seattle chapter news - ipms...seattle chapter news seattle chapter ipms/usa december 2011 preznotes...

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Seattle Chapter IPMS/USADecember 2011

PREZNOTES

In This Issue

Boeing B-1 (Model 6) 3Dragon Type 97 “Chi-Ha” 6Kinetic C-2A Greyhound 8Ki-44 “Tojo” Aces of WW2 9Skyway Sale and Party 9On Fw 190 Canopies, Antennas,

and Headrests 10Revell 1948 Ford Custom

Coupe 11Dragon HUP Vehicle Type 4012Vickers Wellesley 13Tamiya Yamato Preview 14

Each December, I try my best to be“positive” about how things have gone formy family and me over the past year. Thisyear has been another tough one, with allsorts of external “threats” to familystability, what with threat of job loss,cutbacks across the board to variouspublic services that my family relies upon(schools, road repairs, etc), and higherexpenses in many areas of our lives.

One of the big “positives” of the year forme has been the goings on at our IPMSSeattle Chapter, and modeling in general.After 20 years of exemplary service to theclub, Terry Moore decided that he wanteda break from being President for Life, andannounced his “retirement” from ourExecutive Board. Two candidates steppedforward to stump for Terry’s position, anddespite two attempts to find a clear winner,the votes ended in a tie. This could havelead to all sorts of bitter infighting as each“camp” tried to figure out a way to win theelection.

This has happened in other IPMS chap-ters, sometimes leading to the chaptersplitting in two, and each side going theirseparate way. It was a credit to everyoneinvolved, from the candidates, the electionorganizers, and in particular the generalmembership that we managed to sort thisall out amicably. As a group we continue tomeet to share the love of the hobby on thesecond Saturday of each month inBellevue.

Other positives have occurred this year aswell. VP Eric Christianson has organizedsome very interesting and informativeseminars following the conclusion of thechapter business meeting and show andtell. He has managed to tap into the vastmodeling knowledge that exists within theclub, but has proven in the past to bedifficult to share. We also have managedto continue to attract new modelers to theclub, and better yet, to keep them after

their first visit! Proof again, in my eyes, asto the “positive” nature of our club. Andthe “Show and Tell” tables continue tobulge with a vast and varied array ofmodels, from autos to armor, figures to sci-fi, ships to airplanes.

My goal as your President heading into2012 is to keep all the “positives” in focus,and to do everything in my power to fosterthe great goings on within IPMS Seattle.To each and every one of you, I wish youand your loved ones the very best for theHoliday Season.

Andrew

Holiday Meeting

Remember to bringgoodies to eat

(cookies, cakes, etc.)and non-alcoholicbeverages to the

December 10meeting!

SEATTLE CHAPTER CONTACTS

President: Vice President: Treasurer: Show Chair:Andrew Birkbeck Eric Christianson Spencer Tom Jon FincherP.O. Box 15983 18215 NE 95th Way #103 318 N.E. 81st St. 1819 S. 116th St. #307Seattle, WA 98115 Redmond, WA 98052 Seattle, WA 98115 Seattle, WA 98166Ph: 206-522-3539 Ph: 425-591-7385 Ph: 206-522-8414 Ph: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

IPMS Seattle Web Site (Webmasters, Norm Filer & Tracy White): http://www.ipms-seattle.org

Public Disclaimers, Information, and Appeals for Help

This is the official publication of the Seattle Chapter, IPMS-USA. As such, it serves as the voice for our Chapter, and depends largelyupon the generous contributions of our members for articles, comments, club news, and anything else involving plastic scale modeling andassociated subjects. Our meetings are generally held on the second Saturday of each month, (see below for actual meeting dates), at the NorthBellevue Community/Senior Center, 4063-148th Ave NE, in Bellevue. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, exceptas noted, and usually last for two to three hours. Our meetings are very informal, and are open to any interested modeler, regardless of interests.Modelers are encouraged to bring their models to the meetings. Subscriptions to the newsletter are included with the Chapter dues. Dues are $25a year for regular mail delivery of the newsletter, and $15 for e-mail delivery, and may be paid to Spencer Tom, our Treasurer. (See addressabove). We also highly recommend our members join and support IPMS-USA, the national organization. See below for form. Any of the memberslisted above will gladly assist you with further information about the Chapter or Society.

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual writers, and do not constitute the official position of theChapter or IPMS-USA. You are encouraged to submit any material for this newsletter to the editor. He will gladly work with you and see thatyour material is put into print and included in the newsletter, no matter your level of writing experience or computer expertise. The newsletter iscurrently being edited using a PC, and PageMaker 6.5. Any Word, WordPerfect, or text document for the PC would be suitable for publication.Articles can also be submitted via e-mail, to the editor’s address above. Deadline for submission of articles is generally twelve days prior to thenext meeting - earlier would be appreciated! Please call me at 425-823-4658 if you have any questions.

If you use or reprint the material contained in the newsletter, we would appreciate attribution both to the author and the sourcedocument. Our newsletter is prepared with one thing in mind; this is information for our members, and all fellow modelers, and is prepared andprinted in the newsletter in order to expand the skills and knowledge of those fellow modelers.

