PLUS…

- Models in the Movies – We get to see the display at the Pima County Library.

- Club News brings us all the coverage of past and upcoming events from the Sonoran Desert Model Builders.

- In Tips and Tricks, Annette Sostarich shows us how make a simple base to display aircraft in flights.

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In This Issue… In This Issue…

Models in

The Movies

Models in

The Movies

Mold Lines is the official publication of the Sonoran Desert Model Builders Modeling club. We publish it on a monthly basis and it is your source for Club news, interviews, model reviews, photos or our member’s modeling work as well as articles on modeling techniques and other articles of interest to our

members.

WHO ARE THEY? The Sonoran Desert Model Builders is a chartered IPMS model club in Tucson, Arizona dedicated to advancing each other’s skills through tip sharing, encouragement and, most importantly, hands-on building. Our members enjoy a deep camaraderie and level of respect for each other as well as a passion for model building. We build it all... cars, airplanes, armor, ships, figures, sci-fi...

Our mission is simple… LET’S BUILD!

WHERE CAN I

FIND THEM?

We meet at the Patrick K. Hardesty Midtown Multi-Service Building from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M.

1100 South Alvernon Way Tucson, AZ

MEETING DATES 2015

JANUARY ……………… 8 th

FEBRUARY ……………… 5 th

MARCH …………….. 12 th

APRIL ……………… 2 nd

MAY ……………… 7 th

JUNE ……………… 4 th

JULY ……………… 2 nd

AUGUST ……………… 6 th

SEPTEMBER ….………… 3 rd

OCTOBER ….….………. 1st

NOVEMBER ..…….…… 5 th

DECEMBER ……..…… 3 rd

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Editor’s Workbench

and therefore many of the models had quite a lot of scratch built details. Most models featured were in some sort of diorama and all the bases were also scratch built, even if they almost always featured V.P. structures. This is when, in my opinion, modeling was the most fun. Back when ingenuity was part of every successful build and things were not so “Plug-and-Play” as they are today. It didn’t take me long after I started flipping through them to start getting excited. Soon I was going thru my stash trying to find models for the multitude of ideas I had going through my head. Needless to say my motivation has been restored and is probably higher than it was. Goes to show that sometimes inspiration can come from the oddest sources.

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Today I realized that June is only a few days away and I have not finished anything this year. Now it has been a busy year, but even so I feel as if the bench hours I have been putting in have not added up to much. This is the point where your motivation starts to decline and you don’t feel any desire to do much. We have all been there and we know the feeling. Pretty soon I wandered away from my bench and into the bookshelf where I spent my time looking at some old books and magazines. This is when I came across my collection of old Verlinden Production magazines. These were a series of magazines published during the early 1990’s. There were several series like, “The Verlinden Way”, “Verlinden’s Showcase”, “Verlinden Modeling Magazine” and the “Super Dioramas”. These magazines were published at a time when the aftermarket industry was still small

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

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Last month’s “Question of the Month” was about model stashes. You know that pile of unbuilt models that most of the time is located in an obscure place of your house. That plastic wall of life that you stare at while telling yourself “one day…” Now, you may think this is strange but I think we can probably tell quite a lot about a modeler’s personality just by looking at what models he/she buys. Because of that I have left the names off from the pictures to see if you can guess what stash belongs to who. Look at the list of club members who submitted photos at the end of the section.

Stash No. 1 !!

Stash No. 2 !!

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

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Stash No. 3 !!

Stash No. 4 !!

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

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Stash No. 5 !! (THIS PERSON THOUGHT I ASKED FOR PICTURES OF A HOBBY SHOP!... Know that I left out 13 other photos!!!!)

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

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Stash No. 6 !!

Club Members who submitted stash photos:

Dave Brown Clara Triem Annette Sostarich Dave Diaz Mike Scotto Pat Harrington

I know my Tiger I kit is somewhere around here…

Match’em up and send me what

you think!

Next month’s question: Where is the oddest place you have built a model?

CLUB NEWS

• Monthly Club Meeting – The SDMB held their monthly meeting on June 4th , 2015 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. This month we had such a large attendance that I began to think the usual meeting hall may not be enough for much longer. We probably had at least 30 members present and over 25 models on display. One thing I really enjoyed was seeing Aaron Damschen’s King Tiger. Aaron is one of our few junior modelers. I was about his age when I built my first armor model and it so happened to be the same Tamiya King Tiger!! Talk about a trip to the past! Later that night I opened an old box that has been stashed away for almost 20 years. There it was, in pieces, my first armor model. As I felt transported back to 1994 I vowed that one day, the Tiger will return.

• Make and Take at the Pima Air and Space Museum - This event is designed to introduce children to the hobby of model building and the math and historical research used to build accurate scale models. It was held on May 2nd, 2015 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.

RECENT EVENTS

8 Models galore at the May’s meeting.

Aaron Damschen’s 1/35 Taniya King Tiger.

Howard Eldridge’s Black Knight.

CLUB NEWS

RECENT EVENTS

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Kris Kerry’s 1/48 F6F-3N Hellcat From Hobby Boss

Dick Smith’s 1/48 F-89C Scorpion from Revell

CLUB NEWS

RECENT EVENTS

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Derek Campbell has been busy working on a Napoleonic diorama. Here is one of the components. Awesome weathering!!!

Check out Ron Schlorff’s 1/48 Lloyd C.T… totally scratch built.

See more awesome

model photos from our

meeting at:

www.sdmb.yolasite.com

Kent Weeks’ great looking 1/35 DML Tiger I.

