners may tell, you don`t assume that the paint shades are correct or that the camouflage patterns are even genuine. As well as WW2 vehicles there were a large number of Post War vehicles present, in fact, some of these are not much newer than their WW2 cousins and some are, in fact, rarer. This year there were even a mock up Spitfire, Hurricane and Messerschmitt along with some R.A.F. re‐enactors, whilst not to be outdone there were some Kriegsmarine re‐enactors with a U boat Conning tower!!
Despite having four hours to look around I did not get to see even a quarter of what was on display I hope the photos I have included give the reader an idea of what The War and Peace Show is about. Personally I would not take my family there as wives and children would soon get fed up with the endless lines of vehicles though the kids might like the big battle and the tanks, however £18 per adult admission might put others off.
MA.K LUNA PAWN SUIT PART 2. BY RUSSELL EDEN
DETAILING
After coating the parts with lacquer I gave them a pin wash in all the crevices with a black ink and everything, including the pvc joints got a drybrush of light grey to highlight the edges and make the camo a bit more subtle. I did this quite roughly as the suit was going to be slightly used and abused.
With all the parts painted I moved on the decals – the kit ones are gorgeous and you can read the smallest of them, with the help of a magnifying glass. I decided to use only a small amount of these as I have loads of decals left over from my days of building mechs in my youth as well as some new dust tactics decals I was dying to try out.
I spent a few hours with my decal collection before choosing a scheme and starting to add the decals. Some were new and went on really easily, others – the geometrical shapes were from an old mech kit and took a lot soaking to be persuaded to leave the backing paper.
First off the helmet – I used the eyes from an old phantom kit and the name EVA came from my German dust tactics decals. The vent lines were from something old….!
Next the arms – I used the armament decal from another old plane kit along with numbers and symbols from an old mech kit.
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Legs were next – the geometric shapes came from a mech decal sheet and although slightly see through I thought they looked ok so left them where they were. I even found a set of join decals from an old Macross kit for the ankle joints on the feet.
This left the torso. I went a bit over board here. I used the black geometric design from the same mech sheet as before for the front and rear skirt plates and used the heart and X‐bones designs from a US dust tactics decal sheet – large ones on the front and rear and small ones on the side. Not content with that I used the winged skulls emblems too. I then added a few safety decals from the original sheet – unfortunately these are printed in grey so I couldn’t use many. The shoulder plates were last – one the left one I added a rather nice yellow and black ‘13’ – I would have used one on the other side but it disintegrated once wet – one of the main problems with old decals. I used another of the geometric designs on the right plate instead.
The head was the last item to paint. I hate painting flesh tones – I must go on a course one day…. The head is beautifully sculpted but quite soft in the detailing so it’s easy to over paint and lose definition. I gave her a light undercoat of grey and then white primer. Once dry I gave her hair a coat of bestial brown followed by a black
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ink wash and some haighlights of variuos shades of lighter brown. Once happy with hair it was onto the flesh. I painted her with a couple of coats thinned of base flesh paint with added red to get a nice light tone. I shades her with the same mix with a bit of brown and red added for the darker shades and white and elf flesh for the lighter shades. I tried building this up in thin coats and it hasn’t come out too bad. I painted her eyebrows next and gave her a bit of eye makeup by mixing the flesh tone with a bit of blue ink. The lips were painted using more red than flesh in the mix and the teeth were white. With the eyes I painted the white part first and went round the edge with black, very, very carefully. I then gave her Blue grey eyes with balck pupils and a tiny dab of white as reflection. Not sure how much you can see through the visor but there you go. With a coat of varnish to seal her she was ready to be fitted.
Before that I got out the panzer grey, added a bad of black to darken it and added a load of scuffs and paint chips to give the suit a used look. I will weather it more when I know what the base is going to be. With the chips added I glued Eva’s head in place. I’ve left the helmet so I can remove it if need be. Hopefully I’ll build a base next month an weather the suit some more. Unitl then here’s a couple of pix of the completed Eva.
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HAWK 120D AIRFIX 1/72ND SCALE BY PAT CAMP
I find the BAe Hawk to be a most attractive looking aircraft and I when I came across the Airfix kit with its eye‐catching scheme [1] I bought it as an impulse buy to build from the box for a bit of fun.
