1
VIE 5 WS
RE
Most new kit builds ever! ICM’s King Tiger plus 14 more!– p.48
FineScale.com
July 2017
PATRIOTIC PAINTING
CREATE A BICENTENNIAL BIRD!
Darren Roberts’ F-4 Phantom – p.20
Dan Jayne Apache cutaway p.40 Scratchbuild a Bergepanther p.26 Kitbash & detail a BT-13 p.30 Sculpt your own Navy figure p.44 Make an in-flight aircraft display p.42
Replicate field gray uniforms p.18
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58
FEATURES
KIT REVIEWS 48 HobbyBoss Su-27 “Flanker”
16 Airbrushing & Finishing
50 Italeri H-21 Shawnee
Apply weathering for a Sherman on the march PATRICK BROWN
18 Form & Figure Shades of German field gray JOE HUDSON
51 Takom Hanomag SS100 52 Revell Germany Eurofighter
16
55 LMV Lince United Nations
Build a unique bicentennial bird DARREN ROBERTS
56 Revell Germany Me 262B-1/U-1 night fighter
26 Beef up a Bergepanther
30 Revisiting a Valiant
57 Airfix B5N2 “Kate”
30
60 Wingsy Kits A5M2b “Claude” 60 Airfix Whitley Mk.V
40 Showcase
61 IBG Type 89 Kou
Dan Jayne’s AH-64 Apache cutaway MARK HEMBREE
Posing an aircraft in flight is easy WAIKONG CHUNG
IN EVERY ISSUE 5 Editor’s Page
40
7 Scale Talk 10 New Products 36 Reader Gallery
44 Sculpt your own Create a U.S. Navy photographer and his four-legged friend GREG EMBREE
47 Reader Tips 62 Questions & Answers 64 Classified Marketplace
66 Final Details Is there a draft in here? MARK HEMBREE
58 Dragon MIM-104B Patriot launcher with M983 HEMTT 59 Kitty Hawk Super Étendard
Tons of fun for a Vultee devotee FRANK CUDEN
42 Builder Basics
53 Meng USS Lexington 54 Airfix B-17G Flying Fortress
20 Phantom of a different stripe
Scratchbuilding and superdetailing ANDY COOPER
52 ICM PzKpfw VI Königstiger
44
65 Hobby Shop Directory 65 Advertiser Index
FineScale Modeler (ISSN 0277-979X, USPS No. 679-590) is published monthly (except for June & August) by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187. Periodicals Postage is paid at Waukesha, WI and additional offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to FineScale Modeler, PO Box 62320, Tampa, FL 33662-2320. Canada Post Publication Mail Agreement #40010760.
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4 FineScale Modeler July 2017
EDITOR’S PAGE By Mark Savage
It’s baaack! GSM, GSM, GSM!
Happily this election won’t require a recount!
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Off the sprue: What’s your favorite July 4th memory?
Editor Mark Savage
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Senior Editor Aaron Skinner
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Associate Editor Mark Hembree
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Assistant Editor Elizabeth Nash
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Editorial Associate Monica Freitag
[email protected]
Scrunched into a steamy 10th Street Stadium (old I.U. football venue) on the campus of Indiana University the summer of ’76 with a hot co-ed (now wife) watching the spectacular Bicentennial fireworks light up the Hoosier sky!
I was covering an Independence Day celebration when a truck laden with fireworks caught fire about 20 feet away. Talk about rocket’s red glare. I’ve never run so fast in my life!
As a pro musician in the ‘80s, I played an “American Week” at the Sheraton in Beijing. An interpreter helped me teach the wait staff about cowboy hats. Many were wearing them backwards. Then we applauded each other.
Engaging in a foot-long hot dog eating contest. I did not win, but I sure didn’t lose either.
Our 4th of July holiday was spent up north at our cabin in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. We would start the day at the early morning parade through town, followed by a huge cookout, swimming and boating. We always ended it with spectacular fireworks at the local high school football field. www.FineScale.com
5
Editor Mark Savage Art Director Tom Ford
EDITORIAL
Senior Editor Aaron Skinner Associate Editor Mark Hembree Assistant Editor Elizabeth Nash Editorial Associate Monica Freitag
ART
Illustrator Kellie Jaeger Photographer William Zuback Production Coordinator Cindy Barder
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6 FineScale Modeler July 2017
SCALE TALK
Your voice in FSM
Workbench photos
Any room can work
Organization is key
Privacy, please
It’s tight being in a two-bedroom apartment. My wife has graciously allowed me to set this up in our bedroom. It’s small but efficient. My computer desk is adjacent to it, so I can pull up reference photos of the project I’m working on — very handy. Wish I had a paint booth, but there is no room for one. A wide-open window and a fan have to suffice!
I’m finally finished tweaking my workbench. This has been a culmination of several moves, gathering of equipment, creativity, and ingenuity. I have to be highly organized so I can see what I’m looking for. This saves my sanity and the project gets done in a timely fashion. I am currently working on HMS Amazon (F169).
This is my restored 1920s roll-top desk that I use for model building. I enjoy woodworking as much as I do scale modeling and found a way to combine my two hobbies. I chose the roll-top for its size as well as security — it keeps my grandchildren’s fingers and the family cat from adding their opinions and critiques to my current project.
– Dean Summers Keller, Texas
– Leonard A. Page III Rawlins, Wyo.
– Art L. Seipel Bristol, Va.
What happens to our models when we die? Recently I have been contemplating a rather serious question: What happens to our built models when we pass away? I started modeling when I was 8, with my dad helping me build my first few. All through middle school, it was my activity of choice, turning out hundreds of models built just for the fun of it. Sometime in high school things got much more serious. I joined IPMS, started building to improve my skills, and entered competitions. While in college, I became a judge at contests, and even placed third in one category at the IPMS/USA Nationals. When I graduated college and struck out on my own, I left all of my models and tools behind. I have not built a model since. I kept my subscription to FSM all those years, and have enjoyed reading about all the advances in the hobby. When my parents moved to a retirement facility, I went home and collected my tools and three glass cases full of 80 decent and contest-winning models. But after the estate sale, all the other models of my youth went into the trash. Thousands of hours put into more than 200 kits, gone. Now I am 55 and can see the retirement light at the end of the tunnel. The plan has
always been to pick up modeling again. I want to try the new paints, pre-shading, photo-etch, and dot filtering. But the more I think about it, the more I am not so sure. What if they end up in the trash when I die or move to assisted living? My kids or other relatives are not interested in the models. The thought of a hundred or more of my absolute best models and the countless hours dedicated to build them ending up in the trash pains me to the point that I don’t really want to pick the hobby back up. I see the photos people send of their display cases, transport methods, and workshops, and the models in Reader Gallery, but in the back of my mind I am thinking, “Someday all of that will end up in the trash.” How do we preserve the results of the hobby we care so much about? If I felt better about my modeling legacy, then I would feel better about adding to it and picking the hobby up again. Please help! – Tim Williams Orlando, Fla.
Ed.: For many modelers, the hobby’s thrill is in the process rather than results. Our own Aaron Skinner likes to say his favorite model is the next one. We all gotta go eventually; in the meantime, relax and enjoy a build or five.
Call it what it is This topic of weathering is quite intriguing. It carries with it some strong opinions. For me, there is the “artistic” result and the “realistic” result. The artistic would be the so-called Spanish method of having dark panel lines and extreme tonal variation. While this is very pleasing to the eye, it’s not realistic. Getting a realistic finish has to be one of the hardest parts of modeling. It pains me to see a beautifully built model with an artistic finish. Unfortunately, that’s what’s expected in the modeling world today. My philosophy is to lean as much as possible to the realistic side, adding only enough artistry to avoid making the model toylike. Looking at pictures of the real aircraft is the most important thing you can do to get it right. I also think that you should finish a model in whatever way pleases you. However — and this a pet peeve of mine — don’t call an artistic finish a realistic one. Call it what it is: a beautifully rendered artistic interpretation. – Darren Roberts Olathe, Kan.
Ed.: Look to p. 20 to see how Darren painted a beautiful bicentennial Phantom. www.FineScale.com
7
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FSM now reviews books Interested in history? Want some background on the model you’re working on? Find your next read by going online and clicking “Product Info” on our home page.
Overweathering has to stop I’m firmly in the accuracy camp. Aren’t we building scale models? Shouldn’t weathering and wear be in scale, too? I find it ironic when I read an article in which the author goes to great lengths to add detail to a model to make it more authentic, or complains about the cowl opening on a 1/32 scale aircraft being 1mm too small, but then grossly overweathers the model. For several years I have been critical of what I call the armorization of the aircraft modeling community; that is, applying armor weathering techniques to airplanes. Although many of these models are artistic masterpieces, they are not accurate. I recently was at a model contest at an air museum where a 1/72 scale Mustang and the real thing were close together. The model’s panel lines were more visible than the real airplane at an equal (not scale) distance! At the same show there was a fine 1/48 scale F-16 in an Alaska aggressor scheme, heavily weathered, completely unrealistic. Anyone who has observed the aggressor squadrons knows these are elite organizations that would never allow aircraft to get this grungy. At a recent national convention there was a DarkStar UAV, heavily weathered. It
New Product Rundown Want to know about a kit before you buy? Aaron Skinner and Elizabeth Nash host a twice-monthly review of the newest models to open the boxes and show what’s inside.
was artistically attractive, but having personally worked on DarkStar, I can say with authority that in real life the airplane was always pristine. Conversely, in a recent FSM there was an EF-111 model with minimal highlights and weathering that was very realistic. Heavy weathering has its place, e.g. U.S. Marine Corps F4Us in the South Pacific, but it shouldn’t be the norm for accurate scale models, especially modern aircraft. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that $100 million-plus aircraft are kept pretty clean. Some of the contest rules I have researched state that no credit will be given for good weathering, but bad weathering will count against you. Yet it has been years since I have seen a nonweathered model, no matter how good, compete successfully against weathered ones. I have only recently been exposed to the artistic argument. In the end, it’s your money and your model to finish as you please. I just think that hobby magazines need to emphasize realism, not art, especially if your title is FineScale Modeler. I would like to see your magazine emphasize more-realistic finishes. – Joe Reiman Tucson, Ariz.
The more you know, the more you build Two articles in the April 2017 FSM really hit the button for me: “Squiggles made simple” and “Metal from acrylics.” I have built a number of Japanese planes and have struggled with their camouflage patterns. But after reading about creating squiggles, I think I can pull out three unbuilt kits and apply what I have learned. The other article made me realize that I do not need to use enamels to make a natural-metal finish. (I avoid enamels because I work in a basement without the greatest airflow.) Now that I know how to use acrylics, I can finish another five or six kits currently in the stash. These could be the seeds of a productive model building year after all. – Phil Modica Naperville, Ill.
SMS Seydlitz’s attack on Hartlepool It was great to see Ulf Lundberg’s stunning model of the SMS Seydlitz in the March 2017 issue, but his admiration for the ship’s service as “distinguished” did overlook one major blot on its logbook. On December 16, 1914, Seydlitz led two other ships, Moltke and Blücher, in an attack on my hometown of Hartlepool, on the northeast coast of England. It was an early morning surprise attack as the town was waking up, and the ships pounded Hartlepool with 1,150 heavy
shells, killing more than 100 people. About a third were children. The first soldier of the Great War to die on British soil was killed by a shell from Seydlitz: a schoolteacher named Theophilus Jones, who was a territorial in the Durham Light Infantry. Although the Germans claimed it was an attack on Hartlepool’s industry and tiny gun battery, most shells hit residential areas. Defending the town were three 6-inch guns, two of them at the Heugh Battery, which is today a museum. I was one of a group of people who for years helped to restore what is the only World War I battle site on the UK mainland, and we would show visitors around in period uniforms of the defending gunners of the Durham Royal Garrison Artillery (see attached photo of me at one of the gun barbettes). The artillery fought back so ferociously, despite being massively outgunned, that the raiders were forced to withdraw 20 minutes earlier than planned. Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, named the raiders “the baby-killers of Hartlepool” and there was a huge uproar at the time. Hartlepool became a rallying cry for recruiters. When the Germans struck a campaign medal for the crews involved, copies of them became an ironic fashion accessory in the town — I still have my great-grandmother’s. Blücher was destroyed when the Germans tried to repeat the raid a month later and were set upon at Dogger Bank.
Slower than more-modern ships like Seydlitz, she was sacrificed to allow the others to escape, knowing the British would prefer punishing one of the three “baby-killer” ships to pursuing the retreating task force. They were right, and Blücher went down with massive losses. So, the name of SMS Seydlitz is far from a proud one in Hartlepool! Still, a stunning model, though, and now that I know there is one available I might just track it down. – Gary Kester Penshaw, Tyne and Wear, England (formerly of Hartlepool!)
Correction In an April letter to the editor, the location of Holloman Air Force Base was misstated; it’s in New Mexico. FSM
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NEW PRODUCTS Compiled by Monica Freitag & Aaron Skinner
Spotlight
Airfix’s early Stuka dives onto shelves In early World War II, the Junkers Ju 87 dive-bomber proved a fearsome weapon, a reputation blunted by encounters with fast Allied fighters. The bent-winged Stuka soldiered on. Airfix follows up its popular small-scale early Stuka with a B-1 in 1/48 scale kit
(No. A07114, $34.99). Despite similarities of version and marking options, the kit is far from just a scaled-up replica. The new kit features refined surface detail with rivets as well as petite panel lines. Based around a heavy wing spar, the cockpit has fine seats, molded dials on the instru-
AIRCRAFT KITS 1/32 SCALE
ment panel, and terrific side consoles with structural components. Up front sits a decent engine with supports and detailed radiators. Optional braces allow for the cowl to be built buttoned up, a terrific option that will simplify
assembly. Cartograf decals provide markings for Luftwaffe and Legion Condor bombers. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
Sopwith F.1 Camel Clerget‚ from Wingnut Wings, No. 32074, $79. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
1/48 SCALE
F-102A Delta Dagger from Revell,
No. 85-5869, $26.95.
F-35A Lightning II from Italeri, No. 2506, $119.99. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM. F-15J JASDF from Pit-Road, No. SNG03,
$89.99.
F-15C Eagle from Revell, No. 85-5870, $22.95.
Sopwith F.1 Camel USAS, from Wingnut Wings, No. 32072, $79.
F-4J Phantom II from Zoukei-Mura, $75.
Super Wing Series No. 4. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
Boulton Paul Defiant from Trumpeter,
No. 2899, $49.95. New tooling. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
RoCAF T-33A Shooting Star, from GWH, No. S4805, $59.99. 1939-1945 series. Smart Kit.
More at www.FineScale.com Sopwith F.1 Camel & LVG C.VI — The Duellists from Wingnut Wings, No. 32803,
$189. Includes parts to build two models and markings for Australian and German aircraft.
10 FineScale Modeler July 2017
Bücker Bü-181 Bestmann from Stransky,
No. 43016, $26.99. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
Check out our New Product Rundown (NPRD) videos as Elizabeth Nash and Aaron Skinner have fun looking at the latest kits!
Mercury-Redstone
from Horizon Models, No. 2004, $37.95. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
T95 super heavy tank 2 in 1 from Dragon,
No. 6825, $89.99. 1939-1945 Series, Smart Kit.
Macchi MC.205 Veltro from Italeri, No. 2765, $34.99.
Kawanishi H8K2 Type 2 Flying Boat Model 12 from Hasegawa, No. 01575, $149.99. Look
S.E.5a Wolseley Viper from Eduard,
for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
No. 82131, $39.95. ProfiPack Edition.
1/56 SCALE
1/72 SCALE
IM-99 Bomarc ground to air guided missile from Revell, No. 85-0035, $23.95. Actual
M4A2 (76) Red Army with Maxim machine gun from Cyber-hobby.com, No. 9154, $42.99.
Super value pack.
moving parts, launching crew, 3 decal versions.
1/144 SCALE
Tiger I mid-production with Zimmerit
from Dragon, No. 6866, $79.99. sPzAbt 508, 3 Company SdKfz 181 PzKpfw VI Ausf E mit Borgward IV Ausf A heavy demolition charge vehicle. 1939-1945 series.
Handley Page Victor B.Mk.2(BS) from Airfix, No. A12008, $74.99. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
MIG-29 (9-13) from Zvezda, No. 7278, $29.99.
Boeing 737-800 Civil Airliner from Zvezda, No. 7019, $35.20. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
ARMOR KITS 1/35 SCALE German SU-76i with cupola from Dragon,
No. 6856, $72.99. 1939-1945 series. Smart Kit.
Vollkettenaufklaürer 38 with 7.5cm Kanone 51 L/24 from Dragon, No. 6815, $67.99. 1939-1945 series, Smart Kit.
Sturmgeschutz III Ausf C/D 7.5cm Kanone MiG-31B/BM “Foxhound” Russian fighter
from Trumpeter, No. 1680, $69.95. New tooling. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM. Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress from Airfix, No. A08017, $39.99. See the detailed review on page 54.
15cm sIG.33/2(Sf) auf Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer from Dragon, No. 6489, $67.99. 1939-
1945 series, Smart Kit.
from Dragon, No. 6851, $79.99. 1939-1945 Series.
Tiger I Mid-Production with Zimmerit s. PzAbt 506 Eastern Front 1944 from Dragon, No. 6624, $79.99. 1939-1945 series.
www.FineScale.com
11
NEW PRODUCTS
M3A1 combat zone armored personnel carrier from Monogram, No. 85-0035, $19.95.
