July 2015 Meeting Notes

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Frank R

July 17, 2015 McKinstry Meeting
Theme: Inline Engines

Weeeelllll… Not such a great meeting this time around. Chalk it up to everyone going to the IPMS National Convention in Ohio.

A short show-n-tell for the evening; the theme was inline engines for which Mike Hanlon provided five P-40’s in various types. Plus John Koziol brought along his 1/24 Airfix Mosquito and one of the most beat all to hell and gone models we have seen in a long time. He wouldn’t claim it as his own mentioning it caught his eye at the Glenview Museum where he purchased it. He didn’t know what it was for sure, nor the manufacturer. However, the Tick did a bit of research: It is a Bf-109 F-4 perched on top of a Mistel 1/JU-88. Kit by Italeri 1/72nd scale. The meeting adjourned about 30 minutes early and then it was off to Buffalo’s to “talk it up” with several members and make fun of those who weren’t there.. Just kidding.. Well, mostly kidding…

JULY MEETING MODELS / BUILDERS

Airfix Mosquito – John Koziol 1/24th double cast Merlin engine and cast gear legs

1 24th scale Airfix Mosquito

John Koziol – 1/24 Mosquito with cast metal engines, props, and landing gear

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John Koziol – 1/24 Mosquito cast metal engine detail

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John Koziol – 1/24 Mosquito, cast metal engines, props detail

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Mike Hanlon with his latest acquisition and a gleam in his eye

P-40’s: All are Hasegawa 1/48th scale. ALL built by Mike Hanlon:

P-40E  O.D./Tan Dragon art: A/C 80; 49th FG 1942, Superscale decals, Gunze Sangyo paints

P-40K Desert pink A/C 13  64th FS 57th FG 1943, Aeromaster decals, PollyScale and Tamiya paints

P-40M O.D./Gray Princess Pat II A/C 129; 49th FG 1944, Aeromaster decals, Tamiya paints

P-40N RAAF O.D. A/C GB*U 071944-45, Aeromaster decals, Tamiya paints

P-40N American 49th FG O.D./Grey “Rusty” A/C 71944, Aeromaster decals, Tamiya paints

2015 Jul Meeting P 40 E 49th FG 2015 Jul Meeting P-40K 64th FS 57th FG 2015 Jul Meeting P-40M 49th fg 2015 Jul Meeting P-40N 49th FG 2015 Jul Meeting P-40N RAAF 2015 Jul Meeting Pic01 2015 Jul Meeting Pic02 2015 Jul Meeting Pic03 2015 Jul Meeting Pic04 2015 Jul Meeting Pic05 2015 Jul Meeting Pic06 2015 Jul Meeting Pic07 2015 Jul Meeting Pic08 2015 Jul Meeting Pic09 2015 Jul Meeting Pic10 2015 Jul Meeting Pic11 2015 Jul Meeting Pic12 2015 Jul Meeting Pic13 2015 Jul Meeting Pic19

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Airfix Spitfire MkXII in 1/48th, by Mike Hanlon

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Frank R

Airfix Spitfire MkXII in 1/48th

by Mike Hanlon

2015_Jul_Spitfire_review_boxart

Airfix Spitfire MkXII box

Supermarine Spitfire Mark XII was the first Griffin engined Spitfire. Produced in limited numbers it served in two England based RAF squadrons in 1943 and 1944 used in intercepting day intruders and subsequently V-1s.

In 2011, Airfix released this mark in 1/48 scale. This is first time the Mark XII had ever been produced in a mainstream kit and then began a steady stream of new Spitfire kits coming from a rejuvenated Airfix.

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The kit is a straightforward build, but care must be taken when installing the interior into the fuselage. I misaligned the interior and did not realize my mistake until after the fuselage and wings were together. The interior spread the fuselage wide enough that the main canopy no longer fit. It was too late to correct this error, as it would have involved tearing the built kit apart. A few months later, I started kit number two.