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter

Upcoming Meeting DatesThe IPMS Seattle 2011 meeting schedule is as follows. All meetings are from 10 AM to 1 PM, except as indicated. To avoidconflicts with other groups using our meeting facility, we must NOT be in the building before our scheduled start times, andMUST be finished and have the room restored to its proper layout by our scheduled finish time. We suggest that you keep thisinformation in a readily accessable place.

December 10

Newsletter Editor:Robert Allen12534 NE 128th Way #E3Kirkland, WA 98034Ph: [email protected]


Boeing B-1 (Model 6)

by Jim Schubert

On March 2, 1919 Eddie Hubbard and BillBoeing carried a bag of mail from Bill’sfactory on Seattle’s Lake Union to theRoyal Vancouver Yacht Club dock inBritish Columbia. The 130 mile (209Km) triptook them ten days as they had to stop inAnacortes to make repairs. They returnedto Seattle in two hours with another bag ofmail. It was a stunt for that year’s annualVancouver Exhibition; it was also the firstgovernment sanctioned internationalairmail in the western hemisphere. Thatmilestone exercise was flown on the one-off civil Boeing Model 5 (CL-4S)floatplane. Late in 1919 Hubbard boughtthe sole Boeing B-1 (Model 6), c/n 86, forhis Seattle-Victoria Air Mail Line and usedit on the, almost, daily Seattle-Victoria, BCand return mail service until 1928. Thisexceptionally long life of intensive use wasunusual at the time when most airplaneshad very short service lives. The B-1started operations with a 200 hp Hall-ScottL-6, which was essentially half a Liberty V-12. Later it was retrofitted with the morepowerful, and more reliable, 400 hp Libertyand used up six of them flying 350,000miles/563,270 Km on this run of about 80miles/129 Km each way. Hubbard typicallycarried between 50 and 60 thousandpounds/22,680-27,216 Kg of mail per yearat a charge to the government of threecents per letter. This operation deliveredlate-posted trans-Pacific mail from Seattleto Victoria to catch the steamers that hadleft Seattle the day before and to returnmail from the arriving steamers to Seattle aday before the ships arrived. Hubbard wasknown to have, on occasion, chased somesteamers many miles out to sea in the B-1to deliver the mail.

Sometime in 1929 the company’s name waschanged to Northwestern Air Services andownership passed to the Blum family ofSeattle who based their operations on LakeWashington at Bryn Mawr (now RentonMunicipal Airport). They retired the B-1and replaced it with a Boeing B-1E; laterredesignated Model 204. The B-1 sat in a

shed at Bryn Mawr for ten years until theBlums donated it to the Seattle HistoricalSociety in 1939. The Society set it up as anoutdoor public display on the east side ofBoeing Field until the start of WWII.Boeing then stored the B-1 for the Societyuntil 1951 when a Boeing team restored theplane for display at the Society’s newMuseum of History and Industry(MOHAI). The plane was restored inBoeing’s Renton Plant, which, by the way,was built by the U.S. Navy in 1939 forconstruction of another flying boat, theBoeing PBB-1 Sea Ranger. That is why thefactory faces the waters of Lake Washing-ton and has three seaplane ramps. The B-1hangs in the Phillip Johnson MemorialAviation Wing of the Museum. PhillipJohnson was an early colleague ofBoeing’s and was the President of UnitedAircraft when it was dissolved; later hewas President of The Boeing AirplaneCompany from 1939 through 1944. Today,though, there is very little aviation left inthis wing of the museum; most of thespace being given over to other subjectsranging from a tow-truck (“The ToeTruck”) to a very large display model of abeer bottle and the Rolls-Royce Merlinpowered Slo-Mo-Shun IV Unlimited Classracing boat of the mid fifties.

When Hubbard started the Seattle-Victoriaservice the B-1 bore no markings whatso-ever. To fly in Canada it was given theCanadian registration G-CADS; G for GreatBritain and CA for Canada. This wasn’tquite legal as the plane was US owned andoperated. As a compromise the “G” wasreplaced by “N”, which had been assignedas the US national designator in a 1919treaty, which the US had not signed andthe “N” was, therefore, not yet in use. Thishybrid registration, N-CAD, made the B-1the first plane to carry an “N number”.When US insurers set up their own privateairplane registration system in 1923 the B-1became “N-ABNA” until 1927 when theCAA assigned it “4985” and this wasapplied to the wings and rudder. Later itwas assigned NC-4985 but this was neverpainted on the plane. When the plane wasdisplayed outdoors on Boeing Field from1939 through 1941 it still had the 4985registration.

For modelers and others who care aboutsuch details: The hull top and float tops,including the lower wing center sectionhave always been dark green; a darkergreen than the later “Boeing Green”. Thehull and float bottoms have always beenreddish gold. The rest of the plane,

The B-1 as currently displayed in Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. (Author)


including all struttery, was finished withaluminum dope. The Hall-Scott engine hada two-bladed wooden propeller and theLiberties had four bladers. All the registra-tions, prior to 4985, were black on a largewhite panel on the fuselage aft of thewings; with, as appropriate, either a black“G” or “N” on the silver rudder. Until 4985there were never any registrations on thewings. “M 92” and “U.S. Mail” are paintedin white on either side of the nose.

