Model Maker is the Newsletter

of the Modellers of Ballarat Inc

Club Office Bearers

President: Gary ZimmerVice President: Sean HaleyTreasurer: Wayne EaglesSecretary: Steve PulbrookCommittee : Tim Mitchell &

Mark PilbeamPublicity Officer: Yvette EaglesNewsletter Editor: Leigh Edmonds

Address for correspondence:Modellers of Ballarat Inc, Box 1141, Ballarat Mail Centre, Bakery Hill, Victoria 3354

Editorial Address: snail mail, as above. email, hhandc@vic.chariot.net.au

Club Membership Fees: (1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010)

Single adult $30Junior $15Associate (Newsletter only, on approval from committee) $15

Annual membership fees for new financial year are due and payable from 1 July2009(Note: New members who join during or after April and pay full membership aremembers until the end of the following financial year and do not need to pay again atthe end of the current financial year. Fees may be paid in instalments with theagreement of the Treasurer.)

Monthly Meetings:The first Saturday of every month except for JanuaryDoors open at 7:30pm. The meeting starts at 8.00 sharp.Location: Kohinoor Community Centre on the corner of Errard and SebastopolStreets, Ballarat.

Disclaimer:Any views expressed in the articles in the MOB Newsletter are not to be taken to bethose of the club or its members as a whole unless expressly stated. Accordingly,any concerns in regard to any articles should be addressed to the writer of the articleand/or the editor who will pass them on to the relevant person.

The Modelers of Ballarat (MOB) is an incorporated association and operated under the model rulespresented in the Associations Incorporation Regulations, 1998.

President’s Rant

What a great start to 2010. The MOB has met

in the other end of the building before, as a

temporary thing, but hopefully now it will be

permanent. The Potters (Harry, Lt Col Sherman,

Beatrice) for some reason don’t use Room 1 any

longer, so we’ll keep it. There furniture is where we

want it, unlike the hall, so that saves a job.

Tim had given his apologies. Seems he and

Tonya were in Anglesea with friends telling each

other how cute each other’s babies looked. What fun.

I am sure that Charlie Manson, Stalin, and

Blackbeard were probably cute babies too.

The club received a letter from a Mr. Rene de

Koning, who is fuhrer of IPMS, touting their latest

trophyfest called Wheel and Track. It’s a competition

for military vehicles and you can enter anything you

like as long as it’s a Sherman. No doubt a lot of

model clubs received an identical letter. It began: “To

whom it may concern”. Does it take that much

effort? It’s not like we are dealing with typewriters

here. In face the lazy option is to leave a few lines

blank and then use a pen. So I replied: “To whom it

may concern: Not interested. Hope you enjoy your

trophies.” and sent it back.

And that is what it is about, winning trophies.

These people who want competitions really don’t

want competition, they just want people who aren’t

a real threat to make up the numbers. Now there are

two species of model clubs, the ones where precious

egos need to be bolstered by an engraved pot or a

block of wood, and the good clubs, where the

members as a collective don’t give a rat’s about who

is better than who and who gets the pot to prove it.

Here at MOB we don’t have competitions, and that

probably explains why our lives are so meaningless

and empty. Model competitions are irrelevant, they

are not the way to promote the club or the hobby,

they are the source of grumbling and bitching, and a

good way to instigate factionalism within a club. Of

course if you like that sort of thing, then IPMS is for

you. I lasted 5 months.

I hope you all keep your old issues of Model

Maker, they might come in handy.

Zim.

The first meeting of the year for Mobsters

was a great night even though there were a couple of

regular faces missing on the night. Once again the

model tables were filled, especially by Matt and his

Maryborough & Great Southern Railway Limited set

up. Talk about large scale and there’s talk of it going

to be expanded even more. Matt I know where

there’s a scratch built very large scale Loco and

carriage set up that you can actually ride on probably

up for sale.

The holiday break supposedly gives club

members extra time to bash out an abundance of

models for us all to ogle at in the New Year, well,

that’s the theory anyway and come the February

meeting we can all see who has been busy at the

model desk. I can declare the winner of this years

holiday break secret ‘who built what’ competition

has been won by Rod who tabled the equivalent

amount of aircraft that a small (insert appropriate

name here) country may have. He therefore wins the

prize of having earned a chocolate Tim Tam from the

Presidents own private collection.