SdKfz 252 leichte Gepanzerte Munitionskraftwagen mit SdAh 32/1 trailer from Dragon, No. 6718, $67.99. 1939-
1945 series. Smart Kit. Full interior.
Crusader Mk. III (British Cruiser tank Mk.VI) from Tamiya, No. 37025, $53. New and
Scaled from original blueprints.
re-tooled parts.
Mid-production SU-122 from MiniArt,
No. 35197, $59.99. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
IDF M3 halftrack (50th Anniversary of the Six-Day War) from Dragon, No. 3569, $72.99. Middle East War series.
Mittlere Artillerie Raketen System (MARS) M270/A1 from Trumpeter, No. 1046, $139.95. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
V-2 rocket with Meillerwagen and Hanomag SS100 from Takom, No. 2030,
$91.99. WWII German rocket transporter/erector. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
German medium tank Panzer IV Ausf.H
from Zvezda, No. 3620, $56.10. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
T-34/76 Mod. 1940 with Soviet GEN 2 weapons from Dragon, No. 9153, $42.99.
Super Value Pack.
Valentine Mk.II/IV British infantry tank Mk.III from Tamiya, No. 35352, $52. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
T-14 Armata - Russian main battle tank
from Zvezda, No. 3670, $54.95. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
IJA Type 4 “Ke-Nu” light tank ‚ from Dragon, No. 6854, $59.99. 1939-1945 Series, Smart Kit.
Hanomag RL-20 from Plus Model, No. 485, $103. Seventy resin parts, photo-etch sheet and decals for two versions.
Visit www.finescale.com for a complete list new manufacturers Stransky Models FaceBook SnJ Model Distributors
Horizon Models www.horizon-models.com
Oldmodelkits www.oldmodelkits.com
Reynauld’s Euro Imports (Aritec) www.reynaulds.com
12 FineScale Modeler July 2017
M1 Assault Breacher vehicle from Rye Field
Model, No. RM-5011, $99.99. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
Befehls Panther Ausf G from Dragon, No. 6847, $69.99. 1939-1945 series. Smart Kit. PzBefWg III Ausf H from Dragon, No. 6844, $74.99. 1939-1945 Series, Smart Kit.
1/192 SCALE
King Tiger SdKfz 182 Henschel turret from
Meng Model, No. TS-031, $44.99. Tyrannosaurus Series. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
Churchill Mk.IV AVRE Combat engine from
Dragon, No. 7521, $24.50. Armor Pro.
1/100 SCALE
CSS Chattahoochee 1863-1864 from Flagship Models, No. FM19209, $150.
1/350 SCALE
IJN aircraft carrier Junyo from Hasegawa,
No. 40030, $329.99.
T-54-1 Mod. 1947 from MiniArt, No. 37014, $59.99. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
SdKfz 173 Jagdpanther from Zvezda, No. 6183, $4.95.
SS Normandie (1935) ocean liner from
SHIPS
Oldmodelkits, $950. Limited run resin, brass, photoetch kit with wood decks. Waterline or full hull version.
1/87 SCALE
1/700 SCALE
Scammel Pioneer SV2S heavy breakdown tractor from IBG Models, No. 35029, $40.
1/72 SCALE Railroad ferry from Artitec, No. 50.121, $83.82. Resin and etched metal.
1/144 SCALE
SMS König WWI German battleship from
ICM, No. 014, $54.99. Look for a detailed review in an upcoming issue of FSM.
1/750 SCALE HMS King George V British battleship from
SdKfz 171 Panther A Late Production from Dragon, No. 7505, $24.50. Armor Pro.
Lindberg Line, No. HL447/12, $25.99.
Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha - Early model from Croco Models. Contact your local dealer for price information.
Ships of Columbus: the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria from Lindberg, No. FM19209HL223/12, $32.99.
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13
NEW PRODUCTS Spotlight
Sharp book give detailed how-tos of Soviet armor During and after the Cold War, Soviet armor found it’s way into the armed forces of countries and conflicts from Asia and the Middle East to Africa. Modeling these exported weapons and
vehicles is the focus of Soviet Armour in Foreign Wars (Inside the Armour, ISBN 978-0-9932588-2-4, $46). Edited by Chris Meddings, the 196page softcover book
FIGURES KITS 1/48 SCALE Su-27 pilot from
Plus Model, No. AL4065, $11.50.
features seven in-depth builds by Meddings and several master modelers, including José Brito, Kritoff Pulinckx, and Ken Abrams. Chapters on figure painting by Alex Long
and a 13-page gallery of Afghan vehicles round out the volume which also includes Voyager photo-etched engine screens for Tamiya T-55s and decals for Vietnamese and Libyan tanks.
Old suitcases from Plus Model, No. 489,
$23.30. 9 resin parts with decals. Workshop windows from Plus Model, No. 498, $17.30. Square shape. Also available in round No. 502.
1/35 SCALE HH-65 AS 365/565 Z-9 landing gear for Trumpeter, No. 35003, $16.95 from Scale Aircraft Conversions.
1/48 SCALE Shed from Plus Model, No. 4051, $31.80. Laser carved wood parts, 5 resin parts.
Japanese military field kitchen equipment from Plus Model, No. 488, $31.80. Forty
resin parts and photoetch sheet.
1/48 SCALE BAe Hawk T. landing gear for
AIRCRAFT DETAILS 1/72 SCALE
HobbyBoss, No. 48325, $15.95 from Scale Aircraft Conversions.
1/32 SCALE
Soviet Headquarters in Winter Uniforms
from Zvezda, No. 6231, $5.95.
SCIFI KITS 1/1000 SCALE Sopwith Snipe landing gear for Wingnut Wings, No. 32114, $16.95 from Scale Aircraft Conversions.
Star Trek USS Excelsior from AMT,
No. 648 299, $7.95.
S.E.5a stretchers (for Eduard) from Eduard,
No. 48915, $9.95.
MISCELLANEOUS KITS Crane Ruger H-3D from Plus Model, No. 4055, $23.30. 31 resin parts and photoetch sheet.
14 FineScale Modeler July 2017
No. 49815, $24.95.
S.E.5a propeller two-blade — left (for Eduard) from Eduard, No. 648 296, $7.95. S.E.5a propeller two-blade— right (for Eduard) from Eduard, No. 648 297, $7.95; S.E.5a radiator Wolseley Viper (for Eduard) from Eduard, No. 648 298, $7.95; S.E.5a guns (for Eduard) from Eduard,
No. AMT843/12, $39.95.
1/35 SCALE
MiG-25RBT interior (for ICM) from Eduard,
Me262B-1/U-1 landing gear for Revell, No. 32115, $18.95 from Scale Aircraft Conversions.
1/72 SCALE C-130A Hercules conversion from OzMods,
No. 7216, $21.
AIRCRAFT DECALS
MEDIA
1/48 SCALE
Venturi tubes from Croco Models. Contact your local dealer for price information.
Hawker Sea Fury Collection from
Xtradecal/Hannants, No. X48175, $8.30.
F-16C WA WA WA Vipers from
TwoBobs, No. 48-254, $14.
Syrian Sukhois Su-34 and Su-24
B-1B Lancer intake and forward nacelle upgrade set from BarracudaStudios,
from TwoBobs Aviation Graphics, No. 48-2355, $14.
No. BR72300, $35.95. 2 forward nacelles, 2 intake fairings, 2 boundary layer plates, 4 compressor faces, 8 intake baffles, 2 pair auxilary intake doors.
World War II German Motorized Infantry & Panzergrenadiers,
British Destroyers 1939-45, $18, by
World Naval Review, $37, Edited
Wave-Off, $39.95, by
The Patton Tank Cold War Warrior,
Railway Guns British and German Guns at War, $39.95,
$19, by Nigel Thomas, soft cover, 64 pages, all black-and-white photos, ISBN: 978-14728-1943-7. From Osprey Publishing.
Angus Konstam, soft cover, 48 pages, all black-and-white photos, ISBN: 978-1-47281636-8. From Osprey Publishing .
B-1B Lancer late exhaust rear nacelle from
BarracudaStudios, No. BR72398, $35.95. 2 rear nacelles, 2 styles of oil coolers, 4 late burner cans, 2 wing root corrections, 2APU exhaust ducts, 4 flame holders, 3 guide varies, 60 radius rods.
B-1B Lancer wing glove set from
BarracudaStudios, No. BR72301, $11.95; B-1B nose and tail correction set, late from BarracudaStudios, No. BR72296, $25.95; B-1B Lancer main and nose wheel set from
Messerschitt Me 262 A1a/U3/A2a & S-92
from Xtradecal/Hannants, No. X48179, $8.30.
1/72 SCALE Fairey Barracuda Collection from
BarracudaStudios, No. BR72299, $19.95.
Xtradecal/Hannants, No. X72267, $8.30.
SCIFI DECALS
by Conrad Waters, hard cover, 192 pages, 82 color photos, 188 black-andwhite photos, ISBN: 978-1-4738-9275-0. From Pen & Sword Books Limited .
Robert R. ‚"Boom‚" Powell, Commander USN (Ret.), hard cover, 192 pages, 82 color photos, 188 blackand-white photos, ISBN: 978-1-58007235-9. From Specialty Press.
1/1000 SCALE
Handley Page Victor Collection from Xtradecal/Hannants, No. X72265, $8.30.
Star Trek USS Excelsior Aztec from AMT, No. MKA017/12, $35.95. 3 sheets.
Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a/U-3/A-2a & S-92 from Xtradecal/Hannants, No. X72269, $8.30.
$29.95, by Michael Green, soft cover, 207 pages, all black-andwhite photos, ISBN: 978-1-18488-4761-3. From Pen & Sword Books Limited.
by John Goodwin, hard cover, 122 pages, all black-andwhite photos, ISBN: 978-1-4738-5411-6. From Pen & Sword Books Limited.
For more than 17,000 product listings visit FineScale.com www.FineScale.com
15
AIRBRUSHING & FINISHING By Patrick Brown
Apply weathering for a Sherman on the march Sharp painting and a detailed base put an American tank in Europe
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sked to build a late-war Sherman somewhere in Europe, I was given Tamiya’s 1/35 scale M4 (No. 35190). The kit has nice features, especially the cast texture on the turret, a good selection of stowage, and a radio. But the 20-year-old kit has a few shortcomings, notably the open sponsons, solid-molded handles, and recessed weld seams. Tamiya bills the kit as an “Early Production” M4. It has some early M4 characteristics, but it also sports mid- and late-production features; confusing but not necessarily inaccurate. In Europe, many U.S. tanks were refurbished as improvements were ordered by the Ordnance Department. These were added to vehicles as they came through depots for maintenance. So, the kit could be accurately described as an M4 Sherman (Refurbished) or Sherman (Mid-Production). With the exception of filling the sponsons with sheet styrene, I did not make major improvements to the kit parts. However, I replaced the heavy brush guards, handles, and tool straps with photo-etched metal. Spare parts from a Dragon Sherman provided better suspension bogies and an M2 machine gun for the commander. Leaving off the side skirts, I glued on styrene strips for their attachments. I left off the vinyl tracks in favor of a working set from AFV Club. I use an Iwata HP-C Plus double-action airbrush that provides a mix of economy and capability. It will go as fine and thin as I’ll ever need and costs between $100 and $150. To power the brush, I have a Master Airbrush TC-20T 1/5-horsepower compressor with a ¾-gallon air tank and water trap/regulator. Before painting the camouflage, I sprayed white for the national insignia and masked for the stars. I lightened Tamiya olive drab (XF-62) with a little dark yellow (XF-60) for scale effect and airbrushed it over the tank. Then I post-shaded the vehicle with thin olive drab mixed with quite a bit of buff (XF-57). I hand-painted the tools with Vallejo acrylics. For weathering, I first applied a filtering wash of Winsor & Newton black artist’s oils thinned with Turpenoid. I concentrated this on vertical faces to create shadowy streaks. A burnt umber pinwash enhanced recesses and corners. Light dry-brushing added highlights. I didn’t want the tank to look overly dusty since it would be set in a muddy environment. So, I added only a light layer of buff pastels to the upper surfaces. FSM 16 FineScale Modeler July 2017
Base: I removed the glass from an inexpensive picture frame and sealed the gap around the fiberboard backing. After masking the frame, I formed the road with Elmer’s wood filler. Pushing scale tracks into the still-wet filler gave the impression of many passing vehicles. I also inserted the dragon’s teeth fortifications. Airbrushed Tamiya flat earth (XF-52) colored the ground.
Dragon’s teeth: I made a master from sheet styrene and covered it with basswood strips, leaving gaps and imperfections so the structures would look like they were cast in a wooden concrete mold like the real things. After casting several copies in plaster, I chipped the corners and added a brass-wire lifting eye. I painted the blocks with a mix of Tamiya sky gray (XF-19) and buff (XF-57), then flowed on a wash of black artist’s oils.
Meet Patrick Brown With a push from his dad, Patrick started modeling when he was 6 or 7 and built the old Renwal Blueprint and Aurora armor kits. After a decades-long hiatus for college, work, and starting a family, he got back into the hobby around 2003. He’s still on active duty in the U.S. Army after 23 years. While he’ll build pretty much anything military, he says his biggest interests are armor, Japanese subjects, and 1/32 scale aircraft. “My wife tells me I have too many hobbies as it is, so I try to limit them to collecting antique firearms and modeling,” Patrick says. Commander: The figure comprises parts from Verlinden’s resin U.S. tank crew. I tweaked one arm slightly to hold the radio. I added wires for the headset and painted it with Vallejo acrylics.
Barbed wire: Starting with a double strand of copper electrical wire salvaged from an extension cord, I tied individual barbs — just like real barbed wire. It was pretty tedious and I’ll never do it again.
Mud: For the chewed-up lane, I slopped a concoction of Liquitex acrylic gel and ground pastel chalk over the textured groundwork as well as the tank’s lower hull and suspension. For a fresh, wet look, I airbrushed a light coat of Pledge FloorCare MultiSurface Finish over the mud.
Grass: After planting Woodland Scenics static grass, I enhanced it with tufts from Scenic Express. To give the grass a dormant winter appearance, I airbrushed it with a mix of Tamiya khaki (XF-49) and deep green (XF-26), then dry-brushed it with yellow green (XF-4). www.FineScale.com
17
FORM & FIGURE By Joe Hudson
Shades of field gray How to paint German uniforms
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uring World War II, the majority of German soldiers wore field gray uniforms. Like olive drab, there are many interpretations of field gray (feldgrau); the shade varied widely based on dyes and fabrics. Many references and a lot of model paints cast it as a greenish gray, but the paints can appear more gray and sometimes even have a bluish hue. Whether you build German figures separately or in dioramas, you’ll need to apply the color. I painted a pair of figures from MiniArt’s 1/35 scale German Soldiers Winter 1941-42 kit (No. 35218), recasting them as prisoners of war huddled around a fire barrel as they await whatever fate has in store. The plastic figures have nicely molded detail and dramatic poses. The focus here is the field gray coats, so I won’t detail how I did the faces.
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Over a base coat of Vallejo gray primer, I brushed a combination of German field gray and bronze green mixed by adding a pupilsized drop of the latter to an eyeball-sized pool of the former. I used a large brush to minimize brush strokes.
For the initial shadows, I added more bronze green to the base mix. This is applied under folds, collars, and arms.
Paints used Vallejo Model Color 70.830 German Field Grey Vallejo Model Color 70.885 Pastel Green Vallejo Model Color 70.845 Sunny Skintone Vallejo Model Color 70.897 Bronze Green Vallejo Model Color 70.865 Oily Steel Vallejo Model Color 70.950 Black
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3 Here, I’m deepening the shadows in deep folds using pure bronze green.
Next Issue Joe confronts the hairy challenge of beards as he paints a dwarf.
4 I begin adding darker shadows by adding black to bronze green and brushing it into deep folds, such as under the collar …
7 Before applying highlights, I mixed a dark glaze by adding small amounts of bronze green and black to the base color and thinning with water. I brushed thin layers of this onto the lower sections of each coat to add a little dirt and grime.
10 The brightest spots received a mix of German field gray with a dab of sunny skintone. I edged the collars and cuffs with a mix of pastel green and a little field gray.
5 … and under the arms against the body. The deepest shadows received pure black.
8 For the first highlights, I added a little pastel green to the base shade. Keep the mix thin so it’s more the consistency of a glaze. This was brushed onto the upper side of folds …
11 It’s important to choose the right brush size for the job. Use a small brush on large folds and you run the risk of leaving brush strokes.
6 I painted the shallow sleeve opening black. Adding a bright highlight to the edge of the cuff will suggest a deep opening where one doesn’t exist.
9 … and sleeves. I added progressively more pastel green to the mix for brighter shades.
12 Try to paint small areas with too big a brush and you’ll likely end up painting areas you didn’t intend to make that shade. FSM
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19
Scare up a Phantom
Celebrating America’s 200th birthday in style, U.S. Navy evaluation squadron VX-4 painted one of its Phantoms in this striking scheme.
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1 While technically an F-4J, Vandy 76 had F-4Sstyle leading-edge slats; although nonfunctional, they served as an aerodynamic test bed for the system. The outboard slats were installed with four connecting posts, so I removed two of the kit’s six posts.
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2 The inboard slats were a harder fix. Using a scriber, I thinned the plastic around the edge of each inboard slat, then cut them away with a hobby knife and set them aside until the wing halves were joined.