The 1951 Boeing restorers, knowing theAirplane would be hung, did nothingabout the interior; both cockpits arecompletely empty – no seats, controls,instruments – nothing. Where it is hungmakes it very difficult to photographtoday.

Specifications:

Span: 50’ 3”/15.24 MLength: 31’ 3”/9.45 MHeight: 13’ 4”/3.96 MEmpty Wt.: 2,400 Lb/1,089 KgGross Wt.: 3,850 Lb/1,746 KgCruise: 80 MPH/129 Km/HRange: 400 Miles/643 KmEngine: Hall-Scott L6, 200 hp/ Liberty, 400hpAccommodations: Pilot in front; twopassengers, or mail, in rear.

Sources:

• Boeing Aircraft Since 1916: Peter M.Bowers, Putnam, UK, 1966, Library ofcongress No. 66-11374.

• Pedigree of Champions: Boeing, USA,1969.

• Boeing Airliner magazine, July 1978,article “Wavetop Airline”: Peter M.Bowers.

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaperOctober 12, 1995 article “Flyers Who Lefttheir Stamp on Airmail”: Jon Hahn.

• Boeing Press Release; July 29, 1951:Model B-1 Flying Boat, “First CommercialVenture by Boeing, Renovated for Mu-seum”.

• Boeing News, Vol. 10, No. 52, December27, 1951(In-House newspaper) article; “OldPlane is Placed in Museum”.

• Boeing News, sometime in 1939, article;“History Maker, Boeing B-1 on Exhibit”.

• Assistance from the Library of theMuseum of Flight in Seattle.

• Assistance from the Museum of Historyand Industry in Seattle.

• Assistance from the Boeing Archives inBellevue.

Three-view traced from Boeing Archives

Below: The B-1 afloat in Lake Washingtonoff the seaplane ramp at Boeing Renton

after restoration in 1951.(Museum of Flight)


The B-1 on Lake Union in front of factory ramp; Queen AnneHill and Seattle’s Gas Works in background. (Boeing)

Launching the B-1 from the factory into Lake Union fora test flight. (Boeing)

The B-1 showing its hybrid N-CADS registration beingtowed in Victoria’s Inner Harbor. (Boeing)

After being wrecked by a windstorm whilst moored inVictoria. (Boeing)

The B-1 on display at Boeing Field after being donatedto the Seattle Historical Society in 1939 with registra-tion 4985 visible on the rudder. (Museum of Flight)

The B-1 on Boeing Renton’s ramp shortly after rollout from1951 restoration. It’s accurate except all the struts should

be silver rather than dark green. (Boeing)Opposite page, bottom: The B-1 in the first Boeing factory on

Seattle’s Lake Union where it was built. First flight wasDecember 27, 1919. (Boeing)


Dragon 1/72nd Scale Type97 "Chi-Ha" Tank, LateProduction, Saipan 1944

by Andrew Birkbeck

Over the years, model companies haven’texactly been falling over each other toproduce WW2 Japanese military vehiclesin the smaller scales: 1/72nd or 1/76th.Hasegawa produced a couple of trucks intheir 1/72nd scale series many years ago,while Airfix produced a Type 97 “Chi-Ha”decades ago in 1/76th scale. For the timethe Airfix kit wasn’t a bad little model, barthe rubberized plastic tracks which nothingseemed to glue together. So it was a happysurprise to discover that Dragon Modelswas producing not one, but two 1/72ndscale IJA tanks in their “Armor Pro” series,a Type 95 “Ha-Go” light tank, and thesubject of this review, a Type 97 “Chi-Ha”medium tank.

Dragon’s kit is very well detailed, consist-ing of two main parts, the hull top andbottom, together with a sprue of detailparts covering the running gear, turret,exhaust system and on board tools. Twotrack runs are provided in Dragon’s DS100glue-able rubberized plastic, plus a small

photo etched fret consisting of two meshexhaust guards.

Assembly starts with the running gear ininstruction sequence 1 and 2. Be verycareful to insure that the road wheels,drive sprocket and rear idler wheel on eachsize of the model line up correctly. Inparticular there is a problem with themounting holes on parts A10, for attach-ment to the mounting pins on the lowerhull, part “C”. The holes are bigger thanthe mounting pins, so the parts lack a firm,positive fit.

In Section 2 of the instructions note thatpart A8, the radio antenna, is a verydelicate part. I took the utmost care andachieved success in removing it from thesprue using my micro razor saw fromUMM (Unique Master Models). Also inthis section, take the time to carefullyremove the seam line on the main cannonbarrel, part A7. The kit also gives themodeler the option of having the turrethatch in the open or closed position. Sincethe kit does not provide the modeler withany sort of crew figure to place in theturret opening, I elected to button up myturret.

Section 4 covers the installation of thephoto-etched brass exhaust guards. Iheated my fret by placing it on a mediumheat stove element to anneal the metal,making it much easier to bend into shape. Iformed the etched parts by carefullybending them over suitably sized drill bits,taking the process slowly, and constantlytest fitting the parts until I was happy withtheir shape and positioning over theplastic exhaust parts. However, I got thepositioning wrong on my model, as theexhaust guards are supposed to lay flushwith the mudguards. Note that the exhaustguards have a “hook” at one end of them.This hook allows the guards to conform tothe contour of the rear section of themudguards. So pay close attention to thisdetail, and you will get everything cor-rectly positioned.