The best effort I turned out was one model

finished (‘Rudi’ Sinners Me-262) and numerous

starts on whatever took my fancy at the time. I’m still

struggling with my Monogram Voodoo, Academy’s

Merkava Mk.IV, a couple of Thunderbolts, a Hellcat,

more armour, an Israeli Hummer conversion and a

plethora of other plastic goodies. Steve hasn’t been

slack either tabling another five aircraft those being

a Voodoo (I love Voodoos) a Wildcat, Whirlwind,

Mig 17 (I like them too), a Buffalo, Type 90 MBT

and an old T-55 kit. Matt’s effort as usual was huge

Jason’s Tiger I

Matt’s Marder going east

Rod’s Romanian Bf-109E

Steve’s Buffalo

as is his models; his work shed must be the size of

the aircraft hangers at Garbutt airbase. He won’t be

happy until he can have a rail track right around the

Caro convention centres walls at our show. His flat

cars had 88 mm Flak gun, Opel Trucks, Marders, and

an Elephant etc and also he tabled a KV-1 and a

Churchill without a cigar and a bottle of whisky!

Rod’s efforts consisted of a Fairey Fulmar,

Romanian Bf-109E and an IAR-80, a Hungarian Bf-

109G, a Wildcat with his concoction of US Navy

Blue-Grey which turned out spot on, a Bell

Airacomet, an Fw-190F-8 and Vought’s Crusader

late project all very nice. Mick has won his battle

with Academy’s Warrior kit which turned out very

nice, I’ve not heard one person state that they hadn’t

had trouble with this kit in one form or another

(makes me look forward to my Warrior) he also had

a nice Korean APC.

Mark has been busy over the break (not for

him though) building a very interesting diorama with

a certain Herr Heydrich sitting in his lounge chair

besides his Bf-109E. He’s probably thinking hard on

how to elevate himself much, much higher in the

hierarchy by dreaming up a final solution. How

pleasing it must have been later for millions when a

couple of very brave Czech’s validated his ‘leave this

planet’ ticket, the only downside to this incident was

the reprisals against the innocents a recurring theme

that’s still practised to this day and probably will be

as long as man walks the Earth. I liked mark’s

description of the fellow as a practising psychopath,

very apt.

Jason also tabled a nice winter scene diorama

in progress depicting an SdKfz 251 outside a farm

house, can’t wait to see this one finished and also a

very nice Tiger 1 (ya’ missed it Tiger Tim) and Stu

looks like his wrestling with the Bismarck has

finished and he’d also finished the Italeri Puma I sold

him last year and it also looked great, a whole lot

better than when I had it anyway.

Leigh has been busy modelling an assortment

of Boeing 737’s again all looking very nice in an

assortment of liveries; I reckon you should put these

up for sale Prof, especially to companies you model

them on as they look great, also a lovely Phantom

(can never have too many Phantoms) and a Yak 38

graced his little patch of table top.

Zim had his usual assortment of small scale

armour, some easy to identify and the usual esoteric

bits thrown in, always interesting. But the highlight

was the scale working model of the clubs new mobile

club house, complete with a hydraulic powered

balcony which can be lowered once we get to a

members house the pot plants and refreshment stand

can then be wheeled out along with the deck chairs

2010 kicks off

Mark’s Bf-109 diorama

Stu’s Bismark and Puma

Mick’s Warrior

and chaise lounges, all this will be powered by a Ford

V8 of some description or we could use a certain

straight 8 Pontiac motor. Outside rendering will be

finished by members on working bees and most

certainly the models wheels will be replaced when

we can find enough matching modern style steel and

rubber set ups. Copious amounts of hobby paints will

be used on the outside this way we can advertise

Humbrol etc whilst being given the paint for nix, all

members will be expected to front up on a given

weekend with their airbrush/brushes ( “I don’t have

an airbrush” will not be an excuse either!)Just keep

the Prof away from the white paint supply or it’ll

look like an airliner!

