August 2015 Meeting Notes

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Frank R

August 28, 2015 McKinstry Meeting
Theme: Multi-color schemes

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IPMS 2015 Nationals – 2nd Place IJN Zuiho, Hasegawa, 1/700 Charlie Scardon

Charlie scratch built the flight deck and added other details to the carrier. I was amazed by the radio antennas sticking out from the flight deck in several places. All this was bent photo-etch – talk about tedious work. The paint job was superb.

Charlie Scardon, proudly displaying his award - well deserved, a truly impressive build!

Charlie Scardon, proudly displaying his award – well deserved, a truly impressive build!

And now, the models on display at the meeting.

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Ju-87 Stuka, Hasegawa, 1/48 and Sea Hurricane, Airfix, 1/48, built by Mike Hanlon

The Stuka was built OOB of the box. Eagle Strike decals were used. Mike indicated it was a complicated build.

The Sea Hurricane was also built OOB. Mike indicated it was another complicated build, but went together well. He used Aeromaster Decals. The type was used on the HMS Indomitable, launched in March 1940 and saw combat till the end of the war. Mike said there were several options in the kit, which might indicate another version of the Sea Hurricane might be forthcoming.

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Char B1 bis Tank, Revell, 1/72, built by Steve Kumamoto

Steve had no idea what the type was till Lee Lygiros’s son gave us some specifics about the tank. According to the conversations going on it was considered a better tank than a German equivalent. Steve liked the model because of the paint scheme and he did a super job with the camo.

The Char B1 bis had a 47mm gun in the turret and a 75mm gun in the hull.  Superior to most tanks of its day, it was designed to support infantry in a breakthrough through strong points like pillboxes, trenches and other fortifications.  Consequently, the French generals had these tanks spread out to the point that they couldn’t counter the massed armor formations of inferior German tanks.  The Germans got to send a lot of cool pictures home with them standing next to these monsters (look mom!  See what I got!), the top of the track was almost as tall as a man.

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P-47D Razor back, Tamiya, built by Jim Batchelder

Jim built the kit OOB, using Eduard photo etch parts and Eagle Strike decals for the 353rd Fighter group, Maj. Frederick H LeFebre. 351st Fighter Squadron P-47D-1-RE 42-7906 YJ-L “Chief Wahoo”. He added a fuel tank.

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P51-D, Academy, 1/72, built by Paul Gasiorowski

The model was built out of the box, using some photo etch seatbelts in the cockpit. The model represents “Old Crow” flown by Bud Anderson. This was an easy build that went together well. It used the Malcolm canopy. There were options for 3 other aircraft markings and the 2 different canopies. Model Master Acryl paints were used. The only issue was that the Invasion stripes (white) were somewhat transparent over the olive drab paint.

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KC-10A Extender, Hasegawa, 1/200, built by Paul Gasiorowski

This model was purchased from Bill S. stash. Paul’s been in the 1/144 scale mode for some time with USAF KC-135/707 derivatives’. Built the model OOB. It was a pretty straight forward build, no seams at the wing root. The landing gear was well thought out; the bogies could be assembled separately to make sure all the wheels hit the ground. Paul used Model Master Acrylics, with a Tamika Primer as the base coat. He finds that the Acryl paint won’t lift when using Tamika tape to use for demarcations.

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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

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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

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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.

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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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