Section 5: Here I had the second of thereally major fit problems. Part A24 does notfit snuggly into hull Part “B”. So I had todo a lot of test fitting, filing, more testfitting, and more filing. But I got the partinstalled fairly well without having toresort to putty. Another local modeler Ispoke with had the same experience so Idon’t believe it wasn’t just reviewerincompetence! Section 6, the final in the


assembly sequences, has the modeler onceagain having some difficulties: the verynicely detailed DS100 tracks are veryfragile, and are too short for the model.Dragon seems to realize that they might betoo short, or too long, for they advise themodeler to stretch them, or cut off anyexcess length. Well, due to the thin natureof these tracks, and despite my best effortsto be extremely careful with my trackstretching exercise, I snapped one of thetwo track lengths in half. Thankfullyhowever the track material glues togethervery well, and with some care, I managedto get the tracks, now in three pieces, ontothe model and looking okay. So again, youare forewarned.

The kit provides one color and markingscheme for a tank listed as being from the9th Tank Regiment on Saipan, sometimeduring 1944. The scheme is the four toneIJA scheme of Brown, Green and Khaki,together with yellow stripes. For the firstthree colors I utilized a set from the Mr.Hobby range of lacquer paints, “Mr Colorfor Tanks” set CS604 Imperial JapaneseArmy. These colors were thinned with MrColor Self Leveling Thinner, andairbrushed onto the model freehand. Oncethoroughly dry, I took a bottle of yellowpaint from my stocks, in this case anacrylic, Polly Scale Italian CamouflageYellow 3. With this I brush painted on theyellow stripes that adorned IJA tanksduring WW2. Two applications of theyellow were required, and following this,

the model was given a gloss clear cote,before the application of the decals. Asmentioned, there is only one optionavailable in the kit, and the decals, byCartograph of Italy, went on without fuss.A further application of the clear glosshelped bury the decals so they would moreeasily blend into the painted finish. Then alight application of a suitably dark brownoil wash was applied to pick out thevarious rivets and panel lines. Oncethoroughly dry, the model was airbrushedwith a suitable flat matt clear, in this casefrom the Vallejo Model Air range. Thetracks were then picked out with anotherVallejo color, Track Primer, from theirPanzer Aces range.

I rate this kit very highly indeed. Detail iscrisp, and there is lots of it. If you followthe kit instructions, together with myadvice on the couple of trouble spots withthe kit, a very sweet little model shouldresult. Dragon Models has a Type 97 ChiHa “early version” due out soon in theirrange as well. As always, I would like tooffer my sincere thanks to DragonUSA forproviding IPMS USA with the opportunityto review this kit for their members.


Kinetic 1/48th ScaleGrumman C-2A Greyhound

by Gerry Nilles

The Grumman C-2 Greyhound is a secondgeneration and the most current "CarryOnboard Delivery" (COD) aircraft used bythe US Navy. Interestingly the concept, ofa dedicated carrier borne transport/cargoaircraft only dates back to the mid 1950s.Prior to this, modified attack aircraft suchas the TBM Avenger and AD-5 "sedan"Skyraider provided some COD support,but had very limited capacity as far ascargo and personnel went. Transportationof larger items, such as replacement jetengines, special weapons, etc. obviouslyrequired a dedicated aircraft with a muchgreater space and load ability. However, atthe time (the 1950s) the majority of thecarrier fleet consisted of the modifiedWWII vintage Essex class, and as such,the design of any dedicated cargo aircraftdefinitely had to consider size.

Fortunately, at this time the new twinengine Grumman S-2 Tracker ASW aircrafthad just come into service. Navy plannerswasted no time in having Grumman modifythe S-2 airframe into a cargo configuration.The first of these redesigned S-2s, (nowdesignated the TF-1) made its initial flightin February of 1955. Modification incorpo-rated into the TF-1 included both a widerand deeper fuselage; double cargo doorsadded to the port side, a load capacity of3,500 pounds or seating for nine. Nick-named the "Trader", and subsequently re-designated the C-1A in 1962, the Traderserved until replaced by the C-2A Grey-hound, in the late 1960s.

Lessons learned from the C-1 programwere not lost on the Navy and as such, thegenesis of the C-2A Greyhound shared aparallel development with the E-2CHawkeye. In addition, at the time these twodesigns were in development the fleet hadalmost completely converted to the so-called super carrier, which pretty muchlifted any size restrictions. Actually, theNavy went so far as to complete an "At

Sea" feasibility study using a Lockheed C-130. A Hercules, with an estimated grossweight of 121,000 pounds, both success-fully landed and took off from the USSForrestal (CVA-59) in October of 1963.However, the Navy subsequently rejectedthe idea of using such large aircraft oncarriers because of the disruption tonormal operation, not to mention concernsover onboard storage, maintenance, anddisposition should a hard landing occur.

The initial flight trials for the C-2A beganin the fall of 1964, with production deliver-ies to Fleet Tactical Support SquadronFifty (VCR-50) beginning in December of1966. As noted above size no longerdetermined design, however commonalityand serviceability did and as such the factthat both the C-2A and the E-2C shared anumber of common systems and partsincluding, engines, outer wings, landinggear, folding wings just to name a fewdefinitely was a plus. However, thesepositive features only added to the factthat the load capacity of the Greyhoundwas also significant, being almost threetimes as much as the Trader at 10,000pounds of cargo or accommodation/seating for 20 passengers.

