November 07.

Annual Competition Time is Here!

Tonight we have our annual competition and I do hope you have brought something along to enter. There are plenty of categories from which to choose and you can enter any model that has not previously been placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in this competition.

1 AIRCRAFT: 1/72 and below.

2 AIRCRAFT: Above 1/72

3 MILITARY VEHICLES: 1/72 and below.

4 MILITARY VEHICLES: Above 1/72.

5 SHIPS: any scale.

6 FIGURES: 80mm and below.

7 FIGURES: Above 80mm.

8 CIVILIAN VEHICLES: 1/20 and below.

9 CIVILIAN VEHICLES: Above 1/20.

10 DIORAMAS.

11 PHOTOGRAPHIC.

Competition Categories.

12 MISCELLANEOUS.

If we are short of entries in any one category, we may merge it into another: this is more likely if the category has a scale split.

You will be asked to complete an entry slip for each model. Please fill in the details and then put your name on the back. Leave the entry slips on the table for me to collect at the end of the night. If you wish to add notes about the entry (whether it is out the box, converted, detail sets used, after-market decals, etc) then please supply a separate card as there is not any space provided for this on the entry slip.

The club members will vote for their first, second and third choices in each category. Please do not vote on any of your own entries, but you can vote on others in that subject category. When you have finished voting, add your name to the reverse of the voting slip and pass it to me.

Awards will be made at the December meeting, so please bring your models back for then. Everyone present at that meeting, to which friends and family are cordially invited, will then vote for their favourite, which will be awarded the coveted John Cox memorial trophy for “Best In Show”. December’s meeting will also have a “bring and buy”, raffle and buffet.

Romsey Modellers Reference CD.

If you have any material for adding to the reference CD that Romsey Modellers compile each year, please can you pass it to me this evening or post it to me as soon as you can. I’ll be going through it all and prpearing the discs for handing out at the December meeting. Many thanks.

Last Month’s “Test Trout” Competition.

Theme for the competition was “Germany Calling!”. Congratulations to Brian Sampson for winning the trophy for his “Der Antennenmast Ist Kaputt!” diorama. Silver was awarded to Vic Short for his Horten Go229 and bronze to Tony Adams for his Albatross DIII. Well done to the winners and many thanks to all of you who

entered. The next competition will be held in January and the theme is “Made In Japan”. Note, this applied to the subject, not that the kit itself comes from Japan!

Please note: I am coming towards the end of my list of themes for this competition and would welcome proposals for new ones.

Events Since We Last Met.

Yeovilton Autumn Air Show.This was another enjoyable event made the more so by a good turn out of club members to man the stand –many thanks! Once again we were kept busy with enquiries and discussions with the visitors, which was very pleasant. Ben had photos taken of his Corsair by the museum staff (his model is based on their exhibit). We have booked two additional tables (to give 24ft of table space) in the WW2 hall for the next show in February.

IPMS Scale Modelworld 2007.This was my first visit to this event held at the Telford International Centre. Melissa and I had a long weekend based in a hotel in Ironbridge Gorge and went to the show on the Sunday. Other days were spent exploring the gorge and RAF Cosford and I highlycommend this to those of you who would like to make the most of your weekend away.It was nice to look around the competition tables and all classes featured some excellent entries. I’ve taken photos of many and will add them to the Romsey Modellers Reference CD to help give you ideas and inspiration.Roger Doswell contacted me to say….… “superb show as usual, met loads of new people on the recce sig stand, spent so much time chin wagging I did’nt have much time to spend much”.Paul Adams tells me……“After a successful journey up on Saturday morning, Dan and I got into the show just about 10am. By that time the IPMS members were well on their way to trawling through all of the kits and accessories for sale. One new feature was an IPMS members only kit swap, which resembled a Boxing Day morning sale scramble as arms and legs fought for position in a specially cordoned off area.This is the third year that we haven't displayed at the show and so it was a chance to meet up with old friends and share opinions on the state of car modelling, the outrageous end to the F1 championship, MotoGP, our own cars, and what models we were, would like to, or should be building. Shane Price of Les Garagiste invited us to join their car modelling club, which we both felt quite honoured to be part of. Les Garagiste (a non-IPMS club) were invited by the IPMS in a bid to improve the variety on show. Hobbylink Japan made their first visit to the show, a recce of sorts, for a full assault next year. Dan wasted no time in seeing what eBay opportunities were to be found amongst the cheap bins of the Sci-fi model dealers. I myself had an unsuccessful day in tracking down a Tamiya Audi Quattro rally kit...The show allowed me to try out my new digital SLR camera for the first time and after 30-40 shots and some setting adjustments I began to shoot some reasonably good stuff. I took 155 shots in total, a few of which will appear in this newsletter and many car and bike pics can be found online athttp://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=764559