3 I cut off the wing fences and replaced them with longer fences provided in the kit. Then I reshaped the oversized trunnion covers molded on the wings.
of a different stripe How to build a unique bicentennial bird /// BY DARREN ROBERTS
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n 1976, as bicentennial fever swept the United States, everything imaginable was painted red, white, and blue, including cars, boats, and trains. The U.S. Air Force and Navy got in on the act and painted several aircraft in patriotic schemes. Some were simple, while others enveloped the entire plane. One of the most intricate was applied to Vandy 76, an F-4J Phantom assigned to VX-4, a Navy test squadron. As a test fighter, the aircraft had been modified with fixed leading-edge slats. No single Phantom kit contains everything needed to accurately portray this aircraft. So, I settled on Hasegawa’s 1/48 scale F-4S kit. It still needed some modifications, but it got me most of the way there.
4 To droop the inboard flap sections, as seen on most Phantoms on the ground, I thinned the plastic along the sides with a scriber and finished the cuts with a hobby knife. I also scored the hinge line, taking care not to cut all the way through. When the plastic was thin enough, I carefully bent the flaps into position.
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I sanded off the radar warning receiver (RWR) antennas at the wingtips.
6 On the lower wing halves, I trimmed a thin strip of plastic from the leading edges just in front of the inboard slat mechanisms. Then I glued these strips underneath the slats previously separated from the upper wing halves to complete the leading-edge slats.
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I also cut off the lower parts of the inboard flaps and sanded the front edges to give them the correct angle for a dropped position.
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Then I attached those sections to the previously repositioned flaps on the upper wing halves.
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… I plugged the holes for the outboard fuel tanks with styrene rod and sanded them flush with the surface.
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I joined the wing halves and formed wells for the inboard leading-edge slats with two-part epoxy putty. While the putty was soft, I inserted styrene rods for slat attachment posts.
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After removing the RWR antennas under the wings (top) and intakes (bottom) …
Vinyl
After attaching all of the slats, I added thin, triangular braces for the outer wing slats with self-adhesive vinyl. Using a pattern, I cut two pieces for each brace; they sit directly aft of each support post for the slat.
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It’s best to correct the fuselage before joining the halves. I scraped off the molded lowintensity formation lights (slime lights) on the tail, intakes, and nose with a hobby knife, then finished with sandpaper.
I planned to use a resin replacement nose, so I removed the support bar from the front of each fuselage half. I constructed and painted the cockpit, but didn’t spend much time on it since the canopies would be closed.
I cut off the kit’s anemic tail hook and replaced it with a hefty resin replacement from Steel Beach after joining the fuselage halves.
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The fin cap needed to be backdated also, so I removed the RWR antenna before gluing it to the tail.
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Since I always seem to break the plastic pitot tube and ram-air inlet from the tail’s leading edge, I replaced them with turned-brass probes from Master (No. AM-48-049) inserted into carefully drilled holes.
Although Vandy 76 was an F-4J, the radome had been replaced with one from an F-4B with an IR sensor. So, I installed a Royale Resin nose.
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The final change to the fuselage involved removing the small blade antenna from the spine. A quick slice of the hobby knife and swipe of sandpaper did the deed.
To improve the wings’ fit, I shimmed the port wing root with a thin strip of styrene.
The horizontal stabilizers have a triangular brace that needs to be removed. After sanding it off …
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… I scribed missing panel lines.
I started painting by spraying the exhaust area with various Alclad II metallic shades. A wash of Tamiya smoke emphasized details and added depth.
To keep the Phantom’s lines clean and show off the scheme, I installed the kit’s optional one-piece canopy and masked it with a vinyl set from Steel Beach.
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9 Number of years until America’s 250th birthday (There is no good word for this anniversary.)
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Matching the frames with the interior, I first sprayed the canopy flat black.
Then, I airbrushed the entire model with Alclad II white primer. This base coat serves as the white in the scheme and brightens the red and blue to come.
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I started masking for the red on the fuselage spine by laying a strip of tape the width of the stripe. Then I placed tape on either side and removed the center strip. This process continued until I had masked all of the white stripes; the nose was masked with blue painter’s tape.
I repeated the process underneath, temporarily attaching the landing gear doors because the stripes run across them.
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With masks in place, I airbrushed Testors Model Master Acryl insignia red. After removing the tape, I was struck by a sudden urge to eat a candy cane!
Using Tamiya tape for the edges and blue painter’s tape for large areas, I masked everything that would not be blue and sprayed the tail, wing leading edges, and horizontal stabilizers with Acryl insignia blue.
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Pulling the masks off revealed the blue trim. The hard part was over — or so I thought.
Custom Aeronautical Miniatures (CAM) makes decals for this scheme, including all of the markings and the blue scallops (No. P48-020). Unfortunately, I had trouble getting the brittle scallops to conform to the curves; I touched up cracks with paint. Next time, I’ll use the decals as a template to paint the scallops.
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I applied thin red decal stripes to the metal areas above the exhaust and on the vertical stabilizer. The blue of the decals wasn’t an exact match for the insignia blue paint, but with a gloss top coat it’s hard to tell the difference.
I also corrected the Bureau Number (BuNo). CAM’s numbers were too large and included F-4J above the number, so I turned to my decal stash and cut up numbers from an F-4 sheet.
With all the decals on, I added two blade antennas to the spine and painted them red. Having placed that final detail, I added one of the most colorful bicentennial schemes to my collection. Here’s to all that red, white, and blue! FSM
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25
Beef up a
Bergepanther Scratchbuilding and detailing render a realistic recovery vehicle /// BY ANDY COOPER
When your panzer is bogged down or stuck in a ditch, where do you go? Nowhere, unless you can call on a Bergepanther to pull you out. Ingenious enhancements make Italeri’s model look more taskworthy.
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ith hundreds of Panther tanks already in action, and even-heftier Tigers taking the field, the Germans needed a heavy-duty recovery vehicle. In fact, many of Germany’s armor losses were not to hostile fire but through deliberate destruction by their crews to prevent it from falling into enemy hands — all for lack of an effective recovery vehicle. By mid-1943, the first dozen Bergepanthers — turretless Panthers, designated SdKfz 179 — came off the production line. A large anchoring spade was hinged to the rear, and a powerful winch was housed in the original fighting compartment, surrounded by a steel-and-wood superstructure. 26 FineScale Modeler July 2017
I chose Italeri’s 1/35 scale Bergepanther (No. 6472) to superdetail. Then, armed with period images and walkaround photo essays, the game was on.
Inside the hull After constructing the basic lower hull, the first order of business was to modify the kit-supplied driver’s position. I cut out the solid drive shafts with a razor saw so I could replace them with styrene discs and tubing for shafts. The rear crew seat also was removed and replaced with an end from a scrap drop tank I had in my spare parts box; I used it to represent the transmission housing, 1. It wasn’t truly accurate, but it filled an area that would be partially hidden anyway.
Referring to photos, I built up instrument panels, a radio set from my spares, wiring from solder, and steering and brake handles of styrene to replace the peculiar kit-supplied steering column, 2. I made a new floor for the winch compartment, beginning with styrene supports, 3. Mesh from a screen door replicated a diamond-plate surface, to which I added solder lines along with conduits and junction boxes made from styrene scraps. I masked the area where the winch would sit to ensure a good glue bond later, 4.
Winch As the focal point in an open-topped hull, the complex-looking winch is this model’s centerpiece — so I paid special attention to
1 Molded drive shafts were sawed off the kit part; new parts are white styrene. A sawed-off drop-tank tip caps the transmission.
4 Screen-door mesh makes 1/35 scale diamond plate; masking tape keeps the surface bare for gluing down the winch.
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2 Styrene stock and spare parts equip the driver’s position.
5 The superdetailed winch comprises kit parts (tan), styrene stock (white), a VHS reel (black), and scraps.
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3 Styrene strips are used as floor joists to support a renovated interior.
6 A large-diameter punch-and-die produced styrene discs for the cable reels.
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Dress rehearsal: Test-fitting continues as the winch nears completion. Linen thread replicates towing cable.
Kit parts for the superstructure provided a guide to making wooden replacements. L-shaped styrene strip trimmed the boards.
Model-boat planks make the superstructure look like wood — as it should.
it. It’s made from scratchbuilt and kit parts. The kit’s winch has reels with molded cable, but I thought it would look more realistic to wind thread onto empty reels. The main reel came from a VHS video cassette, 5. The two intermediate-size reels are made from styrene discs I popped out with my punch-and-die set, 6. I used the drive cogs from the kit. The feeder pulley is a kit part, too, but the angled pulley wheel that feeds the cable onto the first reel is scratchbuilt, as is its mount. I frequently test-fitted the assembly in the hull as I added parts. The winch was completed with kit parts and detailed with bolt heads that I sliced from hexagonal styrene rod. Cable guide brackets were made from photo-etched scraps. The cabling is a long length of linen thread wound onto the pulley system, anchored underneath where the glue would not be visible, 7.
Happy with these subassemblies, I finished the internal hull fittings. These included: a bulkhead between the winch and driver’s compartment, made from sheet and profile styrene; a crew seat mounted on the bulkhead; the kit’s internal fuel tanks and battery; and plumbing, wiring, junction boxes, and other equipment from scrap plastic, solder, wire, and spare parts to “busy up” the area.
the metal framework and hinge brackets, 9. Photos show red primer and the ivory color of German tank interiors inside the winch compartment. I painted the floor and winch Tamiya hull red, and the sides and top with GSI Creos acrylic sail color (H85), 10. Transmission parts, radios, and other clutter were picked out with a small brush and various gray acrylics. I gave the winch cable a coat of metal black and some graphite dust from a pencil, and distressed the winch assembly with pencil scratches and gray or metallic gray highlights, 11. Before closing the hull I weathered the interior, 12: Dry-brushed aluminum added wear to the floor; dark gray was dabbed with a swatch of plastic scouring pad to replicate paint wear and scratching; and the whole area was given artist’s oil washes, first with black to darken the recesses, then
Topside enclosure The walls of the winch’s wood-and-steel enclosure could be folded down for access to the compartment and possibly use as a work platform. I bought scale planks from the boatbuilding section of a hobby store and used the cut-away kit components as patterns to cut new “lumber,” 8. I used styrene strip and angle to trim the edges and represent
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Basic painting of the interior consisted of hull red flooring and ivory (sail color) sides and top.
A soft-lead pencil produces all the scratches any winch could want. The graphite also gives a metallic sheen to the cable (thread).
Tank recovery is a rough-and-tumble business. The degree of weathering should reflect the work at hand.
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Once the fit of the winch is verified one more time, the hull’s upper and lower halves are joined.
Welds are made of sprue softened with liquid cement and sculpted with a hobby knife. Now is the time to fill and smooth ejector-pin marks.
Prepare to paint! It’s easier to do running gear, the spade, and the winch off the model.
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A gray primer coat equalizes color on all elements — kit plastic, styrene stock, and wood.
The first yellow coat is airbrushed lightly enough to allow pre-shading to show.
Lighter toward the top, darker toward the bottom — shading mimics the play of light.
burnt sienna and raw umber. After everything dried I joined the hull halves but left the winch until later, when I would thread the cable through the superstructure, 13. The last major subassembly was the massive anchoring spade mounted on the vehicle’s rear. I used the kit parts but added prominent weld beads on the arms using stretched sprue melted with liquid glue and sculpted with a hobby knife. I also filled and smoothed the parts’ ejector-pin marks, 14. When the hull’s glue had set, I attached as many external fittings as possible before painting. I temporarily placed the winch superstructure (a nice, tight press-fit) but left the wheels and tracks off for ease of painting. Then I masked the interior with packing foam and headed to the spray bench, 15.
Exterior paint
items were colored with variations of the same paints, and some with metallic paints for tools, 18.
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First came a coat of Tamiya gray primer from a spray can, 16, followed by airbrushed dark brown pre-shading. The painting of Bergepanthers is open to conjecture. Most photos I saw suggested a single, sandy color with no camouflage. So, I went with a “sand gelb” (yellow) finish. I began with a base coat of GSI Creos sandy yellow/dark yellow (H79), lightly airbrushed to allow pre-shading to show through, 17. I varied this coat with different shades. Adding a little bit of Tamiya desert yellow (XF-59) darkened lower regions and running gear. Random applications of Tamiya wooden deck tan (XF-78), dark yellow (XF-60), and buff (XF-57) provided subtle tones, with the lighter colors generally applied closer to the top. Various stowed
Final assemblies The winch was loaded aboard and the superstructure was at last fitted to the hull top and clamped in place until the glue had set, 19. Then I mounted the wheels, sprockets, and tracks, 20; packing foam help set the characteristic sag of the Panther tracks. I added some restraining chains to the superstructure sides — jeweler’s chain from a crafts store — and left one side open.
Beating up the Bergepanther Wartime photos show recovery vehicles led a rough life. So, heavy weathering would be appropriate.
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Solid construction sometimes depends on persuasion, gentle or otherwise.
Packing foam gives these Panther tracks their familiar sag along the top run.
Airbrushed shades and dark washes add depth and character to plates, panel lines, and other details.
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After the winch cable is threaded aft to the anchoring spade, a clamp keeps it taut until the glue dries.
A mix of flour, acrylic paint, and wood glue makes mud — and mud is what makes a spade a spade.
An unditching beam is essential to any recovery effort. Homemade brackets hold a balsa beam awaiting further weathering.
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More mud? Sure! A thinner mix is used for spattering and splashes.
Modifying the kit part allows the swing arm to be swung out to a more convincing pose. A clamp keeps “weight” on the cable while the glue dries.
Men at work: Leaving a few tools lying around helps bring the model to life.
I applied paint scratches and wear in the same way as the interior, using a scouring pad to randomly dab dark gray and hull red. These effects were moderated and unified by artist’s oil washes. A black wash deepened recesses and panel lines; excess wash was carefully wiped away using turpentine-moistened cotton swabs and a lint-free rag. Burnt sienna and raw umber followed, each applied and mopped up until the desired look was achieved, 21. The anchoring spade was fitted and the winch cable and shackle glued in place and clamped while the glue set, 22. (The real spade was lowered and raised by the winch cable.) I weathered the spade with pencil graphite and dry-brushed aluminum paint before giving the blade a few clumps of
mud made from a slop of baking flour, artist’s acrylics, and PVA wood glue, 23. I installed brackets to hold the unditching beam that Bergepanthers carried; the beam is a stick of balsa secured with a drop of white glue, 24. These parts were selectively weathered as well. I decided to add more of the same mud to the running gear and spade. The slop can be thinned or thickened by adding water or flour, respectively. Flicking the mix onto the model with a toothbrush or spreading it with an old brush helped me make a proper mess of it, 25. All that remained was to build the lifting derrick and pulleys atop the hull. The kit mounts this derrick in line with the hull sides — an unrealistic pose — but a little modification of the top bracket allowed it to be swung out. I replaced the kit’s molded
chain with jeweler’s chain (although it now seems a bit too big for the scale). The pulley system comes from the kit; needlework thread represents the rope. I attached the pulley to the crane arm, glued the thread in place, and put a spare towing clevis on the end. Hanging a clamp on the end of the thread maintained tension while the glue dried, 26. Final touches include internal stowage, such as a folded camouflage net made of painted medical gauze, a jerry can, some wood chocks (from more balsa) and a sledge from my spares. Hand tools (from an Italeri workshop set) are strewn about, along with a tissue-paper rag, 27. Though my interest in specialized armor normally focuses on Allied equipment, it was a refreshing change to tackle a German vehicle to test my modeling skills. FSM www.FineScale.com
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Revisiting a Valiant Tons of fun for a Vultee devotee BY FRANK CUDEN
What goes around comes around: I waited a long time for an accurate kit of the Vultee BT-13 in 1/48 scale. Combining Planet and Lone Star kits, plus spare parts as needed, I’ve been able to bring back an old friend.
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Number of BT-13s purchased and modified to resemble Japanese Val bombers for the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!
ack in the early 1950s, when I was but a wee lad of 11 or so, I lived across the highway from a grass-strip airport. Also there at the time was this silver, low-winged monster with a snarly 450-horsepower engine that would rattle the farmhouse windows when it took off to the east. By and by, I wormed my way into the airport’s shop and befriended the co-owners of that Vultee BT-13. During my time there, I had the presence of mind to take photographs of the aircraft. I also had the pleasure of riding in the rear pit on numerous occasions. My first experience with diving from 5,000 feet through a broken cloud ceiling at an indicated 180 mph was in that airplane. When we landed, the pilot told me my eyes were as big as silver dollars. I waited many years for a BT-13 kit to appear. Finally, Lone Star Models, then Planet Models, came along with 1/48 scale resin kits. I used the latter kit except for the flaps, which were provided separately in the Lone Star kit.
1 Flaps were always down when the plane was parked, so I cut the Planet wings to accept the Lone Star flaps. Super glue is what you use to join resin parts; Zap Zip Kicker accelerator sets the glue. Debonder frees your fingers; keep it within arm’s reach.
3 Before proceeding, I washed all the parts in soapy water to remove any foreign agents left from the resin-casting process and improve glue and paint adhesion.
5 Styrene bracing holds the footrests in place. For comparison, note the solid floor piece provided in the kit.
2 There was good tubular raised detail in the fuselage; I augmented that with styrene channel strips for stringers in the belly and used more styrene to begin building cockpit details.
4 Using more styrene strip and rod, I fashioned footrests, connecting rods between the throttle quadrants, fuel-tank selectors, and flap-crank wheels on the port cockpit wall. I also made rudder pedals from styrene rod and sheet and attached them to the rear of the instrument panels.