I have been building some US Navy/Marines aircraft for a centennial display at AMV83’s next show in October. However, I have become bogged down with their construction and needed some light relief: so out came the Airfix kit from the stash.
I’ll describe the build following the sequence given in the instructions......
Step 1 Pilot.
These seem undersized, so I did not use them.
Step 2: Cockpit.
Airfix supply decals for the instruments, but no positioning or orientation information is given for those to be applied to the side consoles.
The instrument panels 11A and 11B would benefit from having the cutouts for the foot wells raised by a mm or 2. Use the shape of the decals as a cutting template.
The internal parts were laid within a fuselage half to make sure everything aligned properly before the adhesive was applied.
The seats were added later (just before the canopy was glued into place). I added some seat straps using decal sheet. Oil paints were used over Humbrol enamel base coat to shade the seats and pick out detail. Some tiny pieces of red decal were used for warning labels each side of the head box, with white lettering added by paint.
Step 3: Cockpit assembly.
I left the nose wheel off at this stage: it can be fitted through the nose wheel bay opening at a late stage.
Step 4: Bringing fuselage halves together.
5 grams of weight is needed ahead of the instrument panel. I used lead wire glued in place with cycano gel. I also placed a small amount of weight in the very forward part of the nose, in front of the wheel bay.
I left the jet outlet nozzle off until the end of the build.
Some dry fitting and fettling was done before the halves were glued together – the fit was good after a little attention.
Stages 5&6: Jet intakes.
These were painted inside before gluing together. Some sanding and Mr Surfacer were used on the joins, but nothing too bad. Similar treatment was needed for the next stage of the instructions, when the intakes were glued to the fuselage.
Stage 7 & 8: Coaming for 2nd pilot.
The coaming was a good fit into the fuselage and was glued in place with liquid cement after first checking the alignment was correct.
I did not fit the gun sights until I was ready to put the canopy in place.
1. Airfix 1/72nd Hawk kit in its attractive packaging.
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Stage 9: Wings.
The lower wing half is a single piece and there are two upper halves. The trailing edge of the lower wing is at the aileron/flap hinge line, not at the very back edge. Although this makes for a nice thin trailing edge, I did find the back edge of the lower wing needed to be thinned down (particularly at the outboard ends) to obtain a flush join with the upper wing halves.
There are some notches to be cut in the leading edge of the lower wing: I am not sure what these are for and could not see them in any photos of the real aircraft. They do not line up with the wing fences so it is not for those.
I used spring clamps and wooden strips to clamp the leading edges straight when the upper and lower wing sections were glued together. The strips were temporarily held with masking tape so they would not slide off under pressure from the clamps. The trailing edges were glued after the leading edge joints had set.
Stage 10: Wing fences.
The positioning of these are not marked on the instructions or the parts. They are not in the same position as earlier variants I have drawings of. I have set their position based upon photos of the aircraft I was building that are on www.airliners.com. I trimmed the parts to get a good fit to the wing leading edge and trimmed the edges so they appear to be thinner. I shall not fit them to the wing until painting and decaling is completed.
There are some smaller fences further outboard of the larger ones supplied in the kit. These could be added from plasticard if you want that extra bit of detail for your model.
Stage 11: Flap actuators.
These will not be fitted until late in the build. However, they were prepped ready for painting.
Stage 12: Main assembly.
The wing needed some dry fitting and fettling to get the best fit before gluing in place. There was a gap between the wing and fuselage at the wing roots and these were filled with strips cut from plasticard. The technique was to find card that was a tight fit into the widest part of the gap. A strip was cut from the card and trimmed to the length needed. It was then reduced in thickness where needed by scraping, mainly along one edge so it was slightly wedge‐shaped. When done, the strip was gently eased into place and some liquid glue run along the join on the wing side only (leave the fuselage side dry). Once the join was thoroughly dry, the excess plasticard was trimmed away with a curved edge scalpel. The join was finished by running some liquid cement along the join with a brush.
The curved decking behind the canopy is a good fit and went into place with no problem. The elevators and canopy were left off for the seams to be cleaned up. Extra work was needed to the wing underside to blend the jet intakes to shape.
The cockpit coamings were undercoated in a medium grey matt enamel and shaded with various oil paint mixes, lighter on top and darker down the sides.