First, I have to applaud Kinetic formodifying its 1/48th E-2C Hawkeye intothe C-2A Greyhound. Although some

might say it is an easy transition, thiscertainly is not the case. In reality, what weare talking about is almost a 50% new kit,with five large new trees to be exact. Thenew parts required to make this transitioninclude a completely revised fuselage thatis both wider and deeper than the E-2. Thisnew fuselage has both a different sideentry as well as the addition of a large rearcargo door. Also provided is a new upperand lower wing center section, includingseparate flaps.

As a side note, the most significantproblem with the E-2C kit was the matingof the engine nacelles with the lower partof the wings. Unfortunately, the nacellesare the problem. However, one can alwayshope that this problem has been correctedwith these new parts.

Next we have a new tail section includingboth the horizontals and verticals, and newclear parts too. But wait, as they say onthe TV, there is more. Not only do you getall this you also get a completely detailedcargo bay interior including seats. Youalso get both the original four blade props,plus the upgraded eight-blade style.

Overall, the quality of these new C-2Aparts is on a par with the original E-2C kit,if not a little better. The panel lines andother details are both well defined and


crisply molded. Of course, the originalcommon parts to both kits, such as, butnot limited to, the engines, landing gear,outer wing panels (with separate flaps),and the optional extended or folded wingfeature are of pretty darn good quality inthe first place.

Printed by Cartograf, the kit’s decal sheetprovides the builder a choice of markingsfor two aircraft. The first is for a late modelC-2A (BU No. 162161) from VRC-30 thatoperated from the USS Ronald Reagan in2010. Equipped with the upgraded eightbladed propellers, and sporting a yellowsunburst over a black background on theoutboard panels of the vertical stabilizers,this scheme is by far the more colorful ofthe two options.

The second choice, is for and earlier C-2A,(having the original four bladed props),from VAW-120 circa 2009. This aircraft hasno colorful markings other than thesquadron badge. Both aircraft have thestandard U S Navy gull gray and whitecolor scheme that has been around sincethe1960s. However, consistent withtransport type aircraft, the upper part ofthe fuselage is also white.

I believe I share a similar thought withmany a 1/48th scale model builder when Isay that I would never have imagined thatwe would see a kit of a C-2A Greyhound.This is even more surprising consideringthe fact that it is not available in any otherscale, except as a conversion. Overall,Kinetic has done an excellent job on thiskit. The complete cargo bay interior isdefinitely a nice touch as is the folding orextended wing option. The inclusion ofboth early and late style props, along witha good selection of markings for eitherversion is also another plus. As for majornegatives with the kit, I do not really seeany. Having just completed their E-2C kit Ican tell you that this will probably not beoverly difficult build for an accomplishedmodeler, just a time consuming one.Therefore, without hesitation I must saythat Kinetic is certainly to be comple-mented for this effort. My thanks toStevens International for the reviewsample.

Ki-44 'Tojo' Aces of WorldWar 2, by Nicholas Millman

reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

While the study of aviation over Europeduring the Second World War is welldocumented, finding good references onJapanese aviation is more challenging.This latest title in the Osprey Aircraft ofthe Aces series helps fill that void,covering the Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki fighter.Sadly, no Ki-44 aircraft survived the war,so we have no historical originals toexamine. As such, books such as this oneare all the more valuable, and the authorhas gone to great lengths to provide asolid reference.

The book begins with an overview of thedevelopment process that resulted in theKi-44. Contrary to previous designs, theKi-44 focused on speed and durabilityover maneuverability. As such, the Ki-44was a formidable airplane, difficult to bringdown, and helped change the way theJapanese deployed their fighter force. As astrategic point defense fighter, the Ki-44did quite well in protecting the Japaneseislands from US bombers. The author does

a great job of highlighting these opera-tions in subsequent chapters, withattention given to the Ki-44 in SoutheastAsia, China, and over Japan.

Like other titles in the Osprey Aircraft ofthe Aces series, this book is filled withphotographs. Finding good photographicreferences on Japanese aircraft is challeng-ing, so it is good to see the breadth ofcoverage in this book. Complementing thephoto record, of course, are the excellentcolor profile illustrations, drawn by RonnieOlsthoorn. The same artist did the coverartwork as well as the scale drawings,making for a great all-around package.

Overall, this is a very nice addition to theOsprey Aircraft of the Aces series, and awelcome addition to the Japanese aviationhistorian's library. My thanks to OspreyPublishing for the review copy.

Aircraft of the Aces 100Publisher: Osprey PublishingISBN: 978-1-84908-440-6Binding: SoftcoverPages: 96

Skyway Model ShopChristmas Sale and Party

Skyway Model Shop will have their annualChristmas sale and party the day of theDecember meeting, December 10. Every-thing in the store will be 20% off, with 50%off on special items.

The sale starts at noon and the party at 4PM, with food and drinks served then.

See www.skywaymodelshop.com for moredetails and directions.