As I mentioned at the meeting, so far the club

has received donations from Dawn Trading and

Southern Model Supplies in regards to supplying

raffle prizes at our annual show and I have already

phoned and e-mailed both Mr. John Hunter and Mr

.Peter Thompson respectively thanking them for their

generosity. But we still need you guys to get out there

and try to obtain more raffle prizes. I’ll be e-mailing

off letters/posters and flyers for those members who

need them.

For those members who couldn’t make the

February meeting, the club now has been allocated

Room No. 1 for the rest of the year, I did some

pleading to get the better room back whilst picking

up the key so now we have some comfort as well as

better facilities. I did mention that we originally had

this room but the Potters (probably Harry)

commandeered it off us but there have been no other

clubs/parties on our Saturday nights for over six

months. So make sure Sean they give us the No1

room/hall key as the receptionist set their computer

up for us to be in No.1 room for the whole year. If I

remember that room was a whole damn warmer in

the winter also plus we don’t have to do a chair and

table shuffle now either.

I think that’s enough stupidity from my

keyboard for now, look after yourselves and families.

CIAO, Wayne

PS, do we need kits for sale, parts/decals

wanted or information needed column included in the

newsletter?

Zim’s model of our new club house

Leigh 737s

Wayne’s 262

Steve’s F4F

Westland’s other Whirlwind, the fighter not the helicopter

History

In the late thirties there was a trend for

countries to develop 2 engine fighters to fulfil the

heavy fighter role. These aircraft were seen as the

destroyers of the air being designed to escort

bombers and sweep the opposing fighters from the

sky. Britain generally ignored that trend as they felt

that such aircraft would be easy prey to single engine

fighters that they would eventually encounter. The

British response was to equipped light bombers with

machine gun packs and pretend that these were

fighters. This policy resulted in such monstrosities as

the Blenheim 1F, which in 1938, was quicker than

most other British fighter planes.

The Whirlwind was designed in response to

reports coming out of Nazi Germany about a new 2

engine wonder plane, the Messerschmitt Bf110. The

RAF quickly drew up a specification and most

manufacturers proposed prototypes. The Westland

proposal was accepted and 2 prototypes were

ordered, the first flying in Oct, 38. The design

incorporated 2 Rolls Royce Peregrine engines rated

at 885hp giving a top speed of 360mph and a range

of 800 miles. The armament consisted of 4 20mm

cannons grouped in the nose. The aircraft featured

several novel features including the use of

magnesium sheet behind the cockpit and the first use

of a bubble canopy giving the pilot excellent all

round vision.

The RAF ordered 200 aircraft however Rolls

Royce had meanwhile switched priority from the

Peregrine to the Merlin, judging that that engine had

greater development potential. The production ran

only to 114 aircraft due to the lack of engines, and

these were not ready for issue to squadrons until June

1940. The first squadron to receive these aircraft was

25 Squadron, which received 3 aircraft to replace

their Blenheim 1Fs. These were withdrawn shortly

afterwards as it was felt that the new Beaufighter

would be a more suitable replacement. Aircraft were

then used to rebuild 263 Sqn which had lost most of

their aircraft and personnel during the Norway

campaign. Later 137 Sqn converted to the type and

these 2 squadrons became the only 2 to use the

aircraft operationally.

In service, the Whirlwind soon gained a good

reputation for being easy to fly, and for good

manoeuvrability below 15, 000 feet. The aircraft had

a high landing speed and required a long airstrip

which limited the airfields it could operate from. The

Peregrine engine also developed a reputation for

unreliability and suffered from a lack of available

spares. There were also problems with the armament

due to the limited amount of ammunition that could

be carried.

The aircraft were considered to be perfect for

escorting light bombers and also providing air cover

for allied shipping operating in the Channel as an e-

boat hunter. In 1942, the Whirlwind was equipped

with bomb racks and the role changed to ground

attack. The Whirlwind was effective in this role and

remained in service until June 43. The aircraft was

able to absorb more damage than a single engine

fighter and was highly survivable in a crash as the

engines absorbed much of the impact. It was not

unusual for a pilot to walk away unscathed after a

crash that wrote off the aircraft.