Canopy.
The position of the blast screen is not marked on the canopy, however there is a positive location for it on the coaming behind the first pilot’s position. The edges were given two coats of dark grey paint, then two coats of white (the second coat being mixed with some cream coloured paint to give it a slight off‐white tint. The screen was then given a polish with 8000 grit Micromesh once the paint was dried, and then polished. This process left the painted edges looking very neat and the screen itself nice and shiny. The blast screen was glued in place using a dot of cyanoacrylate gel placed so it would be hidden from view behind the pilot’s ejector seat.
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The transparent parts for the gun sights were carefully trimmed to remove the mould line. Some paint was scraped away from the coaming where they attach so as to get a strong bond. Once in place, the edges of the lenses and part of the sight base were painted with Tamiya transparent green. When this had dried, the lenses were polished using a nail polishing stick as described for the blast screen which, again, resulted in shiny lenses with neatly trimmed painted edging. The base units were painted as mentioned above for the coamings.
The seats were added and then the cockpit area had some highlights painted on using lightened tones mixed from oil paints [2].
Airfix have done a fine job of engraving the detonation cord inside the main canopy. This was carefully painted light grey and left to dry. The inside was then abraded with 6000 mesh Micromesh, followed by 8000 grit and then polished to leave very neatly defined lines. The outside of the canopy and the surfaces of the windscreen were polished and then both parts were dipped in Klear [3] (I did not dip the blast screen, though).
The canopy parts were glued in place with Clearfix, thinned somewhat with meths so it flowed into the joints. The canopy was held in place by tying down with string whilst the Clearfix dried [4]. The final result looked fairly good [5].
[4] Model taped down to ruler and canopy held in place with string for gluing.
[5] Canopy glued into place.
2. Cockpit assembly completed, awaiting canopy to be installed.
3. Canopy with detonation cord painted and all surfaces polished and dipped.
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Stages 13 & 14: Air brake.
Alternative parts are given for the air brake depending on whether the door is to be positioned open or closed. I closed mine. I needed some plasticard to shim it out so it fitted flush with the fuselage. The two fins, parts 15B and 16B were glued into place. I thought it was better to glue these into place before painting – so the join was strong – rather than fit them later as I did for all the other appurtenances.
Stages 14 & 15: Main undercarriage.
These were cleaned up and the doors glued in place.
These, and all the other items to be painted, were left in place on the sprue for painting. An exception was the elevators: these were glued to a piece of sprue for handling during painting.
Stages 18, 19 & 20: Armament.
These went together fairly well. Some trimming of the tail ends of the Sidewinders were needed to stop them from splaying out during assembly. Two types of drop tank are given, and I found the longer ones were not so easy to assemble neatly.
The painting of the model will be covered in Part 2.
Progress so far.
SPITFIRE BTK (PART 2)BY NIGEL ROBINS
With a model restoration I always find that things have to get a lot worse before they start getting better!! This was to be the case with “BTK”. I decided that despite the model being fairly complete it suffered from a major problem, build quality and to correct this it all had to come apart. Unfortunately the glue holding some pieces together was rock hard whereas in other places, such as the fuselage, the joints were unglued or there was simply not enough glue present to be strong enough to hold everything solid once I started filling and sanding down. I decided to prise the model apart using my modelling knife and hoped that I did not do too much damage. The 50 year old plastic was very brittle and in some places the glue (probably tube glue) had eaten into it and
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left behind a plastic mush which was not strong and could not be sanded successfully so, ultimately, had to be cut away. I found that I now had one undercarriage leg longer than the other due to the top of one leg being so badly affected by the glue. The other components came apart fairly successfully but both the tail and in particular the tail plane locating slots had suffered and both were about 1.5 mm larger than they needed to be. I removed the original paint finish luckily this was some sort of poster paint and came off with soap and water and a bit of elbow grease.