On Fw 190 Canopies,Antennas, and Headrests

by Hal Marshman Sr

I recently took part in a club challenge tobuild an Fw 190D or Ta 152, and best thatof the challenger. Judging from thequestions I heard, it would seem thateveryone isn't up to speed on the abovenamed subject, although I grant you, it'spretty esoteric information. Those of youthat already have a grasp can pretty muchignore what I have to say, but there arequite a few guys coming up through theranks that may find this new and revealing.

Focke-Wulf 190 aircraft fielded basicallytwo different canopy arrangements. thebasic canopy for most early to mid-warunits was what we call the "flat topped"version, in that the sliding canopy isbasically straight from the front to the reartip of its fairing. Yes, I know that there's avery slight turndown at the very top front.This canopy style featured an armoredhead rest, and supporting bar that ran fromthe top of the rest, to an area inside themetal fairing. The antenna cable enteredthe top of the canopy, and worked througha system of pulleys. In any event, thesystem kept the cable taut, regardless ofwhether the canopy was closed, or slidback into the full open position. This stylecanopy was employed from the prototypevariants, right through the A-9 version.(I'm sure there may have been some fieldmodified exceptions). It was also employedon some examples of the -D, -F, and -Gversions.

The second canopy type was what we callthe "blown hood" style. The sliding partnow had a stiffening frame running theentire length of the top, bisecting thecanopy. The glass parts now possessed adistinctive bulge on both sides of thisframe, allowing the pilot an easier glance tohis rear. The bar that the earlier types hadto support the rear of the armored headrestwas replaced with a rounded coaming,narrower at the front to match the shape ofthe headrest, and growing larger as it

reached the rear of the glassed-in area.One big thing to remember is that thiscanopy style possessed no automatictensioner, meaning that when the canopywas slid back into the full open position,the antenna cable went slack, actuallylying along the topside of the fuselagerear. You will observe this type canopy onsome A-8 and -9 birds, late -F, -G, and most-D 190s, as well as the Ta 152.

As always, to be really sure of whichcanopy was used on the model Fw 190 youmay be building, the solution as always, isto try and find a photograph of that fighter.Lacking such a picture, you may have torely on the kit's instructions, or artworkfrom a respected source.


Revell 1/24th Scale 1948Ford Custom Coupe

by Greg Wise, IPMS #44378

The 1948 Ford was the company’s lastmodel to be produced using a pre-WWIIdesign. Distinctive “fat” fenders helpedmake it an instant favorite with custombuilders, who tended to chop the top andadd fade-away fenders and tunneledheadlights. A modified Ford flathead V-8,dual carburetors, and dual exhaust was therage.

Revell’s kit features newly tooled optionalcustom parts. These include four grillswith separate surrounds, two bumpers,two hubcaps, three taillights, two hoods,fade-away side panels, spotlights, fenderskirts, plated metal exhaust tips, printedwhitewall tires, chrome plated parts, anddecals with colorful custom graphics. Totalparts 136, skill level 3.

As with most car builds, the first stepsbegan with the engine. The flat head wenttogether without a hitch and, painted Fordblue, it was soon embellished with all thechrome items we all come to expect fromRevell. Next up, following the instructionsheet, I moved on to the frame and exhaustpipes. It was here that I made a detour andelected not to install the exhaust system atthis point and instead send the frame tothe paint shop along other related parts tobe readied for the next building steps.Once all the parts were painted, I addedthe exhaust system, suspension, drivetrain, wheels, and steering. Flipping theframe over, I then added the engine andradiator, finishing this build component atstep 4.

The next build steps 5, 6, and 7 involve thebody and several optional custom fea-tures. Once all the body work was finished,I prepped and painted it before adding theglass as directed in step 7. Step 8 coversthe interior and dash. I encountered noproblems. Step 9, after test fitting theinterior with the floor pan and framecomponent, everything was installed into

the body. The rest of the build includedadding the bumpers and bits.

I highly recommend this build to anyonewho likes building for the enjoyment of thehobby and to the serious modeler whowants a great canvas for building amasterpiece. Thanks to Revell for supply-ing the kit for review and to IPMS forletting me review it.


Dragon 1/72nd ScaleHeavy Uniform Personnel

Vehicle Type 40

by Andrew Birkbeck

When I first received this model kit forreview, the title that Dragon Models gaveit, “Heavy Uniform Personnel Vehicle Type40” had me confused. It clearly looked tome like the Auto Union/Horch 4x4 Type 1aproduced by Tamiya in 1/35th scale wayback in the 1970s. And sure enough, this iswhat the kit turned out to be! And to befair to Dragon, the vehicle was indeed a“heavy” (as compared “medium” or “light”weight) 6-man personnel vehicle. The kit isin fact “kits”, as Dragon gives the modelertwo identical kits within the same box.

The bulk of each kit consists of a one-piece body, incorporating the underchassis frame, and the upper body hoodand main body side panels. This utilizesthe latest slide mold production technol-ogy for an amazingly detailed one-pieceunit. To this the modeler adds in Section 1and 2 of the instructions: the wheels anddrive train parts, together with the exhaust

parts. Section 3 of the instructions coversthe addition of the vehicle’s bumper andexternal lights, siren and Notek light,together with the internal parts: seats,steering wheel, hand brake and gear shift,plus the windshield and canvas wetweather cover parts (in the stowedposition). The kit gives the modeler oneoption: a clear windshield with molded onwiper blades, or a part depicting thevehicle with a canvas covering over thewindshield to be installed in the loweredposition.