6 I test-fitted the fuselage halves and wing as I worked to make sure the added cockpit details would fit. www.FineScale.com
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7 Neither the Planet engine (left) nor the Lone Star casting (center) was as good as a plastic engine I pulled from my spares.
9 Footrests are dry-brushed with Tamiya silver to show wear. I cut a swatch of styrene sheet for a glare shield. A placard on the fire extinguisher (from Mike Grant) and others on the panels (from Airscale) added realism.
8 Snippets of styrene rod served as spark plugs; I secured them with Gator’s Grip glue and added thin solder for spark-plug wires.
10 After the fuselage was joined, I installed exposed wiring on the rear instrument panel. I had to work carefully around the roll-bar supports.
Marked location Wire
11 I cut elevators from the stabilizers so I could drop them, too. I also removed the trim tab on the right elevator so it would be offset, as on the real plane. It took a couple of coats of Squadron white putty to hide the fuselage and wing seams. 32 FineScale Modeler July 2017
12 A hole drilled in the stabilizer for a segment of florist’s wire provided stout support. I painted the end of the wire black and used it to mark the fuselage extension for another hole to accept the wire.
Stick lock
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I made stick locks from styrene rod, painted them red, and glued them in with the sticks forward (because the elevators would be down).
A coat of Alclad II gray primer indicated additional filling and sanding to smooth rough spots in the resin.
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A coat of Floquil old silver (out of production) showed the plane needed even more sanding. A metal finish easily shows flaws; wet-sanding smoothes them.
After taking my time with surface prep, I masked and sprayed different panels with various shades of Alclad II.
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It took a lot of masking tape, but the various paint shades had the desired effect topside …
… and underneath. I painted several access panels with Testors steel. Then, to soften the contrasts, I sprayed a very thin coat of old silver over the entire model. www.FineScale.com
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I drew a soft-lead pencil along recessed panel lines, then measured, masked, and sprayed the dark blue fuselage line. The rudder is painted white before decals.
To match the fuselage line and wrap around the cowl, I cut two circles of masking tape, halved them, and placed them on the cowling with the appropriate spacing. More strips completed the wraparound and masked against overspray inside the cowling.
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Red and dark blue decals create stripes on the rudder. I painted the exhaust pipe with Floquil antique bronze.
Using wing registration decals from a Microscale sheet (No. 72-0234), I cut the C out of the original NC55579 — the C was eliminated nationwide in the early ’50s. The wing walk is cut from a Scale-Master black decal stripe.
Flap actuator
Brake line
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I cut out .010-inch styrene circles for wheel covers; that gave me a thin edge for red trim.
Thin solder, painted black, represents brake lines. Resin flap actuators — all 10 — were carefully secured on the underside. The tail-wheel cover boot came from the kit, but I pulled a better tail wheel from my spares. I painted the boot with Testors Acryl armor sand and highlighted the creases with Testors Acryl Israeli armor sand/gray.
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I cut the kit’s vacuum-formed canopy into sections to show it open, then began masking and hand-painting the framing — first the horizontal stripes, then the vertical — with Testors steel.
At last, I could begin comparing results with my photo of the real plane. One correction I made was the small sun-shade panel on the aft sliding canopy; I was able to slide the aft canopy section out from underneath the fixed section, mask it, and spray it with a thin solution of Tamiya clear green and lacquer thinner, and put it back in place.
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I knew the N number was vertically displayed in white on the rudder; I guesstimated the spacing. The numbers are from I-94 Enterprises sheet No. LW101, U.S. Army/Air Force in 1/285 scale.
The landing light is painted with Testors chrome silver; the nav light is Tamiya clear red with a clear acrylic overcoat. The lights were molded on the wing; the clear covers are vacuum-formed kit parts I trimmed to fit and attached with thinned white glue. Canopy-closing levers were made from thin styrene rod.
Dropped elevator
The spinner from a Revell Stearman Aerobatic Biplane (kit No. 85-5269) tops off the kit’s propeller; Hamilton Standard prop logos came from Kora Decals (sheet No. 72-120). I used a red marking pen to draw tiny inverted T’s on the canopy sections (they were canopy releases). Styrene-rod step pegs on the fuselage sides were among the fond final touches for my beloved Vultee. FSM
Sunshade Canopy lever Added glare shield Canopy release
Step pegs Dropped flap Wing-walk decal
Solder brake line
Revell spinner
Styrene-disc wheel cover Painted “swoosh”
READER GALLERY
▲ STERLING DAVENPORT
TUCSON, ARIZONA Central to Sterling’s 1/48 scale scene is a Roberts vacuum-formed C-54 he built into a U.S. Navy R5D-4. Most of the ground equipment and figures are Tamiya; whatever he couldn’t scoop from his spares he scratchbuilt, including the hangar, tarmac, and boarding stairs. It was familiar territory for Sterling, who served in the Navy for 20 years and logged many hours on the R5D.
▲ PATRICK MILLER
HALSTEAD, ESSEX, ENGLAND Patrick built Trumpeter’s 1/48 scale F-100F Super Sabre in the markings of the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hahn Air Base in Germany during the 1960s. He added Eduard cockpit details, AMS Resin seats, and Aeromaster decals. 36 FineScale Modeler July 2017
◀ JOJO SANCHEZ
ANGONO, RIZAL, PHILIPPINES
“It’s kind of a Nachtjäger Jagdpanzer,” says Jojo. Inspired by Luftwaffe night schemes, he depicted Dragon’s 1/35 scale Jagdpanzer IV L70(V) as a creature of the night. “I had it in the box for almost two years until one day I noticed the tank lights on my son’s discarded toy T-55. It gave me an idea for a night-stalking tank killer.” Painting with Tamiya colors, he applied a late-war three-color scheme, then over-painted with black acrylic, “as with the Fw 190s of Schnellkampfgeschwader 10,” he says. He used a white permanent pen to dub the tank hunter Poltergeist.
▶ BRIAN COLTON
URAIDLA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA Brian built Imcth’s 1/32 scale Fine Structure “Desktop Mustang,” one of a series of “visible” models that are a unique meld of photoetched and white metal. Assembly is more like forming PE than anything else, and the result is beyond a cutaway. Brian built his from the box, but you can see how some superdetailers might get completely out of hand!
◀ YANGHO PARK
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA Starting with a toy car, Yangho scratchbuilt a chassis and various other components and wired lights to model a 1/6 scale Jeep Wrangler. He assures us there is no trick photography involved in this incredibly lifelike image.
Want more? Visit FineScale.com/gallery to see even more photos of great models built by FSM readers. www.FineScale.com
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READER GALLERY
▶ JIM ROMANO
BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NEW YORK “This is an old Revell/Monogram 1/48 scale F-4J my nephew gave me 15 years ago that I finally got around to building,” says Jim. He built it from the box but used Custom Aeronautical Miniatures decals to mark it for VF-41 aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. He finished the Phantom with Testors Model Master enamels and artist’s oil washes.
◀ MARK HUSBAND
CHRISTCHURCH, DORSET, ENGLAND This AEC Matador in D-Day Allied star markings was “quite a complex build with more than 400 parts,” says Mark. “I do like a challenge, and this model most certainly was one!” He airbrushed AFV Club’s 1/35 scale kit with Humbrol enamels.
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SEND US YOUR PICTURES! Shouldn’t your model be in Reader Gallery? FineScale Modeler is always accepting new material from around the world. Upload high-resolution digital images (preferably unedited, RAW format) with complete captions at www.Contribute.Kalmbach.com, or burn it all on a disc and mail it to FineScale Modeler, Reader Gallery, 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. Be sure to tell us the kit manufacturer, model, scale, modifications, paint and finishes used, and reason for choosing the model, along with your name and address. We look forward to seeing your work! ▲ TODD SCHAUMLÖFFEL
VERO BEACH, FLORIDA Todd shows the Moore-McCormack Lines passenger/freighter SS Argentina at the end of a 10-day cruise in the late 1950s, preparing to pick up a harbor pilot before docking in Rio de Janeiro. He waterlined a Revell 1/400 scale kit, added a Tamiya Utility Boat, and floated them in a sea of acrylic gels and paints. Todd presented his project to a neighbor and friend who, with her parents, was aboard the ship around that time. Many of the more-than 150 scale figures are engaged in activities inspired by his friend’s photos and recollections of her voyage. ◀ CHARLES THOMPSON
ROBBINSVILLE, NEW JERSEY The anime TV series Star Blazers 2199 pushed Charles to build Bandai’s Lascauxclass galactic warship. No scale is given, but the model is a little more than 4 inches long. Charles painted it with Testors Model Master SAC bomber green and flat gull gray spray cans, Testors flat black and flat orange from the bottle, and Tamiya clear orange bottled paint. He used The Detailer black for a wash and filled in larger panel lines and gun turrets with a black Gundam marker. ▶ ROSS WHITAKER
BELLEAIR, FLORIDA Longtime readers may recall Ross, who was a regular features and Workbench Reviews contributor in the early days of FSM. He built Special Hobby’s Goodyear F2G-1/2 Super Corsair as an F2G-2 and installed a True Details F4U-4 resin cockpit, mounted wheel hubs from Obscureco, fitted a prop from a Monogram F4U-4, and combined kit and Red Gecko decals. He also detailed the engine and made his own cowl flaps and exhaust pipes for the plane. www.FineScale.com
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SHOWCASE
AH-64 Apache cutaway When obsession sets in, the build begins /// BY MARK HEMBREE
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ny modeler will admit to suffering a certain degree of obsession. There are several terms for it — the nicer ones including fascination, desire, infatuation, fancy, or the itch. When a modeler gets a case of it, it usually means build. But for the late Dan Jayne, it meant build more. His extraordinary cutaway models are a lasting legacy to his skill and creativity.
More at www.FineScale.com Visit our website to see our memorial feature on Dan’s models (from the October 2016 FSM), as well as other examples of his amazing models. 40 FineScale Modeler July 2017
The Apache project started innocently enough. Dan was sitting in his backyard, building a B-24, when a formation of three Apaches flew overhead. “I never really got over that,” he said of the moment when that familiar obsession set in. Even though he had no kit or drawings, he stewed about it. Then a friend offered him a book — Modern Military Aircraft Anatomy (editors Eden and Moeng, Amber Books, ISBN 978-1-905704-77-4) — that featured comprehensive cutaway drawings. And there on pages 152 and 153 was the AH-64 he couldn’t get off his mind. Revell’s 1/32 scale Apache was out of production. But a local hobby shop had it, still in shrink wrap. To “keep it simple” — a relative expres-
sion when used by Dan — the avionics bay and gearbox/transmission bay were treated as part of the cockpit assembly, mostly on the starboard fuselage half, 1. Then he mapped out locations on the other fuselage half and used a motor tool to open the areas he wanted to reveal, 2. Walls and shelves in the bays were .020-inch sheet styrene, 3. The area just aft and above the cockpit, dubbed the “hell hole” for its complexity, comprises the generator, main gearbox, rotor-head control linkages, rotor mast, pitch-control swashplate, and main rotor hub, 4. Dan stuffed the space with styrene tubing, shaped styrene, styrene rod, even the base mount from a German 88mm gun. Getting everything to match up and come
Dan started with Revell’s 1/32 scale AH-64, but what he finished with was another matter entirely. His friend Chuck Stewart took the photos.
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out straight at the main rotor was the greatest difficulty. “I threw the first five input shafts away,” said Dan, “and ate a handful of Maalox.” Tail-boom ring frames, upper tail boom construction, tail rotor and control shafts, and the upper tail-rotor transmission were similarly fabricated, 5. Elements of the avionics, fuel tanks, electrical boxes, and other equipment were scratchbuilt and set aside for painting. The skeletal wing panels were formed
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with styrene stock: .020-inch ribs, tapered I-beams, and dowels. Instrument panel and side consoles were scraped clean to receive Eduard photo-etch. Of course, walls, seats, and flooring were superdetailed as well. Dan also scratchbuilt the port engine, including engine mounts, aft exhaust baffle plates, cooling air exhaust louvers, APU ducts, and the particle separator exhaust duct/mixer. By comparison, painting and finishing the model was simple. “It’s an Army heli-
copter,” Dan said. “Everything is green, green, green.” Using Testors colors, he painted the exterior dark green, applied a heavy wash of raw umber artist’s oils, and dry-brushed with olive drab and faded olive drab. Interior surfaces were painted with the same dark green and dry-brushed SAC tan and zinc chromate. After the build, Dan wrote, “I think back on that sunny summer day and those three Apaches as I set this one on a shelf and smile. It was a long wait.” FSM www.FineScale.com
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BUILDER BASICS By Waikong Chung
Acrylic-rod display How to make an in-flight aircraft model look grrrrreat!
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he NATO Association of Tiger Squadrons was established in 1961 as an informal way for NATO air forces to work together. Every year, aircraft from several member and honorary member nations gather for a public relations/media event with camaraderie as the centerpiece. From the modeler’s perspective, the best part is the collection of flamboyant Tigerthemed paint schemes from each squadron. Ever since seeing a picture of a Belgian F-16 in NATO Tiger Meet markings, I’ve wanted to build one. I was able to pick up a sheet of decals from DACO (No. DCD4846) that depicts an F-16 of Belgium’s 31 Tiger Squadron during the 1998 event — beautiful colors on a black background. Next, to find a kit. I picked up an old 1/48 scale Academy kit on sale that would fit the bill. Technically, it’s not the correct subvariant, the main difference being the absent tail parachute. However, for this build I decided not to care. In addition, I was going to build a wheels-up configuration with a pilot, eliminating much of the detail work on the cockpit and landing gear. Those areas always slow me down! 42 FineScale Modeler July 2017
1 Wheels up, doors closed: As you can see, a fair amount of filler was needed to smooth everything out.
3 To bend the rod, I clamped a heat gun to a table and, wearing heavyduty gloves, heated the rod in one spot until I could bend it. If you want a gentler curve, heat a larger portion of the rod and bend it around a round object.
5 Epoxy holds the other end of the rod in a hole I drilled in a sufficiently weighty wood base. After a coat of Tamiya white primer, I sprayed Testors black gloss acrylic. Each tiger stripe is a separate decal; overall, it took eight hours and a lot of decal solution.
2 A ¼-inch clear acrylic rod holds the aircraft aloft and is anchored in a wood dowel in the model. The grooves were cut to allow the plug to clear internally. I used epoxy to attach the plug before installing the tailpipe — but make sure everything fits before applying epoxy.
4 I drilled a hole in the wood plug to receive the rod. It’s a friction fit, so I can remove it from the model for transport. It also made a good grab handle during the decal process.
6 The finish coat is Microscale satin; a clear gloss would have looked toylike. No need for weathering — these aircraft were kept immaculate during the meet. I sprayed the base with metallic paint, mounted a home-printed 31 Squadron decal on a sheet-styrene placard, and my tiger was ready to pounce! FSM www.FineScale.com
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Sculpt your own Out of epoxy, a 1/32 scale U.S. Navy photographer and his four-legged friend come to life BY GREG EMBREE
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y favorite uncle, Charles B. Embree Jr. was a U.S. Navy Photographer’s Mate, 3rd Class, who flew antisubmarine patrols in PBY-5 Catalinas out of Argentia, Newfoundland, 1942-43. Wanting to present him with a vignette depicting his service, and finding it difficult to locate a 54mm U.S. Navy figure, I decided to make my own. Here, an aerial photographer based with a patrol bomber in Argentia carries a Fairchild K-20 aerial camera and heads to his plane the morning after a snowfall. Beside him, romping through the snow, is an Alaskan malamute, the mascot of the Naval Air Station Argentia. 44 FineScale Modeler July 2017
1 Greg cut strips of 22-gauge steel wire and bent the pieces into the basic shapes. Clockwise from lower left: hips and legs, arms and shoulders, and the spine of the figure.
4 Greg bent his armatures into position. For the flier’s head and hands, he used parts from Preiser’s 1/32 scale Adam figure (No. 63900). He began applying epoxy putty in thin layers, letting each coat dry fully before adding the next. To keep the torsos symmetrical, Greg applied equal-sized balls of putty to the right and left sides at the same time before smoothing them into the final shape.
7 For the flier’s helmet and dog’s tongue, Greg rolled putty between sheets of waxed paper liberally sprinkled with talcum powder. After waiting 20 minutes, he peeled off the semihardened sheet of putty and cut it to shape. The dog’s form is now complete.
2 The body parts were soldered together. Here is the basic shape, or armature, of the flier …
5 Applied with a pin, small dabs of Grumbacher’s MG white oil paint created the dog’s lower back teeth. During the sculpting process, Swiss needle files and a drugstore emery board smoothed rough spots.
8 To make zippers on the flier’s sheepskin trousers, Greg ran a dressmaker’s tracing wheel along a thin brass sheet to make it look like a zipper.
3 … and here is the dog.
6 The dog’s tail also is made of built-up MG white oil paint. At first Greg was sculpting a Siberian husky, but later he curved the tail when he learned that NAS Argentia’s mascot was an Alaskan malamute.
9 After cutting the brass into pieces, he glued it onto the figure’s legs with epoxy cement.
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Next he pressed narrow, rolled strips of epoxy putty on the brass to simulate where leather abutted the zippers. Once these dried, he packed more putty into the gaps on the legs. The finished galoshes have buckles fashioned from sheet brass.
Using bits of lead foil from the neck of a wine bottle, Greg created the Mae West life preserver. He then topped the flier with a helmet and goggles.
A guitar D-string served as the rip cord for the parachute. A staple held over a candle flame, then bent to shape, made the rip cord handle. Verlinden’s photo-etched U.S. WWII seat belt buckles (No. 2094) provided hardware for the parachute straps.