The Whirlwind therefore never lived up to its

potential and is one of the greatest “couldabeens” of

the war. Westland made several proposals to the

ministry to re-engine with merlins, hercules radials

and even American radials, but all were rejected.

There were attempts to reduce the landing speed by

incorporating leading edge slats, these proving less

than successful when the wings were torn off the

modified aircraft on deployment. After this the slats

were wired shut. Later in the aircraft’s career, the

need for a long strip became less of a problem as

heavy bomber bases were springing up all over the

place.

The Kit

In 1/72 scale, the Airfix kit is the most readily

available. MPM have also announced future release

of the Whirlwind 1 and 1A versions. The kit I built

was made by Bilek, which is the same as the Airfix

kit but with worse instructions and decals. The

Airfix kit disappeared for many years and the Bilek

kit was the only one available. Airfix have rereleased

it as a starter set including some Humbrol acrylic

parts. The kit is quite basic with 33 parts and raised

panel lines. These lines are fairly subtle and the

dreaded Airfix riveter had the day off when the

moulds were made. The undercarriage doors are

moulded in one piece and must be cut in half if the

undercarriage is down. Although the kit is the same,

the instructions and decal options are better on the

Airfix boxing. The Bilek version has markings for

A-SF of 137 Sqn in Ocean grey and green cam, the

Airfix kit having markings for an aircraft from each

of 137 & 263 Sqns with a choice of dark earth or

ocean grey cam schemes.

Construction.

Typical of kits of this age there is not much in

the way of internal details with only a rudimentary

seat and a pilot figure provided. The pilot was

utilised to fill the hole and the seat was mounted in

the fuselage half after painting. The fuselage halves

are joined and a nose cap added. The props are next

and when built are sandwiched between the upper

and lower wings. The engine housings being

moulded integrally. (What the “F” is a nacelle

anyway? In 20 years in aircraft maintenance, I have

never heard anyone except a modeller use that word.)

The wings and tail are added with care needed to

ensure correct alignment as the wing tabs were loose

in their slots. After these had dried, all of the joints

were puttied and sanded. The joins of the upper and

lower engine housings being poorly aligned needing

extra attention. When this was completed, the

undercarriage, doors, guns, canopy and antenna being

added. The U/C doors needing to be cut in half as

mentioned earlier.

Painting.

The Bilek instructions supply numbers for

Model Master paints. Not having any of these, I

painted it in a variety of Gunze, Humbrol and Tamiya

paint. Gunze 53 Neutral grey was used for the Ocean

grey, and 302 used for the green. These are pretty

close to the Humbrol 106 Ocean grey and 30 Green

recommended by the Airfix kit. The underside was

done in Gunze 307 as a substitute for

Humbrol 64. I prefer the semi-gloss

Gunze acrylics for cam as the decals go

on easier. The same effect can be

achieved by giving the kit a coat of gloss

varnish. The other colours used were

Humbrol 90 for the sky band and

spinners, Tamiya aluminium for the U/C

legs and bays, Humbrol 24 for the yellow

leading edge strips and generic acrylic

black for the tyres and prop blades.

Paining began by masking the

canopy. I usually use diluted white glue

applied with a toothpick. This usually

needs a tiny amount of soap added to break the

surface tension. The glue when dry will peel off

easily but will last over a year before it starts to peel

off by itself. I usually put on a couple of coats to

ensure full coverage. Next the undersides are

sprayed. This was left for a week to ensure the paint

was fully hardened. The underside was masked with

Tamiya tape and the top cam sprayed freehand to

give a soft edge between the ocean grey and green.

The soft edge was visible in the single colour

photo available on the internet for this aircraft. This

is indicative of the paint being applied at Sqn level

over the older dark earth. The description ocean grey

was also used to describe locally mixed

approximations as well as an official colour. This

paint was also given plenty of time to cure. Some of

the bottom mask was then removed and the sky band

and spinners were masked and sprayed with Humbrol

90. Finally the leading edge bands were masked and

sprayed yellow. The model was then checked any

yellow or sky overspray, sprayed with the correct

colour. All other details would be hand painted later.