As stated all these parts are extremely welldetailed for the scale, and for the most part

they assemble together quite well. The oneexception for me was part B31, which is thepedestal mounted machine gun. This Ifound basically impossible to straightenout convincingly (it had a slight warp to itout of the box). I thus left it off my model.Another area that leaves something to bedesired: because of the one piece mainbody unit, while the exterior of thevehicle’s four doors are well defined,looking at the interior of the model, thedoors are not defined at all. In other words,if you look at the interior of the main body,it appears the vehicle doesn’t haveseparate, opening doors.


Thoroughbred

The kit instructions provide the modelerwith three color schemes: a Panzer grayvehicle from the Eastern Front, 1941; anoverall Panzer yellow vehicle with red andgreen camouflage pattern, Eastern Front1943; and a desert yellow vehicle, NorthAfrica 1942. Unfortunately all three arelisted as “unidentified unit”, and so comewithout any vehicle markings other thanlicense plates. And even the license platedecals are generic, in that Dragon Modelsprovides the modeler with a series ofindividual numbers which then must be“assembled” into a front and rear licenseplate. This is a real chore, and to get themevenly spaced, a major challenge. Frankly,I would have much preferred two or three“preassembled” plates! I chose to buildthe Panzer Yellow vehicle, with red andgreen squiggle camouflage, utilizingTamiya brand acrylic paints, and Mr. ColorSelf Leveling lacquer thinner.

So did I like this model? Yes I did. Itassembles into a nicely detailed small scalemodel of this important German militarypersonnel carrier. The one major “issue” isthe lack of door demarcation on the insideof the main body part. However, once theinterior seats are installed, this “issue” ismuch less glaringly obvious.

I highly recommend this kit to anyone whobuilds 1/72nd WW2 German militaryvehicles.

My thanks to DragonModels USA forproviding IPMS USA with this reviewsample.

Vickers Wellesley,by Ian White

reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The Vickers Wellesley marked the begin-ning of an alliterative quartet of geodeticaircraft that included the Wellington,Warwick, and Windsor. The geodeticconcept used by Vickers in all of theseaircraft evolved from Barnes Wallis' workin that construction method. This newestbook in the Warpaint Series examines thisinteresting first step into geodetic aircraftconstruction with a detailed history of theVickers Wellesley.

The operational story of the Wellesley is afairly short one, as it was only in servicefor a short while. Its unique construction,though, requires an extensive bit ofbackground information, and this bookbegins with just that. In fact, productionexamples of the Wellesley do not enterinto discussion for several pages of text,as the author goes into detail about thedesign and testing of geodetic construc-tion. This background is important tounderstanding the Wellesley, and it makesfor an interesting read.

The operational record of the Wellesleyfollows the technical description, and thissection details the short squadron serviceof the type. With the first Wellesley aircraftarriving in squadron service in early 1937and the first examples replaced in thespring of 1938, the Wellesley definitely hada limited career. The entire span of theWellesley with Bomber Command lastedonly two years, but the type did soldier onin Middle East and African squadrons,where the Wellesley went into combatagainst the Italians in East Africa. The lastWellesley operations were anti-submarinemissions from Egypt in 1943.

Like other titles in the Warpaint Series, thisbook combines the well-written text withplenty of great photographs. There arequite a few photos showing the Wellesleyunder construction, which highlights thegeodetic design. Scale drawings are alsoincluded, and there are quite a few colorprofile illustrations as well. For the latter,there was not much variation in camou-flage for the Wellesley, but there are someinteresting marking variations depicted.

While overshadowed by the biggerWellington, the Vickers Wellesley was animportant aircraft that proved the validityof geodetic construction. The aircraft isdone justice in this book, and it makes for agreat addition to the Warpaint series. Mythanks to Warpaint Books for the reviewcopy.

Warpaint Series No. 86Publisher: Warpaint BooksBinding: SoftcoverPages: 40

[Thanks to Chris Banyai-Riepl andwww.internetmodeler.com for permissionto use his, Tracy’s, and Gerry’s articles. -ED]


Tamiya New 1/350th ScaleYamato Preview

by Tracy White

Tamiya created quite a buzz at the 2011Tokyo Hobby show when they confirmedthe swirling rumors of a new-tooledBattleship Yamato in 1/350th scale. Thanksto Skyway Model Shop's advancedpreview sent to them by Tamiya, we're in agood position to discuss the finer detailsof this upcoming release. As it was apartial kit, lacking instructions, only theparts that we saw will be up for discussion.

Starting with the hull - many modelershave been clamoring for hull detail in wayof the plating formed by the differentstrakes of steel. Various companies havetried and for the most part have come uplacking. Tamiya takes another crack at itwith this release, presenting actual raisedstrakes instead of the simple engravedlines their Akagi used.

Another feature oft desired are the seachests, intakes, and exhausts on thebottom of a ship used to feed the ship'sboilers. These are included as ovaldepressions; due to the width and flatnessof the hull they will be hard to see unless ataller stand-off is used, but it's nice thatthey were included as well as the plating.It's also nice to see that the thick, chevronshaped bilge keels are more a thing of the

past, and that correct and thin is in. This isa feature that once known and understood,looks badly out of place on older kits withtheir long, fat "smiles" that did notconform to the flow of water in theslightest.