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At first Greg tried to make the parachute from modeling clay, as pictured here. But the clay did not hold its shape; he replaced it with a form made of epoxy putty.
The K-20 camera is made of two Airfix Multipose items joined with putty: a British haversack for the camera body and a German gas-mask canister for the lens barrel. The camera lens is an M.V. Products HO-gauge locomotive headlight lens (No. LS 23).
Matboard formed a flask for groundwork. The snow is a 50:50 mix of Celluclay and plaster of paris plus water. Once it dried, Greg tore off the mold, painted the surface with white acrylic paint, let it dry, brushed on Elmer’s glue, and dusted with Hudson & Allen Studio snow.
Meet Greg Embree
Greg is a retired government analyst living with his wife, Suzanne, in Arlington, Va. A modeler for most of his life, he completed his first kit, an Aurora 1/48 scale Grumman F9F Cougar, when he was 8. Beside him, at age 23, is his uncle, Charles B. Embree Jr., who now lives in Seattle, Wash.
March 1, 1942 16 After priming the figures, Greg used Testors Model Master acrylics for the base coat and Winsor & Newton artist’s oils for the finish coat. The goggle lenses received three layers of Pledge FloorCare Multi-Surface Finish. A spray of Krylon matte finish completed the job. FSM 46 FineScale Modeler July 2017
The date the U.S. Navy claimed its first German U-boat of World War II: U-656 sank south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, with all hands, a result of depth charges dropped by a Lockheed PBO-1 Hudson patrol bomber flying out of Argentia. The aircraft was from VP-82, a patrol squadron like the one with which photographer Charles B. Embree Jr. served.
READER TIPS By Mark Savage
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Create the wood floor look Here is my idea for creating the “wood floor” look in an aircraft. It also works for ammo crates. I am building the 1/32 scale B-17G from HK Models; that’s the floor assembly you see here, 1. To create the wood effect, simply find a piece of scrapbooking paper that suits your needs for color, texture, and pattern. Then cut pieces to fit your application, 2. Measure twice, cut once if possible! Spray glue (Elmer’s acid-free works for me) on the Make your own stopper I often had a problem with Testors’ precision glue tips clogging; because of that, I ran through the glue quickly. However, I found that if you cut an eraser off a pencil and stick a pushpin through the center, it works as an excellent stopper, extending the life of the tip. The sharp part of the pin works to keep the inside of the point clear, and the eraser keeps the top sealed to further prevent clogs and wasted glue. – Sean Houlihan Wallingford, Conn. HAVE A TIP OR TECHNIQUE TO SHARE? Send a brief description along with a photo to
[email protected] or visit FineScale. com and click on “Contact Us.” Tips are paid for upon publication; if you live in the U.S., we’ll need your Social Security number to pay you. FSM obtains all publication rights (including electronic rights) to the text and images upon payment.
paper and then stick it on the model piece that you want to look like wood. After it dries, you simply trim the edges, 3. You can weather it to the degree you want and add other furniture or interior detail. Then glue it to the model, 4. Simple! This not only keeps your model’s interior light, it ensures that other interior parts will fit with ease. – Matt Dika La Crete, Alberta, Canada
Stained glass windows made easy When modeling stained glass windows, I use the expanded metal mesh found in craft stores and hobby shops. It’s made for plaster-casting molds, but works well for windows. The mesh comes in different sizes that are suitable for various scales. It can easily be formed and cut to depict the desired picture or scene. To represent the glass, I use clear plastic glue or window-maker (such as Microscale Micro Kristal Klear) and translucent paint. The mesh can be shaped as needed to depict damaged windows. – Jack Brendle Maricopa, Ariz.
Painting your plane’s spinner A good solution for painting a spinner or the nose of an airplane is to use a drafting circle template. Choose the diameter of the hold that best fits your model, mask off the rest, and spray away. The templates are available at most office supply and craft stores. – Steve Antal Merrimack, N.H.
Brushing makes flat black shine I use this technique to make flat black look polished and it also magnifies small details on other colors. Using a soft paintbrush and graphite stick,
I brush over the areas I’ve painted flat black to give them a polished look and show off other details. While I’ve seen others using pencils for a similar effect, the soft paintbrush gets into all the model’s nooks and crannies. In the photo I’ve brushed over acrylics from Tamiya (flat black XF-1) and Vallejo (green RLM62). The dash and switches pop with just a little graphite. I later added other detail to the interior. – Mike Hamm Canyon Lake, Texas www.FineScale.com
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WORKBENCH REVIEWS FSM experts build and evaluate new kits
HobbyBoss out-Flankers the competition
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he Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker” may be considered the epitome of a fourth generation of Russian jet fighters. Comparable to the F-15 in design and role, it is impressive for its sheer size and speed but also displays incredible agility, being the first aircraft able to perform “Pugachev’s Cobra,” in which the airplane rears up like a cobra snake prior to striking. It is one of my favorite modern fighters, second only to the F-16. To this point, there has really only been one option if you wanted to build a Flanker in 1/48 scale. It certainly was time for someone to step in and offer us something new — and now HobbyBoss has presented a newly tooled Flanker kit. On opening the box and seeing the magnificent moldings, it immediately becomes obvious just how large an aircraft the Flanker is. What fun! The 12 pages of instructions in 16 stages deal with the construction. However, color callouts are far from complete. Nor are they accurate. The cockpit begins the build, and everything goes together smoothly. Detail is clean and accurate throughout. However, the seat is a letdown; its shape is good, with molded belts, but for some reason there is a large hole in the back of the head box. 48 FineScale Modeler July 2017
There is a rough surface texture on much of the outer airframe. It is inconsistent and quite obvious in some areas, especially around the cockpit on my example. This texture is also evident around the rear of the aircraft, which makes surface preparation a substantial chore in achieving a good metallic finish around the engines. Construction of the main airframe was otherwise trouble-free. The only area with a slightly less-than-perfect fit was where the intake tunnels attach to the rear engine/ under-fuselage section. Spending a little
more time test-fitting, trimming, and clamping the joints will pay off here. One issue I found off-putting even before seeing it in plastic was that the main wheel wells are molded at a very strange angle relative to the centerline of the aircraft. They look toed-in compared with the real Flanker. Once the model is built, however, the incorrect angle of the well is not that obvious — not a deal-breaker by any means. Speaking of wheels, HobbyBoss provides nice plastic hubs with rubber tires. There are some other areas, though, where details are more noticeably incorrect. The Infrared Search and Track (IRST) housing on the front of the windscreen is undersized and looks odd. Also, the real Flanker has a noticeable “wash-out” on the wings. (Wash-out is used in wing design to allow the wing to attain a lower flying speed. It involves building a twist into the wing so the tips point downward by several degrees compared to the wing root. This produces a later aerodynamic stall point and lowers the aircraft’s overall stall speed, especially in slow speed maneuvering.) However, the model lacks this, evidenced by the fact that
the wingtip missiles are parallel to the aircraft centerline, not slightly nose-down as they would be on the real Flanker. Finally, the intakes on the leading edges of the vertical fins should not be the same size. The intake on the port fin should be larger than the one on the starboard fin. Minor points, perhaps, but obvious if such things are important to you. There are some odd engineering choices in the way parts are presented, notably the attachment of clear parts to the sprue. Each of the lenses has a domed front with a flat rear face. The attachment points have the sprue gate attached underneath, extending onto the flat face. Removing a sprue gate on a clear disc barely ⅛ inch around and leaving it clear and clean is difficult to say the least! The canopy’s mount is a vague attachment in the open position, with no positive location aids at all. However, the fit of the closed canopy is excellent! In fact, I simply held the masked canopy in place to cover the cockpit while I painted the model’s exterior. Mounting the tail planes in any position other than neutral will take some scratchbuilding and a look at reference photos. The attachment of the tail planes themselves is not positive and requires care in attachment to achieve correct alignment.
This kit features a great weapons selection. There are more weapons than the aircraft can carry at one time, and some that are uncommon for early Flankers. In building this model, I looked at many photos of Su-27s to get an idea of how they look and what type of load is typical. As a result, I did not mount any weapons on the intake or centerline pylons, as most photos show missiles mounted only on the wings. I could not find any pictures of the aircraft represented by the kit marking choices, and I believe they may be somewhat spurious. I chose to depict a fairly generic early Flanker with all-green antenna covers, simply because I liked the way they looked. Mr. Paint colors were used throughout, with the specified colors for the Su-27 providing very accurate matches. The kit decals performed flawlessly with Microscale setting solutions. So, in conclusion, what do we have? The finished model is more than ¾ inch longer than the Academy Su-27 but has the same wingspan. As a result, it looks more like a Flanker — and that king cobra posture is obvious. The shapes are right, with good proportions and aesthetics. However, the product does appear to be somewhat rushed, with its rough surface texture and a slightly clunky feel through-
out. The instructions are neither clear nor concise, with less-than-complete color information provided. That said, I already have another Su-27 in my stash, as well as the Su-30MKK and Su-34 also released by HobbyBoss. So, even with its negative aspects, I don’t dislike the kit. I look forward to building a Ukrainian jet in “digital splinter” camouflage soon! – Matthew Walker
Kit: No. 81711 Scale: 1/48 Mfg.: HobbyBoss, www.hobbyboss.com Price: $81.99 Comments: Injectionmolded, 308 parts (3 vinyl, 9 photoetched), decals Pros: Good fits and shapes; no filler needed Cons: Inaccurate scheme and markings; poor instructions lack color callouts
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WORKBENCH REVIEWS
Italeri H-21 Shawnee
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arly in the Vietnam War, the Piasecki H-21 lived up to its U.S. Air Force sobriquet, Workhorse, lifting and transporting just about anything — supplies, vehicles, downed aircraft, troops; you name it, it hauled it. The box labels the aircraft as an H-21C Shawnee, the U.S. Army designation, but the decals include markings for USAF and French H-21Bs
Kit: No. 2733 Scale: 1/48 Mfg.: Italeri, www.italeriusa.com Price: $47.99 Comments: Injectionmolded, 166 parts (11 PE), decals Pros: Good decals; nice cockpit and rotorhub details Cons: Minor flash and mold seams; poor fit of cockpit glass; some vague instructions
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I’ve built 1/48 scale H-21s from Fonderie Miniatures and Special Hobby, and I can say that, despite a few problems, Italeri’s Flying Banana is the best of the bunch. Features include crisp panel lines, a nice cockpit, and detailed rotor hubs. The cockpit and cargo compartment went together fine, with a single-part floor for both sections. Photo-etched (PE) seat belts dress up the pilot seats, but there are none for the troop seating. The engine compartment doors can be posed open to reveal a decently detailed Wright Cyclone; you don’t see much, but it’s a nice touch. I left one open. The access-door hinges and lockdowns were a bit over-scale, which made for some tricky decal work. Instructions show the interior being installed in the starboard fuselage half, but the location was unclear. Glue the rear bulkhead forward of the rib. Optional early or late rudders are provided. I used the late, broader version which was more common. I shimmed the opening for the lower main-gear struts (Part 35B) and light fairings (parts 7A and 8A) on the belly for a snug fit. After gluing .010-inch strip sty-
rene around the edges, I sanded until the parts fit perfectly. I struggled with the fit of the main cockpit glass. I dipped it in Pledge FloorCare Multi-Surface Finish for shine and to protect the part from the copious super glue used to attach and fill gaps. I spliced in .020-inch styrene to fill a gap between the part and the top of the fuselage. To correct a mismatch along the same seam, I attached a strip of .020- x .060-inch styrene and blended it with the fuselage. Underneath, the glass was too wide. So, I cracked the bottom seam on the fuselage and inserted a hobby knife blade to spread the halves to better match the parts. Then I pinched the glass to meet the body and ran super glue into the seam. After it dried, I filled gaps with more super glue, sanded the area smooth, and polished the plastic in preparation for metallic paint. Assembly of the jewel-like rotor hubs was pretty easy. Be careful: The rotors differ, with the front rotating counterclockwise and the rear clockwise. I spent 32 hours on Italeri’s Shawnee, much of it fixing the cockpit glass. That alone makes the kit better suited to builders with a little experience. – Larry Schramm
Takom Hanomag SS100
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he Hanomag SS100 started life in civilian service in 1936 as the SP100 Heavy Tractor. Produced in two- and four-door options, this powerful truck saw service in the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht, and was often seen towing the V-2 rocket. Takom’s SS100 is the first injectionmolded kit of this vehicle in 1/35 scale plastic. No photo-etch is included. Along with gray and clear styrene, seven tires are molded in vinyl with good tread pattern and sidewall detail — but the company name is not one I have seen associated with German vehicles. Typical of Takom, instructions are in a small booklet with color profiles produced by Ammo of Mig Jimenez. There are painting callouts throughout, with RLM colors much of the time. Decals provide gauges, placards, and license-plate numbers, but no unit or tactical markings. This model comprises only 172 parts, and much of the detail is molded in place. Only a few knock-out marks needed filling, but there were some large mold lines that needed removal and sometimes repair, including filler. I began construction by gluing any of the parts that came in halves and filling all of the knock-out marks; then I could move along quickly. The engine has a lot of detail, but most of it is solid-molded — this won’t be a problem after the hood is closed. Be careful gluing the front bumper in place. The rectangle is the license plate. I thought it was to hold the hood in place and glued it on top. There is no winch detail, just the outer shell, so I painted the interior a dark color to hide the missing detail. The front and rear leaf springs are molded in halves, leaving a nasty seam to fill. Step 13 says to add the gearshift levers
before gluing the cab, but I left these off until the cab was in place to prevent breakage. The front wheels can be kept steerable with the old heated-screwdriver technique. Assembly of the cab depends on how much you want to build and still get the entire interior painted. I had hoped to leave one of the front doors open to show off the interior, but this would have left a weak joint between the front of the cab (Part E2) and its floor. So, I glued all the doors shut. To get proper placement of Part E2, I skipped Step 20 and glued the door frames and doors onto the cab floor first. This allowed me to glue E2 into its proper position. The rest of the interior details and cab roof were left separate for painting. The roof light has two options: One is molded in clear styrene (Part H9) and the other in gray styrene (E12), but that is not shown in the directions. The hood assembly made no sense to me, so I glued the sides, hood, and grille together at the same time, then glued this to the cab. The grille and hood side vents are molded shut, so you won’t see any of the engine or the radiator underneath. Oddly, the taillights are molded in clear styrene but the lights on the windscreen (Part A1) are molded in gray styrene. I drilled these out and filled them with Microscale Micro Kristal Klear. The windows look thick, but they’re glued from the inside so it’s not as noticeable. Color profiles show four schemes: dark yellow, olive green, panzer gray, and a dark yellow and olive green camouflage. Areas of operation are indicated, but no units are given. I chose the olive green scheme and used Tamiya XF-58 with black green (XF27) as a shadow coat. Adding dark yellow (XF-60) to the olive green provided high-
Kit: No. 2068 Scale: 1/35 Mfg.: Takom, www.takom-world.com Price: $49.99 Comments: Injectionmolded, 172 parts (7 vinyl), decals Pros: Great paint callouts in instructions; decals include gauges and placards Cons: Heavy-handed or soft detail; tires are not German issue
lights. Ammo’s satin varnish (090) sealed everything before filters and washes finished out the weathering. I used Humbrol enamel for all of the detail painting. The decals were thick and seemed to repel the setting solution, but they eventually settled down and did not silver. Four sets of numbers 0 through 9 are provided, but with three license plates you cannot have a license number with a repeating number. Getting them all to line up can be a challenge. Some may complain about the lack of detail in some areas. But when it is finished, Takom’s model looks like a Hanomag SS100. With no complex assemblies and a low parts count, this kit is easily built by any modeler. It took me only 28 hours to assemble mine, with much of that time spent painting the interior. It’s a great change-of-pace model. For those who want more vehicle information, the site Panzerserra Bunker (panzerserra.blogspot.com) is a good place to start. There are some great civilian schemes for these. Hopefully, someone will make decals to add variety to our shelves of green, gray, and yellow vehicles. – Mike Scharf
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WORKBENCH REVIEWS
Revell Germany Eurofighter Typhoon
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evell Germany’s all-new tooling of the single-seat Eurofighter Typhoon packs a lot of details into a small package with various display options and a healthy set of ammunition choices. Though there is only one marking option, the colors of the decals really pop and add a great amount of depth to the little fighter. The beautiful full-color instructions and logically laid-out steps made this kit fall together for me. The build starts in the same way most do, with the cockpit, and, even with a tiny cockpit, Revell Germany really crams in a lot of crisply molded features — every switch is easily visible, which makes painting and detailing go really smoothly. Like the cockpit, the main body’s fit and
detail are outstanding. Through smart engineering, the seam line along the back of the aircraft — which on most models needs to be filled, smoothed, and rescribed — is not a problem on this Typhoon. A separate piece for the spine covers that area perfectly and adds to the fighter’s streamlined shape. The only thing that was a little fiddly during the build was the landing gear, which needed to be moved around a bit for a proper fit. But, actually, it was the scale thickness that made this a little finicky — not really a problem. You get a few nice display options, such as open or closed air brake, a midair refueling spout that can be extended, and front elevons that can be positioned freely. There’s also a bounteous store of weapons. The paint scheme and decals are brightly
colored. The tail markings were large and needed a little bit of coaxing to get them into place, but I was surprised by how easily they sank into the topography with only one application of Micro Sol. The rest of the decals were even easier. My only real complaint with the kit is that the panel lines were so shallow that any weathering or washing had to be done very carefully, as it was so easy to wipe it off during cleanup. Revell Germany’s new Eurofighter is a great, quick build for any modeler. I spent about 20 hours building and painting it — the definition of a weekend build for me. I would recommend it to everyone. – Chris Cortez
ICM PzKpfw VI Ausf B Königstiger
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ing Tigers seems to be enjoying a renaissance, with new 1/35 scale kits from several manufacturers. Ukraine’s ICM joins the fray with a Henschel-turreted Königstiger. Cleanly molded in light gray plastic, the kit features vinyl tracks, separate hatches, and partial interior detail. No crew figures are provided. The lower hull builds from three parts: Interior detail includes torsion bars, bulkheads, and partial flooring. The torsion bars puzzled me, because they don’t attach to the separate suspension swing arms for a movable suspension. The one-piece upper hull includes full fenders. This is commendable for simplicity, but means extra work to model a tank with missing sections. The kit supplies separate, neatly rendered tools. Each run of tracks consists of two vinyl sections. The old-fashioned material resisted styrene; I used strong super glue and melted the connecting pins for sturdy joins. The tracks are a tight fit around the suspension and don’t sag. Fortunately, the fenders conceal the upper run. The turret interior features a full breech but nothing else. The two-part gun barrel incorporates the muzzle brake and part of the mantlet. The fit was perfect and the seam disappeared. Trouble-free describes overall turret assembly.
