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Show and Tell - November 8, 2007

Meeting Location: HobbyTown USA, Petaluma

Meeting Time: 7:00pm

Theme: "Floaters"

Pictures by Steve Elliot and Greg Reynolds
Commentary by Greg Reynolds
Edited by Doug Dropeskey

Club Announcements (by John Admire, President):
• Regular club meetings take place on the second Thursday of every month, starting at 7pm, at HobbyTown in Petaluma.
• Board meetings take place on the fourth Thursday of every month, starting at 6:30pm. Please come to the board meetings if you would like to contribute.
• All future board meetings will take place at Round Table Pizza in the Marlow Shopping Center, Santa Rosa (Map)
• Kit Lam of Far East Hobbies will hold his last open house of 2007 on Saturday, November 24, 2007 in San Lorenzo. For more information, please visit the Far East Hobbies website.
• The 2008 club meeting themes now appear on the Events Calendar, including a 5 leg theme contest.
• Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the next board meeting will take place on November 29. Remember that the board meetings have been moved to the Round Table Pizza at Marlow Shopping Center.
• The next regular meeting, the club Christmas Party, will take place at the Round Table Pizza across from Coddingtown Mall on Friday, December 14.
• During the Christmas party, we will vote to select the club Meteor Award recipient for 2007. Only individuals with current membership in IPMS USA are eligible for the award. Please vote for the member who you feel contributed the most to the club in 2007.
• The Christmas party will also include the annual gift exchange. If you want to participate (such participation is OPTIONAL), please bring a wrapped model costing approximately $20 and mark the genre (Armor, Air, Ship, etc.) and scale on the outside. Please bring new, complete models--something you would like to receive yourself. Further details will go out by email in December.

Upcoming Events (Please see the Event Calendar for more information.):
• On November 14 at 7pm, the Pacific Coast Air Museum (PCAM) will hold its monthly meeting. The speaker will be Will Whiteside, local Yak 3 owner and pilot, Reno Air Racer, and newly selected pilot of "Voodoo", the highly modified P-51 Unlimited Class Reno Air Racer. You may attend a meeting without actually joining the organization.

Website Announcements (by Doug Dropeskey, Website Administrator):
• Please see the Update History page for a complete listing of all changes to this website.
• Please visit the online Task List to view all planned improvements to the club website. If you would like to add to, remove from, or comment on the task list, please contact us or attend a board meeting.
• If you would like to contribute photos of events, meetings, walkarounds, and so forth, please contact us. We are happy to handle all image processing and include any information or captions you like.

Build Review: 1/48 Eduard Pfalz D.IIIa "Weekend" issue, Part 1 (by Mike Vice):

This is a very nice kit. Well molded with little flash and thin trailing edges. The fit is very good. Eduard has issued both the D.III and the D.IIIa as well as several issues of these kit (such as the "Profipack") with different accessories and decals. This "Weekend" issue is just the basic kit (no PE) with a single set of markings (Lt. von Buttlar of Jasta 18). I will be using an aftermarket PE set, but many of the molded parts, such as the wind mounted fuel tank and radiator are just fine as is. I will also be using aftermarket decals: Aeromaster XXXX and XXX Lozenge. My plan is to make a diorama showing a captured aircraft being repainted in British markings and being inspected by British officers.

Tip of the Day: Cleaning up Epoxy Residue using Baby Wipes (by Greg Reynolds):
Following a suggestion by John Admire, I check out a tip to use Baby Wipes to clean up epoxy residue. Of course nothing will clean up cured epoxy, but I'm sure everyone has experienced the sticky fingers and smudges that you invariably get when using Devcon 5 Minute Epoxy. This is where the Baby Wipes come in handy. I was a little skeptical, but I found that it works surprisingly well.

The wipes I experimented with were the generic unscented "Longs Drugs" brand. There's nothing magic in them, just a little water with a dash of glycerin and citric acid. They are also pretty tough, compared to paper towels. For my experiment, I took a wing that had been painted with Tamiya Flat Acrylic and liberally smeared some unmixed Devcon epoxy on it. Yuk. Then I took a Baby Wipe and tried to clean the gunk off. No problem. It came right off. I used a second fresh wipe to get it perfectly clean. Now, here's the cool part. It didn't touch the paint. If I had used alcohol or lacquer thinner, which is my normal clean up method, I'd be down to bare plastic. Since I was having fun, I pulled out a few more sheets and cleaned up the sides of the Devon tube, the threads, inside of the cap and my fingers, too!

Now, this isn't the only way to clean up epoxy residue, but it's simple, cheap and non-toxic. It's worth a try.

Slide Show: USS Jerohiah O'brien and USS Pampanito Field Trip (by John Admire)
John Admire's photos of the IPMS Santa Rosa field trip to the Maritime Museum. John reported that attendance was "very light", but it was a beautiful day and he had a wonderful time. They toured the cargo sail ship "Balclutha", the Libertyship S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien and the Balao class submarine USS Pampanito (SS-383). (Modelers should note the Balao class was an improved Gato class. The changes were largely internal.)

You can view all photos in this slide show and many more on the USS Jerohiah O'brien and USS Pampanito Field Trip event page.

Slide Show: IPMS Fremont Hornets Tri-City Classic IV Scale Model Contest and Exhibition (by Jack Riggar)
Jack Riggar presented his photos of the IPMS Fremont Hornets Tri-City Classic held on October 13, 2007. Jack reported that the turn out was light, about 180 models, but included good vendors and a very relaxed atmosphere.