There are some drawbacks to the strakeplating however. When this is combinedwith the need to have multiple mold pieces,if the mold break-down and injectionprocess isn't perfectly handled there willbe seams that can be a pain to deal with.Does the modeler remove the seams, aswell as all detail in the area, or leave thedetail and by extension the seams? Or,does the builder take a stab at a moredifficult proposition, removing the seam

and then restoring the detail seamlessly(rimshot!)? This aft seam (see below) is theone I worry about most; being long andcutting through several strakes across itslength. The hull detail is fashioned byalternating raised pieces atop a smoothsurface, so when the seam has a step ineven the lower surface it means that moreis going to need to be sanded away to getthat lower surface smooth.

The most noticeable seam, however, is thaton the forward hull. In order to mold sucha complex hull shape with crisp detailsover its form, the hull had to be brokendown into many parts. There are twobelow the waterline and at least threeabove it. As you can see in the photoabove, this leaves a seam that should befilled. Perhaps not much concern if the twosurfaces are perfectly true to each other,but in this case I felt a slight step thatwould require some sanding as well asfilling in order to negate, which willdestroy the surrounding strake detail.

Now, while the seam above does look uglyclose up, I'm less worried about theforward one, and in fact I don't think eitherwill be all that difficult to repair. My planwould be to ignore the strake detail; sanddown what needs to be to make the lowersurface true. Then, with the survivingdetail on either side as a guide, lay downTamiya tape (it's got to be Tamiya tape for


a Tamiya Yamato!) along where the edgeswould be, and then spray some Mr.Surfacer or paint in to fill back in the strakedetail. Builders have been using thistechnique for a while in replicating hullplating and it works well with the propertechnique. Because the strakes are long,relatively straight pieces, this should be afairly easy task for the most part.

Enough about the lower hull. The upperhull consists of three main pieces; a bowportion that is about a fifth-to-quarter ofthe ship's length, and two side pieces thatmake up the rest. There is a flat plate thatcan be used to stiffen the structure if oneis building the kit waterline, and parts ofthe upper pieces fit into this in such a wayas to make alignment fairly obvious andeasy, from all appearances. There is,however, one issue that became apparentearly on that I'd like to talk about. Thecontour of the upper forward piece did notmatch the lower piece at the joint, at leastnot easily. Taking a cue from most ofTrumpeter's ships, it appears that the lowerhull is narrower at its normal tension thanthe upper hull. It may be possible to installspreaders below the waterline to push thissection out enough to ease the fixing workthat this will entail, but lacking instructionsand a true understanding of how thisstructure is truly supposed to work, I don'twant to propose anything more concrete.Even lining up one side at a time proveddifficult without my third hand.

The side pieces appear well done. The kitis meant to portray Yamato on her finalmission, when she was sunk trying toreach the Allied fleet near Okinawa; assuch most of the portholes are rendered asplated over. This detail is perhaps a touchoverdone, but given the other hull detailsit was probably necessary to present themthis way. There's not a lot to add hereother than a hope for a good fit betweenthe other hull pieces.

The whole reason for a battleship'sexistence is its main battery. Yamato's wascertainly impressive; the kit no less so,with one exception. The turrets are welldetailed, with subtle details on the roof,

and each massive optical rangefindercomprised of three parts. Not only doesthe builder get the turret shell and guns,but an effort has been made to provideeach whole barbette as a removablepackage, to better show the true size ofthese massive weapons.

Along with this is a good attempt toprovide the option to show interior detailof the top level of the turrets. The platformshelf itself contains some of the details ofthe interior, such as the optical rangefinderand shell ramming track, but misses a lot ofthe finer details that would make this a kit


Meeting Reminder December 10

North Bellevue Community/Senior Center4063-148th Ave NE, Bellevue

Directions: From Seattle or from I-405, take 520 East to the148th Ave NE exit. Take the 148th Ave North exit (thesecond of the two 148th Ave. exits) and continue north on148th until you reach the Senior Center. The Senior Centerwill be on your left. The Center itself is not easily visiblefrom the road, but there is a signpost in the median.

in and amongst itself. Perhaps an aftermar-ket company will provide a set to allow thebuilder to go full-goose bozo in thisregard.

The guns themselves were the largestsurprise to me in terms of detail. The longpieces behind the pivot were curious untilI remembered the pieces for the breechblock that fit around them, but then Inoticed that the ends of the barrels weresolid, unlike those of Dragon or Trumpeter.It turns out that this initial assessment issomewhat in error; Tamiya does give openbarrel ends but either as separate pieces,or as a replacement metal barrel set. In thecase of the plastic ends, they can be seenabove the top barrel in the picture to theright.

Suffice to say, the detail included in therest of the pieces looks excellent, and Ihave no doubt that this will build up intoan impressive kit. The price will be high inthe US, and the old kit can certainly bebuilt into a good representation, but thiskit will definitely go a long way to satisfythe hard core Yamato fan.

seattle chapter news - ipms...seattle chapter news seattle chapter ipms/usa december 2011 preznotes...

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