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I painted my King Tiger with Ammo of Mig Jimenez’s King Tiger exterior paint set. In addition to the three camouflage colors, it includes paint for the tracks, tools, and for winter schemes. The kit provides decals for four vehicles; I chose 008, which fought at the Battle of the Bulge. References show it was a command tank with an additional “star” antenna and hull mounting base, parts not in the kit. I completed the King Tiger in 24 hours. It captures the rugged look of the real vehicle. The kit’s simplicity makes it a good project for novice builders as well as a palette for advanced modelers to turn into a showpiece. – Jim Zeske
Kit: No. 35363 Scale: 1/35 Mfg.: ICM, www.icm.com.ua Price: $69.99 Comments: Injectionmolded; 329 parts (4 vinyl), decals Pros: Good attention to detail without being overly complicated Cons: Tight tracks lack sag
Kit: No. 03952 Scale: 1/72 Mfg.: Revell Germany, www.revell.de Price: $17.95 Comments: Injection-molded, 85 parts, decals Pros: Fun, quick build; good fits; smart engineering hides most mold lines Cons: Only one marking option; panel lines are too thin and shallow for my taste
Meng USS Lexington
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mmortalized in Stanley Johnston’s morale-boosting 1942 book Queen of the Flat-tops, USS Lexington (CV-2) was converted from a battlecruiser during construction in the 1920s. At the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, the carrier launched several attacks against Japanese ships before being struck itself. Fires forced the crew to abandon Lady Lex; torpedoes from escorting destroyers sank the stricken vessel. Meng’s simple Lexington comprises 119 parts on 15 sprues. Molded in four colors — gray, black, blue, and red — the parts show above-average detail, with fine recessed panel lines and no mold seams or flash. The parts are engineered to be pushed together without glue. Stickers for the base nameplate and to mark the aircraft complete the contents. No waterslide decals are provided. Early in the build, the instructions clearly show the option to build the model full-hull or waterline. There is no option to lowering aircraft elevators. The push-together design speeds assembly of the hull, and I was soon building the
superstructure. The clean, well-engineered moldings required no cleanup, and the only gap was on the funnel’s .50-caliber galleries (parts B15 and B16). The only glue required throughout the kit is for attaching the 18 aircraft to the flight deck. A build out of the box is perfect for a rainy afternoon. The model’s scale is nearly perfect as length, width, draft, and funnel height calculate perfectly. The four 8-inch gun turrets are the best representations of the weapons I’ve seen — they were removed in April 1942. The aircraft provided are correct for Lexington’s late-1941 air wing, including six each of the F4F Wildcat, SBD Dauntless, and TBD Devastator, all with molded-on propellers and landing gear. Painting and marking took more time. The instructions call for Measure 12, which the ship wore in 1942, but I backdated it to October 1941, before the turrets were removed, by applying Measure 1 — overall 5-D dark gray — and a Measure 5 bow wave. I painted the flight deck with 20-D deck blue and light gray markings.
Kit: No. PS-007 Scale: 1/700 Mfg.: Meng, www.meng-model.com Price: $62.99 Comments: Injectionmolded, 119 parts, stickers Pros: Excellent scale features; push-fit for easy build; good instructions Cons: Cost high for starter kit; oversized safety nets; poor stickers; no decals
The stickers for the aircraft markings were out of register, too large, and reluctant to adhere to the planes. I spent more time trimming them to fit than on the rest of the project. I wish Meng had included optional waterslide decals. Good fits and ease of construction characterize the Lexington, and the result looks the part. – Mark Karolus
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53
WORKBENCH REVIEWS
Airfix B-17G Flying Fortress
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his is not Airfix’s rivet-encrusted classic from the early 1960s, nor its interim reboxing of the Academy kit — you can retire those. While not as detailed as the recent Revell kit, Airfix’s new Flying Fortress may be the best choice for most 1/72 scale mod-
Kit: No. A08017 Scale: 1/72 Mfg.: Airfix, www.airfix.com Price: $39.99 Comments: Injectionmolded, 242 parts, decals Pros: Excellent surface detail; movable control surfaces; posable landing gear and bomb-bay doors; optional cowl flaps; good clear parts; excellent decals and instructions Cons: Only four bombs for the bomb bay; some complicated assembly steps; some clear parts fit poorly
54 FineScale Modeler July 2017
elers. The kit depicts the late B-17G model with the “Cheyenne” tail gun and staggered waist-gun positions (which was done to ease movement of the two standing gunners there). Options include raised or lowered landing gear, opened or closed bomb-bay doors, and movable rudder, elevators, and ailerons. However, flaps are molded shut. Unused parts for a slightly different flight deck window arrangement, a radome in place of the ball turret, and a nosemounted radome for a future RAF Fortress are also on the sprues. The parts are molded in Airfix’s now standard soft, light gray plastic. Exterior panel detail is engraved, but not too deeply. Most small parts show mold-parting seams that need cleanup. Clear parts are well done. I can’t think of another company that produces instruction sheets better than Airfix’s. I really like how they show the previous step’s additions in place and tinted; great assurance for easily confused builders. Decals provide markings for two 8th Air Force bombers in (mostly) natural metal: Skyway Chariot and Mah Ideel, the one I chose. The interior features a detailed flight
deck, bombardier’s compartment, radio compartment, bomb bay, waist, and tailgunner’s station, but you won’t see much once the model is assembled. The ball turret is suspended from the ceiling of the waist compartment so the guns can be traversed and elevated. The bomb bay has the trellis structure and bomb racks, but is equipped with only four 500-pound bombs. Study the instructions when it comes to adding the machine guns; most must be installed from inside, but the waist guns can be installed from the outside. In an effort to better detail the engines and nacelles, the parts breakdown and installation is pretty complex and will require careful study of the illustrations and dry-fitting. The engines show good detail, with separate castings for intake and exhaust manifolds, but most of it is invisible on the finished model. Optional opened or closed cowl flaps are a nice touch. The main landing gear is sturdy, and optional struts allow either raised or lowered gear. One of the best things about modeling the B-17 — no landing gear doors to repeatedly break off ! You can pose the bomb-bay doors
LMV Lince United Nations
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opened or closed, but watch out; you need to cut out a piece of each dooropening mechanism before installation (step 112 and 113). Look closely at the diagrams. The fit overall was very good. The clear cover for the flight deck fit well, but I found the clear side panels in the nose fit sloppily. The tiny window (K6) just behind and above the bombardier wouldn’t fit into its opening without some adjustment. I painted my model with Alclad polished aluminum and Mr. Color lacquers. The decals are beautifully printed and went on without a hitch. I spent 26 hours on my new B-17, and the finished model looks correct. Experienced builders should have no trouble with it, but beginners may be daunted by the high parts count and involved assembly. Airfix has already brought out a second issue, this time with ground equipment, and it will be interesting to see if other variants will be coming. With a different set of fuselage halves, an early G, F, and E should be possible! – Paul Boyer
roduced by the Italian industrial vehicle maker Iveco, the LMV Lince (Lynx) serves with the Italian army, air force, police, and special forces, as well as on United Nations peacekeeping operations. It is especially well liked because of the armor protection under the vehicle. There are 186 injection-molded parts, plus nylon net and cotton wire in the kit. The plastic is molded in white and olive green. I built option C with the gun mounted and hatch open. In Step 7, Part 6B is fidgety. I glued it onto the wheel and then onto the axle. I painted the frame and the parts under the chassis, even though the blast shield would cover them. The interior pieces went together without a problem and are realistic with all the roll bars, handles, decals, and seat belts. I pre-bent the seat belts, painted, and glued them in place to prevent chipping. To see all of that, leave the doors posed open. In Step 19, make sure Part 4C is fastened securely or it may come loose when clicked onto the frame in Step 20. Take time to get the placement correct when gluing the inside run ring (3C) to the top ring (1C) if you want the unit to rotate. I used scissors when cutting the nylon net for the
Kit: No. 6535 Scale: 1/35 Mfg.: Italeri, www.italeriusa.com Price: $51.99 Comments: Injection-molded, 214 parts (17 PE, 5 vinyl, thread, plastic net), decals Pros: Good fits; great interior detail; tires look real Cons: Belly armor plate conceals nice drivetrain detail
stone guard and door pockets. Careful, the mesh unravels easily. On Step 23, I glued the end of the cotton wire on the winch axle and wrapped the line around the unit, using thin super glue to secure it. I left enough line to thread into the tow hook and secure onto Part 29G. I glued the doors shut — which was a mistake, because now you can’t see the interior. But no matter if they’re open or shut, the doors fit well. On Step 42, the photo-etch bracket bends perfectly on the pre-scored lines. The only problem I encountered was with the spare-tire bracket that obscured the license plate. I painted the body Testors flat white and the interior olive drab, and followed the instructions for the rest. The decals are opaque and are in-register. They went on well with Solvaset. The detail makes this kit stand out next to most military vehicles. I spent about 30 hours on this one and recommend it for intermediate modelers. – Ted Horn
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WORKBENCH REVIEWS
Revell Germany Me 262B-1/U-1 night fighter
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evell Germany’s Messerschmitt 262 night fighter provides a single matte decal sheet with markings for two aircraft; I chose “Red 12,” flown by Herbert Altner at the end of April prior to the jet being surrendered to the Allies. The kit provides no swastikas — standard for Revell Germany, as is the open-ended box. A 28-page instruction booklet shows color-coordinated paint callouts. In the cockpit, the consoles, control stick, rudder pedals, throttles, fuse box, side walls, and one-piece seats are all molded separately. The fantastic instrument decals
Kit: No. 04995 Scale: 1/32 Mfg.: Revell Germany, www.revell.de Price: $39.95 Comments: Injection-molded, 222 parts, decals Pros: Good details; great decals Cons: Great engine detail but no way to show it off; a few tricky fits
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are a great touch and are accurate. Decals are also provided for the consoles. I believe Decal No. 64 is printed in reverse, since I could not get it to fit properly. Decals are provided for the seat belts, which worked out well for me; I used no decal-setting solution so the belts lay more naturally. All goes well until you try to fit the cockpit tub together. It’s a tight fit of three pieces, two walls, and a floor with the control stick and rudder pedals. I couldn’t get anything to locate properly and had to shave and shoehorn the cockpit into the fuselage. A lot of super glue was required, but, fortunately, it’s mostly hidden from view. The gun bay and landing gear in the nose are next. Detail here is good, but aftermarket companies probably will produce some nice enhancements in this area. There are four Mk.108 cannons provided, which I believe is incorrect; it should be two Mk.108s and two MG 151/20s (although Wikipedia calls for two more Mk.103 cannons in the nose). You’ll have to scratchbuild or acquire aftermarket guns. The bays are sufficiently detailed, but if you decide to close the bay you’ll run into fit problems down the line. The doors just don’t fit well enough to close them. I like the fact that you have to insert the cockpit tub into the fuselage after cementing the halves together. Every 262 I’ve built
goes the same way. The only fuselage fit problem was on the nose, where the forward bulkhead attaches to the forward fuselage. No biggie, just more super glue. The main-gear bays are well appointed, with all the actuators and bits that make up most of the essentials. The gear bay comprises several pieces and is glued to the lower wing half. This created some fit problems, requiring more super glue. The instructions have you install the flaps before you glue the wings together, but I waited until final assembly for this. Then you mate the wing to the fuselage. The aft section fits well enough, but the front section is tight. I couldn’t find the reason for this, but I think it might be interference from the gear bay. Anyway, more super glue. Two complete engines are provided, and you can show them both off — but only the forward third or so. Or you can close them up. The one-piece intakes and exhaust cones are fantastic, with no seam to contend with. I had only to remove two ejector-pin marks on the whole model; they are located on the inside of the engine nacelle halves. No problems with any of the engine components; they fit seamlessly into the wings. The landing gear looks great and is quite strong. Stencil decals are provided for the wheels. I had no problem assembling and attaching the gear to the airframe, except
Airfix Nakajima B5N2 “Kate”
S for the forward nose section containing the gun bezels. It is a tight fit — more super glue. The instructions do recommend a 15-gram nose weight, but I placed mine in the two external fuel tanks — dicey, but it works. The fuel tank pylons were the last fit problem I encountered. Some filler — or super glue, which I obviously prefer — will be needed. The canopy is a three-piece affair that looks crisp and clear, if a bit thick. Putting on all the little bits that make up this nachtjäger is pretty straightforward. The Neptun “antlers” that form the radar set need special attention to clean up as they have an unsightly seam and are very delicate. All the control surfaces and wing slats are separate, a nice option. When it comes to painting, the instructions’ color callouts seem accurate — all the right RLM numbers are there. The decals’ printing is right on, and they lie down beautifully. I stenciled the swastika, since none is provided. There is an option to close everything up if you choose to put it on a stand, but no pilots are provided. However, the kit provides a separate main landing-gear door as a single piece. It pops right in, great for masking. I replaced the kit’s pitot tube with a safety pin; the kit part is too fragile to remove the seam. I also added sprue for the radio antennas, replacing the black thread provided in the kit. Despite its crisp, recessed panel lines, Revell Germany’s 262 doesn’t have all the surface details of its competitors. But it’s still a great value. The kit has its quirks but, as with all models, a bit of patience is rewarded with a nice replica. – Caleb Horn
uperior to its contemporaries when first built, Nakajima’s B5N2 was the most-produced Japanese torpedo bomber of World War II. A lot of options highlight Airfix’s “Kate”: open or closed cowl flaps; retracted or extended landing gear; separate, posable control surfaces; three canopy options, and a choice of ordnance. Interior wing structure and jury struts are given if the builder wishes to cut and fold the wings. Two markings schemes are provided: a Pearl Harbor attacker from the Shokaku, and a late-war 553rd Kokutai aircraft. The kit comprises more than 100 parts. Depending upon the selected variant and configuration, many won’t be used. The build was straightforward with no vices. Airfix’s comprehensive instruction sheet provided clear diagrams of ordnance loads and control-surface-travel limits. The Sakae radial engine is nicely done. Canopy options range from all sections closed to all open. For the latter option, the three nested sections forward of the gunner’s station present a minor appearance problem because only faint lines and a thickened clear section represent the forward frames of each sliding portion. With its low part count and excellent fit, I finished my model in 14 hours, less than my norm for a model this size. The decals’ register was dead-on, but those printed on a white background (the national insignia and red lettering) needed solvent encouragement to settle into recessed detail.