I had sourced a new left hand tail plane, the Airfix Spitfire Mark 9 (From 1959) is a direct descendant and I had a spare one, from a later 1980s moulding, in the scrap box. With a little work (removing some of the detail) I felt I had a pretty good match for “BTK” I cleaned up the rest of the parts, ensuring that the component edges were true and clear of old glue and that I had good contact surfaces for reassembly. At this point I abandoned my original intention of manufacturing or sourcing new propeller blades and attaching these to the original propeller boss simply because I felt that the completed unit would not be strong enough and I wanted people to be able to turn the propeller without it breaking. I have, therefore, cheated and have added a complete de Havilland propeller unit from the new Airfix Spitfire Mk1from the spares box to “BTK” Whilst this is too good a representation of this unit, for a 1953 model particularly when compared to the original kit item at least it is still an Airfix part. At the same time I made a new aerial mast from a piece of scrap plasticard, filed this to shape and found a new tail wheel again from the old Airfix Mark 9 in the scrap box.
Carefully, I started to reassemble “BTK” using superglue and being sure to align the parts before they made contact with each other. I felt that liquid Poly would not be effective with the old plastic the kit was made of so I opted for the emergency standby ‐ Superglue ,this performed well. “BTK” was soon back together again. This was where the fun really started as whilst I had aligned all of “BTK”s components correctly there were large gaps due to the fact that the parts had warped through age and also because of the damage I had done taking them apart. I had expected this and applied plenty of milliput which, I find, is the best filler to use on this sort of job as it is so forgiving and with “BTK” I was effectively re‐profiling areas of the fuselage as well as filling holes. With the filler dry I started sanding down the airframe with wet and dry paper. As I had been careful where I had applied the milliput there was not too much material to remove and this job took less time than I had originally feared. Once I felt comfortable that I had performed most of the heavy sanding I added the small and flimsy parts like the aerial and the tail wheel being sure to drill a new hole for this before super‐gluing it in place. I decided to shorten the long undercarriage leg so that both matched and reattached them approximately where I felt they should be on the model. This was more difficult than it sounds as “BTK” has no wheel wells as such only a raised impression of the area on the underside of the wings. .
As you can see I kept the slot for the stand open as I intend that “BTK” should be able to sit on a stand, if required, in the good old, 1950s modelling tradition. Then I sprayed the whole model with Halfords acrylic white primer. I always use white as an undercoat as this will lift the colours of the top coat rather than subdue them which grey primers can do. However Halfords white primer is a difficult beast to tame, it will happy go on so thick that any surface detail is quickly and easily lost and is more reactive to other paints than its grey cousin. For “BTK”
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this did not matter as I wanted to “Body‐up” the surface of the model in order to hide the surface imperfections and tone down the over‐done panel lines a little. After the initial coat I checked and reapplied milliput to areas that I felt needed more filler sanded down and then applied a second primer coat.
“BTK” was now resplendent in white primer and started to look like a Spitfire again. There was of course a major problem the cockpit canopy!! The original, though intact, was smothered with glue and unusable. I have a Hobby Boss canopy which almost matches “BTK’s” original and with a little adjustment I thought it would fit okay so I intended to use this. I felt that it was a little out of keeping with the rebuild and restoration as the new part had come from a non Airfix kit manufactured in the Far East. However, the gods of Airfix smiled
on me. Quite unbelievably at the last Club meeting some more of Mr Hurst’s models were present for members to take and amongst the bits was a plastic bag with an old early 1960s Airfix Supermarine S6B header card, some bits, an early 1960s clear stand and decals for this model inside. Also present was a cockpit canopy for a Spitfire “BTK” mint and unused. Whether when the kit was purchased two canopies were provided in error I can’t be sure, all I can do is thank Mr Hurst posthumously for keeping this rare and ultimately valuable part. I tried it on “BTK” and it fits perfectly. That is not to say that it is any good as a model. It is clearly the wrong shape for a Spitfire cockpit canopy and the injector pin mark directly above the pilots head is pretty poor but it is an original “BTK” part and is intended for this model.
In Part 3 of this article I will deal with the painting and finishing of “BTK”
LETTERBOX
Here are a couple of emails I have received recently
Subject : Hi there from DC IPMS
Tony,
I thought you might be interested in my next project based on a photo of a Spitfire being recovered. I was wondering if anyone in your club or that you may know would be willing to help with reference material on any of the vehicles or the spitfire or have additional photos from the scene depicted. I have posted it to three different forums if you are interested in reading the feedback.