Note that the undercarriage was painted with

aluminium pigment paint, and was not raw metal, so

aluminium paint was used rather than a metalizer.

The decals provided were for a single aircraft

as mentioned earlier. They were in register, matt and

colouring was subdue. They went on with no

problems and softened nicely with Gunze Mr Decal

Soft.

Conclusion

The Whirlwind is an aircraft that has been

hard done by in history. It’s reputation for

unreliability is undeserved as it had greater

availability figures than the aircraft that replaced it,

the Hawker Typhoon. The poor record was more a

matter of statistic, 2 engines meant twice as much to

go wrong. The aircraft established a sort of record as

the longest serving un-upgraded type in service with

the RAF. This quite significant bearing in mind the

low number produced and the dangerous nature of

the rhubarb missions. Had there been more built, they

would probably be remembered as well as the

Lockheed lightning or Me110. Fittingly, the last

word should be to record the last combat mission.

The aircraft had strafed a German supply train only

to suffer a jammed wide open throttle on one engine

that eventually led to the engine losing power. The

pilot made it home but crashed in a field destroying

the aircraft. The pilot walked away from the wreck

unharmed.

The table shows a comparison of the

Whirlwind to similar aircraft

Steve

Max Speed Armament Range (Internal

fuel)

Climb to 20K

Whirlwind 360mph @ 15K 4 x 20mm 800 8.6 mins

Me110F 352mph @ 17.7K 2 x 20mm

5x7.92mm

745 9.2 mins

Lightning (G) 400mph @ 20K 1 x 20mm

4 x .50cal

450 8.8 mins

KRAUTPROJEKT 1/10 - Eduard Messerschmitt 110E

Having read the editor’s plea for copy I was

moved to write something roughly akin to ‘What I

did on my holidays’ although I didn’t have many and

didn’t do much. I did manage to finish a model,

however.

IN THE BOX

We are all familiar with the fabulous Eduard

organisation from the Czech Republic, who would

have to be one of the most forward-looking model

producers in the world right now. They are

innovative, thoughtful and cater for the high-end

obsessive market. In particular the detail supplied in

their latest kits makes aftermarket accessories

virtually unnecessary.

I bought their 1/48 Messerschmitt 110 kit

(The E-version boxing) for $70 at Vic Hobbies on a

trip to the big smoke and another (C-version boxing)

for $40 at a swap’n’sell. These kits are most

impressive. The parts fit well, accuracy is spot-on

and there is excellent detail including photoetched

parts, canopy masks and a cockpit interior that could

not be bettered for love or money. The decal sheet is

wonderful, with markings for colourful well-

researched subjects and with all stencils (and a few

spares) included. These kits are complicated,

however. The E-version has a parts count of 289

plastic parts, 76 PE parts and a canopy mask. Many

other parts are included in the box for other versions

(and might find their way on to my old Fujimi kit in

the stash). All parts fit well and the PE cockpit parts

are excellent, which is a good idea as there is a big

glasshouse. I nicked these images from

modelingmadness.com- hope they don’t mind.

MODELLING FOR GOD

As the model gradually formed before me I

was reminded of the Eduard Fw 190A-5 build in

which there are many internal detail parts, many of

which will never be visible - I call this ‘Modelling

for God’. The problem with ‘Modelling for God’ is

that there are quite a few unbelievers who don’t want

to do it and would rather model for themselves.

If one wants to show this internal detail a

different kind of modelling is required, where lots of

hatches, inspection panels etc are removed or opened,

producing what I should like to call an ‘anatomised’

model. Having anatomised many persons I think that

as a rule they look a lot better without their insides

on view and the same goes for models. Some of the

‘anatomised’ models I have seen suggest a lack of

respect for the dignity of the subject and the ones I

have built made me feel as though I were violating

something. I recall seeing a 1/72 Spitfire II with the

engine and fuel tank (from resin) totally exposed

with all plumbing and wiring - clearly a labour of

months of obsession - spoiling its clean lines and

making me feel as if this beautiful aircraft had been

flayed or forcibly disrobed. It’s no surprise that in

18th century England the cruellest punishment

available was for a murderer to be ‘hanged and

publicly dissected and anatomised’. Not only did the

felon lose his or her life, but also their human dignity

and bodily integrity.