Kit: No. A04058 Scale: 1/72 Mfg.: Airfix, www.airfix.com Price: $23.99 Comments: Injection-molded, 107 parts, decals Pros: Optional parts; excellent fit, detail, and instructions Cons: Questionable color references
I didn’t fully agree with the specified color callouts for the aircraft or armament. Humbrol Metalcote aluminum (27001), meant for the wheel wells, isn’t on the color legend. The color for the Pearl Harbor variant is Humbrol hemp satin (168), which Airfix notes is only an approximation. I elected to use Tamiya IJN gray (XF-12) and GSI Creos (Gunze Sangyo) IJN green (H-59) acrylics for my model. The bombs are specified as overall gloss pale gray, and from my limited resource photos, I can see that’s not universally correct, either. In Airfix’s defense, its interpretations are probably as good as anyone’s — there seems to be a wide range of opinions on Japanese subjects. A couple of items would really make the model pop. Wingtip navigation lights are missing, and the little teardrop-shaped spots on the upper wing are lights that are not called out in the instructions. An antenna would be a nice addition; it is shown on the box art but not in the instructions. Various references show different antenna configurations as well. I added masking-tape seat belts to my Kate. Consider these recommendations as constructive comments, not negative ones. Above all, don’t let them deter you from buying this kit. It’s thoroughly enjoyable. – Walt Fink
WORKBENCH REVIEWS
Dragon MIM-104B Patriot with M983 HEMTT
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ragon’s new 1/35 scale MIM104B Patriot missile launcher with M983 HEMTT is a huge kit of an impressive vehicle. Finished, it measures more than 19 inches long and 11 high with launchers and antenna raised. The parts count on the imposing vehicle is not all that high for its size, and the 526 parts fit well. This is one of Dragon’s Black Label models. But because of its size, I spent the bulk of my time painting and weathering the model. I went at this a bit backward, starting
Kit: No. 3558 Scale: 1/35 Mfg.: Dragon, www.dragon-models.com Price: $119.99 Comments: Injectionmolded, 526 parts, decals Pros: Mostly crisp details; not-overwhelming parts count; rewarding build Cons: Soft cabin detail; not enough string for trailer rails
58 FineScale Modeler July 2017
with the HEMTT first. This allowed me to build the truck’s interior and, while it was drying, start the trailer. The HEMTT’s cab and several other parts are from Italeri’s 20-year-old M977 HEMTT, and they show their age with soft details. But the parts fit well. After the cab interior was painted, the rest of the HEMTT went together rather quickly with details packed in all over the place. If this is going to be a showcase piece, or you’re looking to upgrade it, adding a bit more detail to the motor would be easy. It’s visible from the bottom of the truck and from behind. Next, I moved to the trailer. It is broken down nicely into separate subassemblies, making the building and painting much easier. These also are great small projects to make progress on the build when you only have a small amount of time to work on it and don’t want to dive into a larger, more-complex step. I suggest leaving all of these subassemblies, or as many as possible, off until they are painted. Putting them all on prior to painting creates a lot of small areas that are hard to get at. Some parts also can be left workable, if you are delicate with them. The four outside support legs can be left movable, as can the doors on the generators. Painting and weathering requires the
most time here. There is a lot to paint. I used just a little more than two full bottles of Model Master acrylics for the base coat, so I suggest that you plan to have plenty of paint on hand. You never want to run out mid-build. It’s not too surprising that the kit has a fairly large decal count. Most went on without any trouble. Just a few needed a second coat of decal solution. It’s easy to get carried away with weathering. I forced myself to work in small areas at a time so I didn’t miss cleaning any spots up. There are a lot of little areas here where mistakes can hide. The kit’s box is large, and its sprues are too. While the box size may scare off newer modelers, it shouldn’t. This kit builds fairly easily because the sprues and instructions are split into subassemblies. That means you’re mostly working off only one or two sprues at a time. I spent almost 100 hours building and painting the HEMTT and Patriot launcher. You don’t need to be a master modeler to tackle this giant kit. You’ll be fine if you have a couple of kits under your belt and are looking for a large model to sink your teeth into. This kit will reward any modeler looking to add this iconic vehicle to their Gulf War lineup. – Chris Cortez
Kitty Hawk Super Étendard
K
itty Hawk’s Super Étendard features crisp details and panel lines molded into the bluish-gray plastic. The box is packed with parts, including five trees of weapons, a photo-etched (PE) fret, a clear sheet with canopy, nav lights and beacons, and beautiful decals. I like the instruction manual with colorful foldouts for all eight marking options. Construction starts at the cockpit. The ejection seat is well appointed with fantastic PE seat belts. There are 31 pieces for the cockpit, with separate throttle, rudder pedals, cockpit sides, and rear bulkhead. The ejector seat handles look a bit cartoonish — big and thick. The instrument panel is well detailed, although some instrument decals would have been nice. Oops! They are provided! But there is no mention of them in the instructions. I suppose I should have looked more closely at the decal sheets before building. Deviating from the instructions, I left the landing gear off until final assembly. The instructions suggest you build the full nose gear and attach it in the nose gear bay before cementing the forward fuselage together. There are three fuselage sections, the forward area containing the cockpit and nose landing gear bay, a center section with engine, and an aft section that can be posed open/off or attached, revealing the aft engine parts. A full engine is provided, but with no intake tunnels so you see everything you don’t want to see. There also is a separate lower piece of fuselage with part of the intakes and gun bezels. One might think putting in all these complicated parts would pose problems, but, no, the fit was near perfect! However, throughout the build, most of the locating pins had to be removed to ensure a better fit, such as for the exhaust nozzle. There also are large ejector-pin
marks that have to be removed, some located in hard-to-get-at areas. Yet all the major construction proceeded without a hitch. It tended to be the smaller bits I had problems with. For instance, antenna (Part A51) has no locating mark on the forward spine; likewise, the little braces that hold the gear doors on. There are a few options, but good reference material is a must. For instance: open or closed refueling probe; open/closed canopy, but no actuator is provided; open/ closed ground connection for external power; wingtips folded or not (no mention in the instructions, though); open/closed speed brakes (with beautiful PE inserts); and posable control surfaces all molded separately. Additionally early- and late-version bits are provided. This is where references help, because the instructions do not mention what parts go with which version. One option has been decided for you, though, the large Fowler flaps come molded in the down position. You’ll also need to do research on the weapons systems because the instructions don’t tell you what weapons go with which version. My biggest challenge, though, was figuring out which marking option to use. All eight were tantalizing, but in the end I went with the cliché Argentine version, basically for historical reasons. The Orland Tiger Meet version from 2007 with gorgeous tiger decals was tempting. The decals are of high quality; I had no problem getting them to lie down. However, the “Warning/No Step” flap markings were too long and had to be trimmed. The only decal that appeared inaccurate was the triband Argentine flag on the vertical stabilizer. It’s marked with an orange dot, but that is supposed to be a sun with rays and a face. My research on the Argentine aircraft
Kit: KH80138 Scale: 1/48 Mfg.: Kitty Hawk, www.kittyhawkmodel. com Price: $51.99 Comments: Injectionmolded, 454 parts (14PE), decals Pros: Crisp details; decals for 8 aircraft Cons: Some fit issues; no intake tunnels
shows a centrally located appendage between the gun bezels, but it is not provided. Every piece here is exceptionally detailed, from the cockpit to the full engine, control surfaces, wheel wells, and landing gear. Attaching the main landing gear is a bit iffy. There isn’t much holding them. Also, attaching the Exocet missile and fuel tank was a bit difficult. Neither fit well. In fact, I had to trim the fins considerably on the Exocet to keep it from hitting the wing and main landing gear. The bigger downside is unclear instructions, mainly regarding such little bits as the actuators and brackets for the gear doors. Extra patience and research will help you be successful. As mentioned before, all clear navigational lights are provided except Part GP12, which is the starboard side light. The part has a location on the sprue, but it isn’t there. I thought it may have broken off the sprue, but it was clearly never molded on the sprue. Kitty Hawk’s Étendard is a good kit. With special attention to certain areas, it builds into a great piece. I’d build another. – Caleb Horn
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WORKBENCH REVIEWS
Wingsy Kits Mitsubishi A5M2b “Claude”
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espite being the first all-metal monoplane in the Japanese navy, the Mitsubishi Type 96 A5M had fixed landing gear and an open cockpit. (Later versions featured an enclosed cockpit.) New Ukrainian kit maker Wingsy Kits’ freshman offering is a 1/48 scale A5M2b with a 640hp Kotobuki 3 engine in a NACA cowl. The Allies referred to the aircraft as “Claude.” The light gray plastic parts show excellent engraved panel lines, a detailed cockpit, and multipart engine and cowl. A small photo-etched (PE) fret provides cockpit details, including the instrument panel and small airframe parts. Clear parts include the canopy and wingtip and taillight lenses. Options include two 30kg bombs, centerline drop tank, and a tail hook. The rud-
der and ailerons are separate; the former can be posed offset, but it would take extra work to pose the ailerons. The instructions comprise clear assembly diagrams and painting directions. Decals provide markings for four Claudes. You have options for the instrument panel including: painting a plastic panel and applying a decals for the dials; using a PE panel over film instruments; or, as I did, applying the decal to the plastic panel and cover it with the PE part. The cockpit consists of separate sides, floor, rear frame with seat, and the instrument panel/gun assembly. I sanded the exterior slightly to close the fuselage around it. I dry-fitted the engine bulkhead (Part A6) and upper forward fuselage panel (Part A2) to align the fuselage.
One of the engine pushrods broke as I removed it from the tree, so I replaced it with stretched sprue. I had to fill minor gaps between the main cowl halves (parts A3 and A5), but the front and rear section fit perfectly. I forgot the PE cowl support but managed to finagle it into place past the front of the cowl with careful persuasion and colorful language. I masked the engine with a disc of tape and airbrushed the cowl with Tamiya NATO black. The wings-to-fuselage fit is good, but I added a little putty to blend the rear of the lower wing and fuselage. I airbrushed decanted Tamiya spray paints for the airframe: bare-metal silver (AS-12) and bright red (TS-49). I darkened the latter with a drop of gloss black. The decals were the most troublesome
Airfix Whitley Mk.V
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rmstrong Whitworth’s Whitley, a pre-World War II bomber, performed yeoman’s work for the Royal Air Force early in the war. From bombing to dropping paratroops and hunting U-boats, it was in heavy action. Airfix’s all-new Whitley comprises wellmolded gray plastic and features a detailed cockpit, bomb bay, and interior, posable flaps, and optional clear parts. A lot of windows grace the fuselage, and Airfix cleverly molded them in clusters that install from inside to speed assembly. The fuselage builds from a front section including the cockpit and a long rear fuselage comprising three parts. These assemblies mate with the central wing module. Crew doors can be posed open, and boarding ladders are provided. Assembly of the wings posed no problems, and they blended with the center section with help from sturdy spars. Fit of the well-engineered parts is tight and precise. Be sure to keep mating surfaces clear of paint for a trouble-free build; I needed just a little filler at the wing roots. The combination of clear and solid parts made construction of the gun turrets a bit finicky. I had problems aligning the rear turret’s four guns, and the internal parts fit a little too tightly with the clear section. The nose turret’s opening was too narrow for the machine gun to pass through, so I cut off the barrel, closed the turret, and reattached the barrel. 60 FineScale Modeler July 2017
Detail fills both bomb bays, which can be displayed by cutting apart the four-section doors. Four bombs complete the load. I painted my Whitley with a combination of Tamiya acrylic and spray paints. Cartograf decals provide markings for two aircraft, and they settled nicely over a glossy surface with the aid of decal-setting solution. The model looks good when compared to photos and drawings in Warpaint No. 21 — Armstrong Whitworth Whitley by Ken Wixey (Hall Park, no ISBN). I completed my Whitley in 28 enjoyable hours and was impressed with the fit and engineering. While not for beginners, it can be handled by modelers with a little experience building small-scale kits. – Jim Zeske
Kit: No. A08016 Scale: 1/72 Mfg.: Airfix, www.airfix.com Price: $39.99 Comments: Injection-molded, 152 parts, decals Pros: Plenty of options and detail without being overly complicated Cons: None
Kit: D5-01 Scale: 1/48 Mfg.: Wingsy Kits, www.wingsykits.com Price: $79.98 Comments: Injection-molded, 138 parts (49 PE), decals Pros: Detailed cockpit; excellent surface detail; clear parts provided for position lights Cons: Some decals slow to release from paper
aspect. Printed on thin, clear film, several were slow to release from the backing — I had to wait 5 or 6 minutes in some cases. The clear film on the stencils disappeared, a helpful feature on the metal finish. But the
national insignia obscured detail. After a coat of semigloss clear, I added the windscreen, engine, and details. I spent 24 hours on my Claude, split evenly between assembly and finishing.
Overall fit and the level of detail impressed me, but experience handling small parts and bare-metal finishes will be beneficial. Well done, Wingsy! What’s next? – John Plzak
IBG Type 89 Kou
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lthough small, IBG’s kit of the late gas-powered Type 89 is expertly engineered with only a few fiddly issues that are primarily due to the scale. Panel lines are finely engraved, and there is excellent rivet detail. A driver and a standing crewman are included. I followed the directions with the exception of leaving the tracks until the end. I did have some problems assembling the running gear. Sprue gates and ejectorpin marks obscure four teeth on all halves of the drive sprockets and return idlers; I removed the gate from behind with a razor saw, then sanded the freed tooth to shape. Also, the return rollers have a minimal mating surface with the housings. Remove the axles and pin the wheels to the housings for a stronger bond. The hull and turret went together easily and required no filler. Due to the camouflage pattern’s scale and complexity, painting the model took as much time as assembling it. The painting instructions are confusing: The tank pictured does not match the model in some areas, the colors look wrong compared to the paint and the box images, and the camouflage doesn’t line up from side to top to side. Taking some creative license to resolve the mismatched pattern, I masked with Silly Putty and used Tamiya paints as called out on the instructions. The decals were perfectly printed, went
down fine over a coat of Pledge FloorCare Multi-Surface Finish, and reacted well to Microscale Micro Set. Still, they are very thin and require care to position. I tried to move one and … Tamiya flat white to the rescue! The model took 12 hours to build and scales out well with my references in height and width. But length is another story. Tip-to-tip, it matches Wikipedia’s stated 18 feet, 10 inches — but Chris Foss’ Great Book of Tanks (Zenith, ISBN 978-07603-1475-3) has it at 14 feet, 1 inch. This does match the length of the model from the forward edge of the hull to the rearmounted storage box, disregarding the trench tail and the drive sprockets’ extension past the hull. The model went together easily, but tiny parts and mating surfaces limit my recommendation to modelers with a few kits under their belts. – Larry Johnson
Kit: No. 72040 Scale: 1/72 Mfg.: IBG Models, www.ibgmodels.com Price: $19.95 Comments: Injectionmolded, 163 parts (5 PE), decals Pros: Finely molded panel lines and rivets; link-and-length tracks Cons: No directions for figures; sprue gates detrimental to some parts (drive sprocket and return idler); minimal mating surfaces for some parts
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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS By Mark Hembree
Bending props to model a wheels-up landing
Q
U.S. Air Force
I recently acquired a 1/72 scale Bf109E-4 and want to model it in a crashed position with bent propeller tips. Any ideas on how I can do this? – Alex Sweatman Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
A
The best way to bend propeller tips as you wish is to use heat — but not too much! You only want to bend the tips — not completely distort the mass of the plastic. I would use a good, hot hairdryer or a heat gun, pliers, and a stiff, round rod. Wood dowel or a brass rod or tube might do the trick for the latter. Use pliers with smooth jaws (like some needlenose types) or wrap tape around the jaws to avoid putting grooves in the plastic. Heat the prop tip until it softens a little — not too much! — and use the pliers to gently bend the prop blade around the rod
Distressing a tough tank
Q Regarding the March 2017 article “Adding color to Israeli armor,” I have a question on the procedures. In Step 13, the author (Karel Sutt) states he added a final camo coat after the hairspray chipping technique in steps 9 through 12. Wouldn’t this have covered up the previous chipping? Yet in Step 14 the author shows the chipping. Was another hairspray chipping done that was not mentioned, or did the author avoid spraying the final camo over the chipped areas? – Dave Marzola Dublin, Calif. GOT A MODELING PROBLEM? Our Questions & Answers column is here to help. E-mail
[email protected], or visit FineScale.com and click on “Contact Us.” We are not able to conduct lengthy research, such as answering questions on markings and unit histories. Mail volume and space limitations prevent us from printing every question. Please include your name, town, state, and a daytime phone number.
62 FineScale Modeler July 2017
and hold it in that position until the plastic cools. Don’t try to get the whole bend all at once. Work gradually, repeating until the bend looks like you want it to. Then bend the other blades more or less to match. Look at photos of crashed planes to get a good idea of how and how much you want to bend. Remember, easy does it. You can always do a little more, but once you’ve done too much it’s hard to correct — except perhaps to replace them with a new propeller (if you happen to have a spare handy) or
A First, thanks for reading, Dave. It’s nice to know people are paying attention! The key to understanding Karel’s distressed finish is that he does it in several layers. To review: In Photo 8, he applied metallic gray. This is what will show through after he applies hairspray as a release agent, oversprays that with a primer red (Photo 9), and then scrubs away some of the primer to reveal the metallic underneath (Photo 10). In Photo 11, he sprays the base color coat, then scrubs that a little, too. The next photo (12) shows the sharp contrasts of bared metallic, exposed primer, and the base color coat — too much, in fact. Karel softens the contrast by lightly airbrushing a second camo-color coat that doesn’t completely cover the earlier effects but makes them more subtle. Photo 14 shows the multilayered look of varying degrees of weathering and wear; rather than a single effect, Karel achieves several levels of chipping, scraping, and corrosion. So, yes, some of the chipping gets covered up — but not all, and not all at the same rate.
What color, which paint?