Hyperscale http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1307812652/1‐48+Diorama+and+help+needed+with+info+for+most+accurate+Spitfire+MK+IXc
Aeroscale:http://www.aeroscale.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=177337&page=1
Britmodeller:http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=72259&hl=
Thanks in advance,
Scott (Washington DC IPMS)
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Subject : Database Application for Scale Modellers (Major Update)
Hi Tony,
I have just released a major update to KitBase, the database application for Scale Modellers. This is a free update for existing owners.
If you could post some news and/or pass the details on to the members of your club it would be greatly appreciated.
KitBase allows scale modellers to record their kits and accessories in a structured way and find them again using interactive sorting and filtering. A quick list report helps avoid those 'have I got one of these' moments at shows. Various reports and statistics provide useful information, for example total value (helpful for insurance valuation) and counts of kits by type, manufacturer and scale.
The new release is free to existing owners and includes major enhancements:
• Kit image gallery
• Full accessory detail recording
• Option to store accessories with kits
The updated version or a free trial can be downloaded from: http://www.suisoft.co.uk/kitbase/download.htm.
KitBase will run on any reasonably modern PC (Windows XP or above).
A license for the full product is still only 14.99 GBP (29.99 USD).
Thanks for your time.
Kind Regards,
Gary Marples
Suisoft Limited
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C‐130 MAINTENANCE – COMPLETELY CHANGING THE AIRFIX KIT BY GARY JARMAN.
I was browsing through an aircraft magazine at WH Smiths one day when I came across an article about C‐130 maintenance. I saw the accompanying photos and bought the magazine with the idea of one day doing a diorama of a C‐130 being maintained. Here’s one of the pictures.
I got hold of a second hand Airfix C‐130 and for the price I paid I figured I wouldn’t lose too much if it didn’t work. I started by cutting one of the wings, ready for the diorama.
I glued the wings together and started adding thin strips of plastic along the front edge to represent the many strips on the real thing. It was at about the same time that I decided that I wanted to build a SAFAIR Hercules (a South African company) because they have a colourful scheme. Overall while and silver with dark blue and orange cheat lines.
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Using the resource booklet that comes with the new Italeri C‐130J I cut the fuselage and started extending the fuselage.
Once I’d cut the fuselage I glued the parts back together using thin strips of plastic until I had the correct length for the extension. Next I filled in the gap with strips of plastic which I’d then file smooth.
At the same time as I was doing this I also started on the engine that would be shown mounted on a trolley for servicing with the maintenance panels off. Using the kit cowling I cut out the panels, thinned the plastic and then put strips of plastic along the edge to represent the lip that the maintenance panels would be attached to.
I made an engine base out of plastic card, spare drop tanks, missiles and general odds and sods from the spares box.
To this base I will add wires and plastic rod to try make it look a bit more realistic.
The following photos are close ups of the completed engine. It still needs some thin wires and rod to make it look a bit busier.
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I have also been working on the maintenance stands that will surround the aircraft. These are made from plastic strips and rods. Some of the strips are cut from plastic card and the I and U beams are plastruct beams. While the Airfix kit may have been cheap, the amount I have spent on these beams has made this one of the more expensive builds I’ve ever done ☺
All of these are scratchbuilt. The wheels for each maintenance stand are made from 4 parts of plastic as shown in the sequence below.
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TAMIYA 1/32 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE MK IXC PART 3 BY TONY ADAMS
At the end of my last update on this build ( See RM June 2011) I had just completed the spraying of the white on the invasion stripes, here’s a brief recap of where I had got to…
The white for the invasion stripes is applied Preshading always looks good under white, here is the
underside
I also masked and sprayed the wing leading edges white as an undercoat for the subsequent yellow leading edge colour. Masking was then applied before the sky fuselage band was painted followed by the black of the invasion stripes. The underside colour was quickly applied once again using heavily thinned paint and slowly building up the colour while ensuring the preshade wasn’t lost. Once dry the underside was masked off.
Next the sky band and black invasion stripes – here I
used Tamiya X‐1 Once the underside colour was applied I could admire
the preshading
Next the RAF grey was added, I was less concerned with the loss of preshade as it is difficult to maintain with dark colours. I carefully defined the camouflage pattern with pencil, trying to ensure it was a accurate copy of the painting sheet.
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Once the RAF grey was applied I used a pencil to lightly define the camouflage pattern
RAF Dark Green applied and most of the hard work was done…
The dark green was then sprayed freehand at a low pressure which allowed me to follow the pencil lines but still maintain a soft edge between colours.