(Confession: I did once ‘anatomise’ a Do 335

to show that it had two engines. It’s probably OK to

do it if there’s something that ought to be shown

about the subject - maybe Me262s should show their

jets, etc ... the thought process becomes a bit woolly

after this... end of rant.)

There is of course a third way, as any

Buddhist will tell you. The internal details can be

modelled as they would be seen by the all-seeing eye,

and covered by removable panels. The panels would

remain in place unless there was a requirement for

the eye of man to gaze beneath them. Indeed the Lord

Buddha by his grace might release you from the need

for internal details altogether.

MODELLING FOR ME

The build took about 4 months to do on and

off with all manner of distractions - work, my son’s

Thomas the Tank Engine projects, work, a few

Hobby Boss kits as pot-boilers, work, a visit to

Werribee, work etc.

As just about always, one starts with the

cockpit which includes over 100 PE and plastic parts.

The representations of the instrument panel and

control levers are very good and there is an option for

a PE instrument panel or a nicely rendered plastic

one for those who like to paint really small details.

There are of course PE seatbelts and rudder pedals.

The nose MG17s are very nice and fit is good.

The rear MG17 is also very nicely rendered. There

is some misalignment of the fuselage panel lines and

fit is an issue in the area of the shell ejector chutes

for the cannons. The involved area is partly covered

by the bomb rack, itself nicely done. No filler was

needed for the fuselage.

Some critics have issues with the removable

cover of the nose machine guns which (it is claimed)

may force a choice between oneself and God. It

doesn’t fit as well as other parts but this doesn’t

mean the kit is a failure. I bent the MG cover to and

fro a few times under running hot water to get the

width right and then sanded the mating edges flat. I

rebored the MG blast tubes to allow the gun barrels

through without sticking and the fit is OK. If one

needs to play God and verify that there are four

beautifully moulded MG17s underneath with their

associated gas bottles and feeds, this can be done. I

don’t think the process affects the profile of the nose

significantly and the model does not need to be

anatomised.

I did have a problem at the wing-fuselage

joints. To get the dihedral right plastic shims are

needed in the undersurfaces - this is no big deal.

Oddly enough the leading edge slats are not separate

- this is an easy fix if required, but I didn’t think it

added much so I didn’t do it. Everything else about

the wings is pretty good with good fit of the engine

nacelles.

The detailing of the undercarriage bays is

excellent. The struts and wheels are beautifully done

and masks are supplied for the hubs. The only other

thing I added was rubber brake fluid pipes.

The exhausts are made from individual pipes

attached to a strip that fits over the engine block. I

have become lazy and so replaced them with some

Quickboost items. I’m not sure why they were

moulded in this way as when built up they don’t look

any better than the old Fujimi items and would need

drilling anyway.

All the tiny details - antennae, aileron mass

balances and the like are al nicely done with PE or

fine castings and once the machine is together they

are the icing on the cake.

I used the kit decals for an aircraft of SKG

210 with Eastern front yellow ID markings and a

prominent wasp motif on the nose. They went down

nicely and the end result did it for me.

Now for another one.

Mark

A GREAT FIRST TIME EFFORT.

Recently I showed my friend Len [he came to

the last meeting] a small model resin kit of a British

Fairmile Motor Gun Boat by White Ensign Models in

the U.K. I asked him if he would have a go at it. He

said he would try but not to expect too much or some

similar reply.

After a few questions about how to handle

etched parts as well as what type of glue to use etc,

plus the loan of a couple of tools he gave me back the

finished model less than a week later. To say that I

was very pleasantly surprised would be understating

my reaction as I think that I have not seen such a

creditable result from someone with so little building

experience, and that experience being at least 50

years old.