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The second time around I paid attention to what I was doing and was rewarded with a very enjoyable build, There were no further complications and everything came together rather quickly. The model was painted with Tamiya acrylics. The interior used their Interior Green XF-71. The exterior used their RAF Green, Ocean Grey and Medium Sea Grey for the exterior colors. I made a mask for the camouflage scheme using a camouflage template from the Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mark V kit. The decals came from the Victory Productions Spitfire-Aces of the Empire sheet. My aircraft was from Number 41 Squadron based in Frisdon in 1943.

Airfix and Eduard have both gone all out in producing a wide range of Spitfire marks and more are planned, so it is a very good time to be a Spitfire fan.

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June 2015 Meeting Notes

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Frank R

June 19, 2015 McKinstry Meeting
Theme: Bare Metal aircraft

Program: Dan Paulien – Applying Metallic Finishes

Notes by Paul Gasiorowski

AT the meeting: Carl Geiger, Glenn Estrey, Brain Gardner, Mark Murray, Jim Batchelder, Charlie Scardon., Steve Kumamoto, John Koziol Sr. and Little John Jr, Paul Gasiorowski, Dan Paulien, Mike Hanlon, Norris Graser, Frank Ress

There was discussion about the new meeting schedule for the rest of this year and 2016. Meetings in Aug. 2015 and Sept.2015 are only 2 weeks apart. The meeting in October is scheduled for a Saturday.

Dan Paulien brought up the idea that since this meeting will have a longer run time, maybe we can have a long demo or a couple of short ones. Also in 2016, the meeting between Mar 2016 and April 2016 will only be 2 weeks. There is no meeting date for May 2016. Then the July 2016 and Aug 2016 meetings will be 7 weeks apart. Discussion on this was tabled to the next meeting.

The theme for this month’s meeting was Bare Metal aircraft. There were approximately 18 models on display.

Dan Paulien brought in 5 models: P-47 from the 2001 Group Project (Nemanie II, 509th FS/405th FG, AMaster decals, Hasegawa kit; F8U Cutlass, Fujimi, 1/48 painted with Alclad Aluminum F-86, Academy, 1/72; P-51B, Academy, 1/72

Paul Gasiorowski: F-84G, Heller, 1/72; Out of the box build. Tamiya primer and MMaster Aluminum Spray can. Tamiya tape before the primer to get various shades of aluminum. Very little sanding was needed. The wings and horizontal stabilizer were not glued to the fuselage, as the fit was tight. Nice easy build for the theme night.

Ford Tri-motor, Monogram 1/67; Truly OOB. Since the Ford Tri-motors were not painted, since it was an aluminum alloy. I just built this OOB, except for some painting of the engine cylinders. Some decals were added. This was probably a good example on how a kid in the fifties or early sixties would have built it.

USAF NT-43A, Highly Modified Airfix B737-200, 1/72; Built as a one off from a picture I received from the TICK. The platform was used primarily for radar work in conjunction with the stealth programs. The only modification were extended nose and tail radomes. There will be a review posted on the new web site of this build.

Brian Gardner. P-36, Amt/Monogram, 1/48. Modified kit to show what the actual P-36 was like before a kit was available. He used a cowling from an AMT P-36, engine from a Monogram P-40, and prop from a Mono- gram Wildcat. He finished the model and HobbyCraft released the same version.

John Koziol Jr. An update on the Merlin Engine project in 1/24 scale. Also a 1/24 Zero Project engine made of different metals.

John Koziol. Sr.; Scratch built 1/10 scale 1967 Lincoln Town car.

Jim Batchelder F-104, Hasegawa, 1/48 OOB; F-86, Academy, 1/48 OOB; Alclad Aluminum paint job.

Mike Hanlon, P-47D Razorback, Tamiya, 1/48; easy build. Used Thundercal Decals and Alclad paints.P-47D-20-RA Slick Chic 69th FS/58thFG

Glenn Estrey; P-51B Mustang, Tamiya, 1/48, entire plane in Bare Metal Aluminum sheets of different hues. OOB Decals were from a different source. He suggested building this if you want to suffer a lot of pain.

Charlie Scardon; F-89H, Revell, 1/48Built OOB. Nice kit to build, used Super Scale Decals, Used MMaster Guards Red over white for “Arctic Red.”