CLUB NEWS

• Make and Take at the Pima Air and Space Museum - This event is designed to introduce children to the hobby of model building and the math and historical research used to build accurate scale models. The event will take place June 6th , 2015 from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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• SDMB Monthly Meeting – Our club’s meeting will be held on May 7th, 2015 from 6:30 – 8:30 at the Patrick K. Hardesty Midtown Multi-Service Building.

Todd Parker’s 1/35 M-60 from Tamiya

Tips and Tricks

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June 2015

If you remember I mentioned that you had basically two choices when making a base for an aircraft, basically “in flight” or on a runway. Last month we brought you an article on how to make a simple base for a model aircraft depicting it on a runway setting. This time Annette takes us through some steps to make a simple base to display your aircraft “in flight”.

Base Technologies – part 2 By Annette Sostarich

You just completed building your latest model airplane or spaceship and you would like to display it as if it wad flying but you don’t really want it hanging from the ceiling. Some models come with stands, but I've not seen too many model planes that come with a stand. What to do? You can make a very attractive and stable stand for your model for a ridiculously tiny amount of money, using common materials that you may already have.

Tips and Tricks

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June 2015

All You Need Is...

• A small bag/box of Plaster of Paris. You can make several stands from 5 pounds of plaster.

• A piece of brass or aluminum rod, wire or tubing stiff enough to hold the weight of your model, and long enough to display the plane as you'd like, plus about 2 inches. 1/8" or 3/16" should work well for most scales. If you've got a ginormous plane, scale this up accordingly.

• A plastic tub (I like to use margarine tubs, some TV dinner trays work nicely also) sized to give a stable base. The 1 pound margarine tubs work well for most 1/72 or 1/48 planes . Again, scale up (or down) as necessary.

• A Popsicle stick, finger, or other stirring utensil.

• Water. There is a spout with a knob or lever in your kitchen that dispenses this. Avoid breathing this in liquid form.

• A drill, and a drill bit the same diameter as your chosen rod/tubing

Before you get too carried away, stop and think how you are going to mount that plane to the wire. Many jet planes lend themselves well to putting the stand wire up the tailpipe, but a propeller plane, and some jets, will need a hole drilled in the belly. You may want to do this before you paint and detail the plane, because drilling the hole

Tips and Tricks

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June 2015

stands a good chance of splitting the seam, and you'll then have to fix that. Drill the belly hole at, or as close as you can get to, the point where the plane balances (The center of gravity). This will make everything much more stable

Figure out how much plaster you'll need to fill your plastic tub to a depth of 1/2 to 1 inch. Stir well, tap the mold on the table a few times to get the big bubbles out, then let it sit on that level surface overnight.

Tips and Tricks

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June 2015

Now you can gently persuade the container off your fresh piece of plaster. Use a coarse sandpaper to flatten the back if necessary. Does the casting feels cold? If it does it means that even if it is hard it is not dry yet. The chemical reaction for plaster to dry completely can take a few days. If you are planning to paint it make sure it is completely dry before you do as some paints may not stick well due to the moisture.

Now drill a through hole that matches the diameter of your rod. Bend your rod into the shape that will hold the plane your preferred angle. Make sure you do this before you mount the rod into the hole. Your stand will work fine at this point. Just glue the rod into the hole in the stand with epoxy.

Tips and Tricks

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June 2015

But a white plaster stand looks a lot like... A white plaster stand. Paint the base the color of your choice. I use black, because the stand should be inconspicuous. Your brass or aluminum rod can be painted with the base, or left alone. You might also want to glue a piece of felt or cork to the bottom so it won't scratch the furniture. You shouldn't need to glue the model to the stand.

Tips and Tricks

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June 2015

Some models will not be very stable just having a rod stuck in a hole in their bellies. The best way is to get a short piece of tubing the next size up from your rod. Glue this firmly into the model and use it as a socket for the rod to slide into. The rod should slide smoothly into this and cure the wobbles.

MODELING TIP

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Models in

The Movies

This year’s theme for our library exhibit was “Models from Movies, TV and Books” and according to the library director, it has been the most popular exhibit we have put up to date. It has been so popular that there is even talk of making a part two some time down the road. Here are some photos from the exhibit.

Models in

The Movies

Rows of models await their place on the display.

Annette and Clara prepare the large number of signs.

19 Bob Duke’ Mars Invasion figures. Mike Scotto’s M.A.S.H. display.

Set up starting on the three front display cases.

Models in The Movies

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Simon Herbert’s Beaufigther.

The front display cases loaded and ready

Models in The Movies

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The center piece of the display was a collaboration displaying several P-51 Mustangs such as the ones featured in the movie Red Tails.

There were plenty of Sci-Fi models at the display.

Models in The Movies

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SDMB Club Officers

HOW CAN I JOIN THE SDMB?

Test the water before you join!

Here's how: Drop by and say "hello" at one of our monthly meetings (see our Next Meeting page for date and location details). If you like what you see and hear then drop by again the next month

and be sure to bring your questions and we'll help you get started! The first two meetings are free so drop on by! After your second meeting we would appreciate you joining our club. Our club dues

pay for various things such as community programs and sponsorships of trophies in contests. We are happy to have visitors but even happier when you join our club of award winning modelers.

Visit our website at www.sdmb.yolasite.com You can also find us on Facebook.

SDMB is an affiliated club of the International Plastic Modeler’s Society

www.IPMSUSA.org

Dave Brown arizonadesertdave@gmail.com (PRESIDENT)

Damon Blair ec130crewchief@yahoo.com (VICE -PRESIDENT)

Clara Triem mylkwood1@gmail.com (TREASURER)

Derek Campbell 4nagato1@gmail.com (SECRETARY)

David Diaz EDITOR_SDMB@Yahoo.com (NEWSLETTER EDITOR)

Mike Bilcik mbilcik1@cox.net (CLUB IPMS POINT OF CONTACT)