Len told me afterwards that he said to his

wife, “I think the old bugger is testing me out,” as he

started on the etched handrails [less of the three

lettered adjective Len.] Maybe he used another word

starting with B who knows? Never did I expect to get

the model back so quick or so well done. We in the

club have often talked about the hobby needing some

new and younger blood Len full fills both these

requirements [he is younger than me you bunch of

reprobates even if only very slightly younger.]

This model although not terribly hard to build

is not one that I would give to someone without some

initiative or natural ability and I must say that I

would not have been upset if my offer was declined

I even had an easier semi snap together model ready

as an alternative. He has never ever seen it and would

not now bother to show it to him. The accompanying

photos show the model exactly as I received it back

from Len. Shortly I shall paint the little gem and give

it back as I think its builder should keep such an

achievement.

Matt

THE BACK PAGE(from your humble editor)

OUR NEXT MEETING

Saturday, 6 March 2010, is the date for our

next meeting, at the usual place at the usual time, at

the address found inside the front cover. However,

after Master Wayne’s recent coup with the City of

Ballarat we are now allowed into the posh end of the

hall, so don’t go to the wrong door and be

disappointed.

Beforehand you can go to the Peter Lalor

Hotel on the corner of Mair and Doveton Streets for

dinner. You can get grog and all kinds of meat

dishes, some of which are even American in their

proportions.

COMING EVENTS

that may be of interest

7 March - Eastern Suburbs swap & sell, Box

Hill Community Arts Centre

18 April - Our annual display and swap and

sell at the Caro Convention Centre - contact Wayne

and Yvette who know all.

12-14 June - Model Expo, Sandown

Entertainment Centre, Sandown Racecourse, see

www.modelexpo.com.au

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

Talk about counter-productive. When I

threaten to publish pictures of French aeroplanes all

I get is stony silence. When I threaten not to publish

pictures of French aeroplanes I get a deluge of

articles. So many that I haven’t been able to fit them

all into this issue. Reverse psychology in action I

suppose. Now I know what really works I’ll have to

delete all those French aeroplane web sites from my

computer.

THE COMPETITION YOU’RE HAVING

WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE COMPETITIONS

Master Mark has reported that upon entering

a well known Melbourne model shop he was rebuked

because we here at the MoB do not hold

competitions. Being more quick witted than I he

responded that we do hold competitions and that we

had a poetry competition a couple of years ago.

This anecdote reminds me that for some time

now I’ve been turning my mind to the idea of holding

another competition to encourage contributions to our

news letter. Poetry seems so passe these days so I

had hoped to find inspiration in some other form of

expression, but the only thing that I have come up

with of any value is the possibility of accepting

reviews in the forms of inter-office memoranda. I

guess the reason that this one comes to mind is

because I’ve read so many in the past year or so. It

does something to the brain, believe me.

Any better suggestions would be welcomed

at the editorial desk.

PAINT IT WHITE

Elsewhere in this issue Master Wayne makes

the somewhat scurrilous comment that I tend to paint

things white these days. This is not entirely true. I

don’t paint everything white, just most things.

Here’s a photo of the models I’m currently working

on to prove it. See. There’s a non-white aeroplane in

there and the others have, or will have, splodges of

other colours on them in due course.

The reason that I’m having an obsession with

white just at the moment is that, like bare metal, I’ve

finally perfected a method that suits me and so I’m

making up for lost time. The process is simplicity

itself so it’s a wonder I haven’t been doing it for

years. First step - polish the model to be painted

with something called Micromesh with a grade no

less then 4000. Then apply two coats of

Modelmaster Flat White in the thinnest consistency

possible and, when that is dry, polish up with

Micromesh around 6000. Then, just to be on the safe

side, another coat of Modelmaster Flat White and

then a coat of Tamiya TS-27 Flat White out of the

can. When that is thoroughly dry - which doesn’t

take long - more polishing and then another coat of

that and a first coat of Tamiya TS-26 Pure White.

Polish that back with Micromesh 8000 and then

12000 and then, if everything looks good, on with a

final coat of TS-26.

This might seem a bit obsessive, but then

aren’t we all a bit that way? Still, after I’d put the

first coat of Drab Olive on the other aeroplane here,

I couldn’t help myself and polished it up a bit before

applying the second coat. Do I need help?