You can view all photos in this slide show and many more on the Tri-City Classic IV Scale Model Contest and Exhibition show page.

Show and Tell (select a picture to view at full size):


• Randy Bumgardner brought in a Trumpeter Hellcat in 1/32 scale. "I wanted to get this done for a review article on LSP and for the Wings of Gold seminar on October 21, 2007, but I didnÕt make it. This is only one week's progress. The kit is mostly OK. Certainly better than the old Hasegawa kit. The surface detail is very good, but the fit is so-so and there are a few minor accuracy problems. The biggest issue is the bulging of the fuselage behind the cockpit. The side should be flat. Also the engine is too big. So far, I've drilled out the gun barrels and started to detail the gun bays. I nearly blew out an eye adding all the ignition harness wires to the engine. Hopefully, I'll finish it soon." • Grant Moulton presented a collection of submarines in 1/72 scale, which he brought in for the "Floaters" theme.


The first submarine, CSS Hunley, was built using the Lone Star resin kit. Grant modified the model to match the latest information from restoration of the real Hunley, currently underway. This mostly involved lengthening the hull.


The next submarine was also built using a kit from Lone Star. The history of this Confederate sub remains a mystery. It was apparently scuttled at the end of the Civil War, rediscovered in 1879 during a dredging operation, and now sits on display in the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans. The big fat submarine represents the Holland, the first submarine in the US Navy. Grant could not remember the manufacturer but the resin model comes in 1/72 scale. The last submarine, a Japanese Midget Type A, comes from Fine Molds in 1/72 scale. Grant also brought in a new kit of the Sputnik.


• Pat Nichols brought in the next two models, a 1/72 scale JS-3 in Egyptian markings by Roden and a 1/72 scale PT-76 amphibian in Russian Marine markings by PST (for the "Floaters" theme!). Both are very nice kits with great detail.


• Wesley Levy presented a Gundam in 1/100 scale by Bandai.


• Dave Hansen displayed the next three models. The first, a B-50 in 1/72 scale by Academy, was built many years ago and went into storage in 1995. The finish deteriorated very badly, so Dave is giving the model a major overhaul. Replacement parts appear in white. Academy really missed on the shape of the nacelles and cowlings. The next kit, a F4U-2 in 1/48 scale by Tamiya, will wear markings of VFM-532. Finally, a company called Obscureco makes the 1/48 scale F6F cowling for the Hasegawa kit. Dave is finishing this sample to photograph for the Obscureco website. • Jack Riggar brought in his ongoing project, the nearly completed 76.2mm ZIS-3 gun in 1/35 scale by MiniArt.


Though generally a nice kit, Jack replaced or upgraded numerous parts. The tread on the tires was particularly poor, so he rebuilt them and cast copies. To go with the gun, Jack started building the 1/35 Zvezda (Italeri) ZIS-5 truck. He began by correcting the wheels. As molded, all three wheel hubs look identical, when they actually should feature different designs. The rear wheel hubs were "dualies", requiring different hubs for the inner and outer tires. The front steering wheels had a third hub type. Jack scratch build correct hubs and, again, cast copies.


For the "Floaters" theme, Jack brought in his "Dingy Nazies" diorama. The figures and raft are Dragon's 1/35 German Sturmpionier w/Assault Raft (aka, "Gummiboot"). He used hornet heads, scratch built the weapons, and detailed the raft. • Lon Irwin presented the next two models, an Me-109G in 1/32 scale by Matchbox and a Fw-109D in 1/32 scale by Revell. Both were built out of the box. Lon laments that the planes would have fewer broken parts if his wife would stop dusting his models!


• Tom Young displayed the next model, the Nautilus from Disney's 2000 Leagues Under the Sea. This is one of several resin Nautilus models that Tom assembled and finished under contract for Disney several years ago. The scale is approximately 1/100. It was never released as a kit, which is unfortunate since this one is better than all of the (expensive!) garage kit attempts to date. There is no interior, but Tom wired the model for lights. The finish was created using layers of copper, bronze and gold Rub & Buff. (Now we know Tom's true priorities. His Disney mania trumps his devotion to 1/72 scale. -Ed) WINNER: THEME AWARD


• Cameron Colyer brought in the next group of models.


The large model in the center is a 1/550 scale Gundam spaceship from Bandai. Cameron also brought in a card model mecha downloaded from Paperkraft.net. Finally, Cameron brought in three figures from Games Workshop.


• John Clements presented a Kingfisher by Monogram in 1/48 scale for the "Floaters" theme. He built the model 30 years ago. Though not his best, and a few parts are broken, it was fun to build. John also brought in a jeweler's beading tool that he found on eBay for about $12. It includes different sized punches that fit into a standard handle. The hollow end of each punch varies in diameter, somewhat like a carpenter's nail set. When pressed into plastic, the tool punches out great rivets and Dzus fasteners. This works really well if you are re-scribing and detailing the surface of a model. The punch sizes are appropriate for 1/48 and larger scales.


• Dennis Dow brought in a Me 109G in 1/48 scale by Hasegawa. Dennis used Polyscale paint and kit decals.


• Mike Winters presented his nearly completed Fletcher class USN Destroyer by Tamiya in 1/350 scale. Mike added many photo-etch and scratch built details. He used Pollyscale paints, airbrushing below the waterline and hand painting above.