The engine panels were painted in the same way , so I now had completed the majority of the painting and was on the home stretch – or was I ?
BUM BUM BUM…
I always enjoy taking off the masking to revel the what I hope is a great paint job , this time I was sorely disappointed as lots of paint came away with the masking.
A catalogue of disasters, both white and black paint came off with the masking and the wing
leading edge masking was wrong resulting in the white undercoat showing.
So it was out with the masking again and the airbrush and after a few hours work the paintwork was restored. The gun ports were painted red before I started on the undercarrage.
I still had a few bits of etch left which added some nice detail to the undercarrage leg. The tyres are soft rubber , I removed the seam with wet n dry before spraying them Mr
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Color tyre black. The gear doors where painted to match the the underside camoflarge. A rubber brake line is suppled which looks very good. You have got the option of showing the model with wheels up using differenct parts , I didn’t have time to build these up so they are still in the box, I wonder if they will ever get used? The wheels are held in through a small bolt which is hidden by a small panel held in by a magnet – clever.
Wheel assemblies built up and “grimed” with Pro
modellers wash Undercarriage in place
Now it was time to add the decals which are from a Spitfire IXc sheet by Eagle Cal ( Sheet No ), these are very good and presented no problems , being very thin , a little touch of microsol resulted in that painted on look.
There was still a little work to do on the engine , the frame members we augmented with etch which added lots of rivet detail. This was painted and dry brushed to bring out the detail. The exhaust stubs were painted Alclad steel and then while still slightly wet dipped into Mig pigment rust, I used other pigments which
Exhaust stubs painted Alclad Steel and then dipped in
rust pigment The completed engine ready to the aircraft
Before fixing the engine the motor wires were soldered to the connectors mounted on the underside of the aircraft, first ensuring that the prop rotated in the right direction.
The etch flaps that I had constructed earlier were painted the underside colour ( inc the invasion stripes) and Alclad aluminium on their insides, these were then fitted to the model almost vertical corresponding with a number of photo of Spits I have seen on the ground.
The model was then given a good coating of Promodellers dark wash which brought out all the lovely rivet details along with the panel lines.
The final assembly was of the Eduard etch cockpit door which proved very fiddly but was well worth the effort, I did remember to paint the cockpit breaker green rather than red ( as seen in Spits flying today).
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It was now time to add a little weathering which was achieved using a sliver laden sponge and dabbling it lightly where the airframe was likely to get most wear, particularly on the wing roots. The whole model was then given a coat of Mr Color Matt varnish.
Promodeller wash brings out the panel lines and rivet
detail The etch cockpit door
With the addition of a few ancillary parts and aerial wires the model was complete. With the model on the stand and 3V applied the prop spins nicely along with the cockpit lights. There are a few disappointments however, the addition of the etch in the engine and its frame has widened it al little which means the panels don’t fit very well. Not that that is too much of a problem as I will want to display the excellent Merlin. So after over a years work this Spit was complete – time to buy a MK VII or XIV I think!
Spitfire Mk IXc 2I‐E MK636 Pilot: Squadron Leader Wally McLeod 433 Sqn RCAF June1944
S/L Wally McLeod DSO, DFC and bar was the top scoring RCAF fighter in the air on D-Day. He died in combat near Nijmegan on 27th September 1944.
He was credited with 21 victories.
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CLUB DIARY
August 17th Club Night
September 21st Club Night
September 3rd
September 17th
September 22nd
Build a Model in a Day
Farnborough Show
Airfix Visit
October 19th Club Night TBA Yeovilton Autumn Show
November 16th Annual Competition
December 21st Xmas Night
Next Meeting: Wednesday August 17th (8pm to 10pm)
Ampfield Village Hall Morleys Lane Romsey Hampshire SO51 9BJ
Thank you to this month’s contributors to this publication
Paul Adams Russell Eden Nigel Robins Gary Jarman
Keith Hawkins Tony Adams Pat Camp Peter Lloyd
CONTACT INFO
Web Site wwww.romseymodellers.co.uk email [email protected]
Editor Tony Adams Tel: 01794 519153 email: [email protected] Competitions Paul Adams Tel: 02380 398858 Treasurer Steve Edwards
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