Q Sometimes instructions give long and different numbers and letters to indicate the paint used. How do I find these exact
make new blades from scratch! And here’s a weathering tip: After you do the bending, paint the prop blades with a bright metallic and let that dry thoroughly. Then paint the prop blade color, usually something like RLM 70 (schwarzgrun, or black-green). Use fine steel wool (0000) on the blades’ leading edges and around the bends, just enough to expose the metallic color and give the appearance of newly exposed bright metal underneath freshly scraped paint. This is adventurous modeling. Have fun!
paints, and where they can be purchased? I’m building the USS Gato (SS-212) by Trumpeter, and the directions list “H [305] [305],” the same number, in black and white boxes. What’s the brand name of the paint and where can it be purchased? – Michael Ball Grand Island, N.Y. A I know that Trumpeter and others will use those numbers in their instructions without any clear reference to what they are, which hardly seems fair — if we just knew things like that, we probably wouldn’t need instructions at all! The numbers you refer to are for GSI Creos (sometimes cited as Gunze or Gunze Sangyo) paints; the black box is for the Mr. Color line of lacquers, the white for Aqueous Hobby Color acrylic (which is not available in the U.S. due to labeling issues). There are several websites that provide cross-references to other brands, but our current favorite is www.paint4models.com. There you can download a PDF or view a spreadsheet you can customize to show your favorite brands by name and number, as well as cross-references to Federal Standard, RLM, RAL, ANA, and even Pantone numbers. FSM
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AIRCRAFT, ARMOR, SCI-FI, FIGURES, AUTO, ETC. Buying kit collections, large or small, worldwide. Top prices paid. Call Jim Banko 610-814-2784 or mail list to 122 Independence Ct., Bethlehem, PA 18020, fax 610-439-4141. E-mail:
[email protected] I WANT TO BUY YOUR UNBUILT MODEL KITS. Any size collection. Dean Sills, 116 N. Washington St. Owosso, MI 48867. 989-720-2137. Fax: 989-720-0937. E-mail:
[email protected] MODEL CAR AND TRUCK KITS. Unbuilt or built. Any size collection. Good prices paid. Please contact: Fred Sterns, 48 Standish, Buffalo, NY 14216. Phone: 716-838-6797. Fax: 716836-6057. E-mail:
[email protected] YOU WILL NEVER FIND TIME TO BUILD ALL THOSE MODELS. Unbuilt kits, diecast aircraft, 1/18th scale model airplanes, military books. Milam Models, 519 DiLorenzo Dr., Naperville, IL 60565, Phone: 630-983-1407,
[email protected]
MISCELLANEOUS 1ST AND ABSOLUTELY THE BEST MUSEUM-QUALITY MODELS. IPMS Nationals winner building aircraft and armor to your specification, including conversions and scratchbuilt. Call BC Models for quote and information at 913-385-9594 or visit www.bcmmodels.com FINESCALE MODELER AUTHOR and IPMS medalist will build your favorite aircraft, specializing in metal finishes. Contact John Adelmann at 563-556-7641 or
[email protected]
Local Hobby Shop Directory Local Hobby Shop Directory listings are available for the next ten issues for $275 (payable in advance) or at $37 per issue (billed to established accounts for a minimum of ten insertions). Ads will be set in standard listing typography. All insertions must be consecutive and may be invoiced if you have credit established with us. No mention of mail order business permitted. For information call 1-888-558-1544, ext. 815. Closing dates listed in Classifieds section.
ALASKA • Anchorage
www.anchoragehouseofhobbies.com Alaska’s best hobby supplier since 1964. Two stories, 6,300sf, 1st floor all R/C, 2nd floor general hobbies, plastics, trains, slot cars, telescopes & more!
ANCHORAGE HOUSE OF HOBBIES
2803 Spenard Rd.
907-277-7778
ARKANSAS • Jacksonville
Headquarters for scale hobbies. Models; N-HO-O trains; gaming; tools; paints, etc. Discounts & special orders. Open 10-6, closed Sundays and Wednesdays www.railandspruehobbies.com
RAIL & SPRUE HOBBIES
1200 John Harden Dr.
501-982-6836
CALIFORNIA • Burbank
Large selection of plastic kits, paints, and supplies. Special orders no problem Visit us in person or online www.houseofhobbies.com Secure online ordering
BURBANK’S HOUSE OF HOBBIES
911 S. Victory Blvd.
818-848-3674
CALIFORNIA • Canoga Park
Kits, plastic & wood, Slot cars & toys. Rockets, paint, glue and tools. Model trains. Mon 10-5; Tue - Sat 10-6 Closed Sun & Major Holidays. www.scalemodelstuff.com
SCALE MODEL STUFF
7259 Canoga Avenue
818-716-7847
CALIFORNIA • Garden Grove
Rewards program for 10% back on purchases. Plastic aircraft, armor, ships, cars, decals, books, paints, tools, miniatures war-games. Mon-Thur 11-8, Fri 11-midnight, Sat 10-midnight, Sun 11-7 www.brookhursthobbies.com
BROOKHURST HOBBIES
12188 Brookhurst St.
714-636-3580
CALIFORNIA • Hollister
Model planes, car, ships & figures. Model train scales: Z, N, HO, O & G. Paints, tools. R/C & parts, incl. service. Craft & educational kits, supplies, products. Clinics available. Tu-Sat 116; Sun 12-4.
[email protected]
B.C.T. HOBBY & CRAFTS
201-C McCray St.
831-635-0537
CALIFORNIA • Orange
New Products, Old Kits & Great Service! Everything you need to build plastic models Armor, Aircraft, Ships, Cars, SciFi and more. M-F 10:30-6pm, Sat 10:30-5pm, Sun 12-5pm www.militaryhobbiesonline.com
MILITARY HOBBIES
830 E. Lincoln Ave.
714-637-1211
CALIFORNIA • San Mateo
TALBOT’S HOBBIES
650-342-0126
COLORADO • Aurora
Large inventory of models from the world over! Detailing accessories, research publications, games, trains, R/C, tools, and supplies. Easy access from D.I.A. http://www.colpar.com
COLPAR HOBBIES
1915 S. Havana St.
MICHIGAN • Traverse City
Planes, tanks, cars, ships, rockets, plastic and wood kits. Trains. Authorized Lionel dealer & repair. Die-cast, RC, slot cars, structural and diorama supplier. Special orders welcome.
ANN’S HOBBY CENTER
405 E. Putnam Avenue
203-869-0969
CONNECTICUT • Manchester
Largest hobby shop in NE. Military, cars, trucks, plastic models, diecast cars, trucks. Planes, RC planes, cars, trucks, slot cars, rockets, Breyer, Detailing supplies, games! Mon-Wed 10-6 Th-Fri 10-9 Sat-Sun 10-6
TIME MACHINE HOBBY
71 Hilliard St.
860-646-0610
CONNECTICUT • Milford
Extensive selection of armor kits & Verlinden accessories. Military, auto & aircraft plastic models. Photo-etched parts. O gauge train sets. Open Tues - Sat 11-6, Sun 12-5. www.HQHobbies.com
HQ HOBBIES
394 New Haven Ave., Unit 1
203-882-1979
239-332-0422
GEORGIA • Blue Ridge
Huge selection of model kits & accessories. Ships, Armor, Aircraft, Figures, Cars and more. Visit: www.freetimehobbies.com for complete listing. Monday to Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-4
FREE TIME HOBBIES
706-946-1120
HAWAII • Kailua, Oahu
808-262-0211
MASSACHUSETTS • Malden (Boston)
Largest store in area, easy access via I-93, Rt. 1, and the T. Complete line of model kits & supplies, plus toy soldiers, figure kits, games, etc. Shipping available. Info: hobbybunker.com
HOBBY BUNKER, INC.
781-321-8855
MASSACHUSETTS • Marlboro
800-876-0414
Ad Index
We believe that our readers are as important as our advertisers. If you do not receive your merchandise or a reply from an advertiser within a reasonable period, please contact us. Provide details about what you ordered and the amount you paid. If no action is obtained after we forward your complaint to the advertiser, we will not accept further advertising from them. FineScale Modeler magazine, 21027 Crossroads Circle, Waukesha, WI 53187. The Advertiser Index is provided as a service to FineScale Modeler magazine readers. The magazine is not responsible for omissions or for typographical errors in names or page numbers.
734-316-2281
HOBBYTOWN USA
4590 W Sahara Ave Ste 103
702-889-9554
603-749-0800
NEW JERSEY • Kenvil
973-584-1188
856-435-7645
NEW YORK • Middle Island
508-481-5786
Excellent selection of lead miniatureshistorical and fantasy. Plastic models, wargames & modeling supplies. Books and magazines.
MASSACHUSETTS • Norton
6,000 model kits, old and new: Autos, armor, planes & sci-fi. Reference books & supplies. Open T-Th 11-7, F 11-8, Sa 10-5. Rt. 495 to Rt. 123E, behind Dunkin’ Donuts. www.mymummy. com E:
[email protected] HARRY’S HOBBIES & COLLECTABLES 250 E. Main St., Rt 123 508-285-8080
631-924-0583
JAN’S HOBBY SHOP, INC.
212-987-4765
DEAN’S HOBBY STOP
989-720-2137
MICHIGAN • Royal Oak (Metro Detroit) New & Old Toy Soldiers, Historical Miniatures, Models and Figure Kits from Around the World. Our famous selection of hobby supplies includes scenics, paints, reference and more. www.michtoy.com MICHIGAN TOY SOLDIER & FIGURE CO. 1400 E. 11 Mile Rd. 248-586-1022
G & G MODEL SHOP
2522 Times Blvd.
713-529-7752
Imported & Domestic Aviation Books & Plastic Kits. Paint, Decals, HO, N trains, R/C, U/C airplanes. Mon 1-6, Tue-Wed 12-6, Thur-Fri 10:30-7. Sat 10:30-6. www.malhobby.com
M-A-L HOBBY SHOP
108 S. Lee Street
972-438-9233
DIBBLE’S HOBBIES
1029 Donaldson Ave.
210-735-7721
Plastic Model Specialists. Large selection of rare & out-of-production models. Large selection of detail parts. Largest selection of plastic models in South Seattle! www.skywaymodel.com
SKYWAY MODEL SHOP
12615 Renton Ave. South
206-772-1211
HOBBY HOUSE, LTD
80 Montreal Rd.
613-749-5245
CANADA–ON • Toronto Large selection of new & out-of-production kits. Accessories & finishing products. Servicing the hobbies since 1986. We buy kit collections. www.wheelswingshobbies.com
WHEELS AND WINGS
1880 Danforth Ave.
416-752-0071
OKLAHOMA • Owasso
Oklahoma’s largest plastic kit, paint & aftermarket inventory. Planes, cars, trucks, armor, ships, trains & sci-fi. Special orders welcome! Tue - Fri 10-5:30, Sat 10-5, Sun 1-4:30 Web site: www.topshelfmodelsllc.com
TOP SHELF MODELS
119 S. Main St.
918-274-0433
OREGON • Beaverton
Thousands of model kits from old Aurora to new releases. Mon 4pm-7pm, Tues - Fri 11:30am-5pm. Sat 11:30am-4:00pm E-mail:
[email protected]
HO & N, Lionel trains. Complete line of plastic kits, military and architecture supplies. Open 11am-6pm M-F, Sat. 10am-5pm www.gandgmodelshop.com
One of Canada’s leading model shops. Complete line of military & aircraft kits, decals, paints and accessories. Free parking. On Parle Francais.
MEN AT ARMS HOBBIES, INC.
1435 Lexington Ave.
865-675-1975
CANADA–ON • Ottawa (Vanier)
Visit our in-house Aircraft Model Museum. Foreign and domestic plastic and wood kits. Open 7 days.
THE SPARE TIME SHOP
HOBBYTOWN USA
11145 Turkey Dr.
WASHINGTON • Seattle
AAA HOBBIES & CRAFTS
134 Middle Country Rd.
East Tennessee’s largest plastic model selection. 8,000 sq. ft. of hobbies & toys. Located in Knoxville’s premier shopping destination. Turkey Creek Area. Open 7 days a week.
Scale modeling from beginner to expert. A wide selection of aircraft, armor, autos, figures, ships, & sci-fi. Lots of reference material, detail parts, decals, tools, & eight lines of paint. Open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm.
KENVIL HOBBIES
706 N. White Horse Pike
717-898-7119
TENNESSEE • Knoxville
TEXAS • San Antonio
Full service hobbies, a full line of HO, N, 3-Rail, military, cars, boats, planes, dollhouses, scratchbuilding supplies, plus details-details-details! 590 Rt. 46
COOLTRAINS TOYS & HOBBIES
106 W. Main Street
TEXAS • Irving (Dallas Area)
ELITE HOBBIES
#334 90 Washington St.
Large Selection New & Used Kits Military books, tools, paint, airbrushes Full line hobby shop open Tue - Thur 10-6, Fri 10-7, Sat 10-4 www.CoolTrains.com
TEXAS • Houston
NEW YORK • Upr Eastside GR Manhattan
Stop in ONCE! A customer for LIFE! We have 10,000+ models, tools, supplies, 23 paint lines, 50 model mags, 5,000+ books. Est. in 1973, open 7 days, Th & Fr ‘til 8. Visit us @ www.sparetimeshop.com
116 N. Washington Street
MODELCAVE
103 W. Michigan Avenue
Huge foreign & domestic model selection all scales. Automobiles, aircraft ship, books, wargames, scenery, diorama supplies, parts, tools. Open 7 days
WELLER’S HOBBYCRAFT
Rt 20E Main, Post Rd. Plaza
Your single stop model building shop. Michigan’s largest selection of new and vintage kits in all genres plus everything needed to build them. Wed - Sat 11-8, Sun 12-5 Visit us on Facebook. www.modelcave.com
NEW JERSEY • Magnolia (Camden)
Wide selection of plastic model kits, paint, books, magazines and tools. Located on the beautiful windward side, a scenic 20 minute drive from Honolulu. Mon - Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5, Sun 11-2
33 Exchange St.
MICHIGAN • Ypsilanti-Metro Detroit
Best plastic, resin & balsa kits from around the world. Scratch building & diorama supplies, reference books, large paint selection including Humbrol, Citadel & Testors
METRO TRAINS & HOBBIES
767 Kailua Road
231-947-1353
NEW HAMPSHIRE • Dover
Plastic modeling kits. Paint, tools, scenery, accessories, & scale model railroads. Mon - Sat 10:00am-6:00pm; Closed Sun www.metrotrainsandhobbies.com
47 Dunbarton Farm Rd.
TRAINS & THINGS HOBBIES
210 East Front St.
While in Las Vegas, come see our wide selection of models and detail accessories. Less than 5 miles off the Las Vegas strip Hours Mon-Fri 10-7, Sat 10-6, Sun noon-5.
FLORIDA • Ft. Myers
12951 Metro Parkway
PENNSYLVANIA • Landisville (Lancaster)
Let your imagination run wild! Aircraft, ships, cars, armor, special orders, diecast cars, model railroading Z to G and more...
NEVADA • Las Vegas
MICHIGAN • Owosso
Your source for plastic models, diecast and all supplies needed to finish your latest model. Open 7 Days - Call for Hours www.talbotstoyland.com 445 South “B” Street
CONNECTICUT • Cos Cob
Complete full line hobby shop. Z, N, HO, O, Lionel, and LGB. Open Mon - Fri 10-8, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5.
TAMMIES HOBBIES
12024 SW Canyon Rd.
503-644-4535
OREGON • Hillsboro
Run your Retail Directory ad in the next issue of
FineScale Modeler! Call 888-558-1544, ext. 815 for more information.
Full service hobby shop. Over 6,000 recently acquired models. All the supplies you need to build your model. www.hillsborohobby.com
HILLSBORO HOBBY SHOP
345 E. Main St.
503-648-3788
Alpha Precision Abrasives, Inc._____ 4
Hornby America ________________ 4
Roll Models_________________ 6, 64
ARA Press_____________________ 8
MegaHobby.com_______________ 64
Scale Auto magazine ____________ 67
Colpar’s Hobbytown USA _______ 64
Michigan Toy Soldier Co.________ 64
Sprue Brothers _________________ 4
Dean’s Hobby Stop _____________ 64
Micro-Mark ___________________ 6
Squadron Mail Order ____________ 2
Evergreen Scale Models __________ 6
Oldmodelkits.com _____________ 64
Tamiya America, Inc. ___________ 68
Fantastic Plastic Models _________ 64
ParaGrafix _____________________ 6
TotalNavy.com ________________ 64
FineScale Modeler magazine _____ 63
Plastruct, Inc. __________________ 9
Zvezda USA __________________ 63
Hobbylink Japan ________________ 4
Proxxon _______________________ 9
July 2017
www.FineScale.com
65
FINAL DETAILS By Mark Hembree
Is there a draft in here, or is it just really cool?
Jose Carlos Canjura combined paper-modeling techniques with light aluminum to build this 1/48 scale MGD Macchi C.202 Folgore.
W
hen we stopped laughing, we had to admit — Jose Carlos Canjura is an extraordinarily imaginative and ingenious modeler to produce the aircraft he makes using aluminum from beverage cans. Hailing from Santa Tecla, El Salvador, Jose credits his works to manual dexterity and origami, in that order. “I was able to play guitar, draw sketches, paint, and do a little bit of calligraphy and origami,” he says. “I have become passionate about all those things, which is to put forth the best efforts and quality possible.
More at www.FineScale.com Visit us to see more of Jose’s models as well as a video of his Red Bull Mustang in action! 66 FineScale Modeler July 2017
“Since origami is made of paper, it is susceptible to weather and aging that degrades the paper to the point where it is no longer attractive.” One day, sipping a Coke and contemplating the impermanence of origami, he was struck by inspiration — to use the can’s aluminum instead of paper. His first attempt was a colorful aluminum-origami polyhedron. He set it on his desk, where he works as an aeronautical structure engineer. The aluminum bauble was a conversation piece until a colleague commented, “This is cool, but it would look better as an airplane.” Then he provided Jose with an Internet link to a paper-modeling site — and that is when the lightbulb came on. “Up to that point I was not convinced,” Jose says. “Later on our company put on a
contest to make an airplane from recyclable material. In two nights I made a Coca-Cola plane and, surprisingly, I won the contest!” So far, Jose had been hanging his models together with office tape. When he arrived at using super glue and mating paper patterns to cardboard templates for construction, he knew he had a workable technique. He says this was the turning point in reaching his original creative goal — “an object that looks good and is, of course, durable.” Having mastered a proven technique, Jose is eager to add to his collection. Plans include a Formula 1 racer and several 1/32 scale models, including an F4U Corsair with folding wings, an F-4 Phantom, and a Spitfire. “I tried modeling just for fun, but I have become passionate about it,” he says. FSM
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Your subscription gives you 6 issues (1 year) of information and inspiration. • How-to projects. • Expert modeling tips & techniques. • Crisp photos of finished models. • Unbiased reviews.
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