Steve Kumamoto; Convair XP-81, Anigram, 1/72, Kit was a final version of the turboprop model. Steve wanted to build the original version. He had to cut down the nose and add a Hasegawa P-51D Mustang nose, just like they did at Convair. He also had to build a higher fin insert, ventral fin and scratch build the oil cooler.

Bell XP-83, Anigram, 1/72, OOB scratch built landing gear doors.

North American RB-45C, Mach 2, 1/72 OOB. A tail sitter, Steve had to add so much weight to the nose that the original landing gear could not support it and broke. He had to re-drill the struts and add stiff wire .040 into the body of the plane to get it to sit correctly. Used Platinum Mist paint as the base coat.

2015 Jun Meeting endit 2015 Jun Meeting Kumamoto RB-45 2015 Jun Meeting Pic01 2015 Jun Meeting Pic02 2015 Jun Meeting Pic03 2015 Jun Meeting Pic04 2015 Jun Meeting Pic05 2015 Jun Meeting Pic06 2015 Jun Meeting Pic07 2015 Jun Meeting Pic08 2015 Jun Meeting Pic09 2015 Jun Meeting Pic10 2015 Jun Meeting Pic11 2015 Jun Meeting Pic12 2015 Jun Meeting Pic13 2015 Jun Meeting Pic14 2015 Jun Meeting Pic15 2015 Jun Meeting Pic16 2015 Jun Meeting Pic17 2015 Jun Meeting Pic18 2015 Jun Meeting Pic19 2015 Jun Meeting Pic20 2015 Jun Meeting Pic21 2015 Jun Meeting Pic22 2015 Jun Meeting Pic23 2015 Jun Meeting Pic24 2015 Jun Meeting Pic25 2015 Jun Meeting Pic26 2015 Jun Meeting Pic27 2015 Jun Meeting Pic28 2015 Jun Meeting Pic29 2015 Jun Meeting Pic30 2015 Jun Meeting Pic31 2015 Jun Meeting Pic32 2015 Jun Meeting Pic33

Program: Dan Paulien – Applying Metallic Paints

Dan Paulien did the “honors” with a “hands on” demo for applying metal paint with an airbrush. He covered masking techniques and surface preparation. Tips included masking for various shades of metal finish. Paints demo’d were Model master Metalizer and Alclad II.

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Civil War Re-enactment Cannon Demo by the Tick

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Frank R

Civil War Re-enactment Cannon Demo

by Norris Graser (the Tick)

June KAUGHT UP-10

For five years, a civil war cannon reenactment has been presented at the school located across the street from where I live. I missed the first time around, but I sure did hear and feel it as I watched the windows rattle in office. Every year thereafter, I have grabbed my camera and walked across the street to listen to a little history and take pictures of the several groups of students brought outside for this enactment.

In addition to some history, they explain the way the cannon works including how it is loaded and fired including the interaction and function of the four man crew. There are several trial runs concluding with a student volunteer to command the firing and pull the chain that fires the cannon. It’s righteously loud and belches an impressive amount of smoke as it recoils from the firing. Everyone is impressed but the students who actually command and fire must be thrilled the most. This demonstration occurs three times with a new audience each time.

After the late morning demo, I called Lee Lygiros to offer up some high end Peat Whiskey I picked up in Ireland a week before. Turned out, he was on his way home and when I mentioned the cannon he decided he would also like to see demo.

After the final firing, we talked to the gun crew a bit. We found out all four are (no surprise) serous civil war historians. I noted how ironic it was that in this day, with all of the political correctness and no tolerance policy about firearms – especially in a school environment, that this event was allowed to occur at all, let alone annually. That thought wasn’t lost on them as it was related that the first year they visited the school, there was a lot of concern and security and police were present. However, they haven’t been back since. Now the crew just show up, place the cannon, talk to the kids and set it off.

June KAUGHT UP-11

This 3” cannon was cast some 23 years ago, in Wisconsin. They told me there is one canon in use that is over 100 years old.

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June KAUGHT UP-13

Trial run….<click>…..

June KAUGHT UP-13a

Ka-BOOM

The Tick

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