The competition tables were a little down on entries, but there was some nice stuff on display. The car and bike categories were again a little thin, but plentiful in quality. Dutch modeller Guy Goylsten had three outstanding models there, two of which were awarded gold. I listened with amusement as one unsuccessful sci-fi modeller berated the judges for choosing an Orion spacecraft over his Star Wars model due to the visible seams that were very evident on the winning entry. I met up with Tim Harris 10 minutes later, only to be dragged back over to view the model further and to berate the judges some more! Ahh, the wonders of competition modelling!! The quality of aircraft modelling never ceases to amaze and inspire me.If you plan to visit next year, consider your food options beforehand. The burger and chips on sale were dreadful. Despite that, it was another enjoyable visit and I'm looking forward to the possibility of displaying at the show once again with Les Garagiste”.Richard Parkhurst says….“I thought the Nationals were up to the usual high standard; plenty of traders, a few good offers on kits, some very nice club displays and the competition tables looked a little less crowded than in previous years but the standard was as high as ever. I only bought a couple of items; a resin update for the Revell Sea King to replace the incorrectly sized kit sponsons ( inever noticed!!), and some paints. I ordered some new decals from ModelArt for the Gannet COD4 and J-P is also doing a set of resin Mail Pods and pylons for the Fairey Gannet COD4 - typical - just as I finish my model!!! These should be available in the next month or so. I didn't get to see the competition tables after the judging as we left at 4pm to get home at a reasonable time. Next year I shall consider staying overnight on the Saturday and visiting Cosford on the Sunday.

Solent Model Railways.Paul Adams and I manned the club table on the Saturday and Lisa and Doug did Sunday. It was a friendly and pleasant event and, as hoped, we met many visitors who have a keen interest in other forms of modelling as well as model railways.

Forthcoming Events.

Bugle Call 2007The BMSS Bristol Branch Annual Show will be held in the Napier Hall, The Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bath, from 10.00 - 4.30.on Sunday 25th November.

London Model Engineering Show.This event is being held at Alexander Palace from 18 – 20 January. Efforts are being made by a number of model clubs to promote plastic kit modelling and demonstrations of airbrushing and decal making will take place.

What the papers say……

The Aeroplane.DATABASE: The Blackburn Skua & Roc... the full story of Blackburn's two naval fighters, both often maligned as hopelessly outclassed. Mustang Show Report... The 'Gathering of Mustangs and Legends' held at Columbus, Ohio.HIDDEN HISTORY: Protection by Deception... how, in August 1942, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park helped to save a vital relief convoy to Malta — by using false radio messages. Spitfire Women... more than a dozen survivors of the women's branch of the wartime Air Transport Auxiliary Flying for a Song... development and decline of Shoreham's Brookside Flying Club. Those Magnificent (French) Men... takes us back to a gathering of pioneers in Nice in 1922. DOGFIGHT... Our monthly debate... whether World War One ace Werner Voss's natural skills as a pilot were instrumental in (almost) saving his life. AIRCREW... Part Three of our new series on aircrew roles... an observer in a Supermarine Seagull V.

AFV ModellerNovember 07Over There - Markus Eriksson’s OIF Abram M1A1 HA

Croatian BTS3 - Zachary Sex describes how he built this T55 based recovery vehicleSuperbeast in Afghanistan - Jason Bobrovich looks at the uparmoured Leopard C2 Mexas serving in AfghanistanDust n’ Bones - Ulf Andersson descibes the techniques behind his vignetteTiran 5 - A guide to building the IDF upgunned T55 by Adam O’BrienXtreme Detail - The M4 High Speed Tractor Keeping Track - More new releasesEuro Militaire 2007 - We look at some of the entries from this years show

Air Modeller.November 07Polikarpov I-16 - Tomás de la Fuente Maganto builds the Eduard kit in the markings of the Spanish Republican Air ForceFlying Legends, Duxford 2007 - Albert Tureczek’s photo report from this summer’s evenBf 109E - Zdenek Sebesta builds Tamiya’s small scale Tropical Messerschmitt Bf109EDouble Jeopardy - A Canadian CF 104D modlled by Albert TureczekWhite 40 - Eric Larger examines the background a colours of a distinctive FW 190 using archive images.Modelling White 40 - Franck Oudin recreates the aircraft in 1:32nd scaleN1K-2 ‘George’ - Tomás Juriga builds the 1:48th Hasegawa kit

Fine Scale Modeler.December 07.SHOW GALLERY: Manitowoc 2007 - 31st Annual Midwestern Model Ships and Boats Contest and Display.ARMOR HOW-TO: Building the M8A1 prototype Kitbash for a tiny experimental Howitzer Motor Carrier in 1/35 scale. Superdetailing Hasegawa's Dora A 1/32 scale Fw 190D-9 provides the perfect canvas for resin details and an expert paint job. Measuring for modelers Precision is made easy with these helpful measuring-tool tips. Build an accurate Doolittle Raider Improve Accurate Miniature's 1/48 scale B-25B kit.Workbench Reviews: P-47D Thunderbolt; Porcshe Cayman S; F-14D Tomcat; Accurate Miniatures P-6 and F-4B; U.S. Tank Transporter Dragon Wagon; Ki-61-1 Hei Hien "Tony"; French Armored Carrier UE; 2S9 Nona-S Self Propelled Gun; Dornier Do 215B-4; LCAC.

Military In Scale.AIRCRAFTKINGCOBRA Jaime Pastor builds Bell's very attractive P-63, painting it in an unusual scheme that's definitely off the beaten track!EUROMILITAIRE 2007 Arguably the military modelling world's showcase event, Euro' always attracts some incredible work – a point highlighted in this extended look at this year's showARMOURMURPHY'S JEEP One of the smallest models to have appeared in MIS, Hasegawa's 1/48 jeep is a great kit – a point ably proved by Luciano Rodriguez who converts the kit into an interesting armoured versionPETITE PANZERJAEGER Dragon's armour kits have raised the bar in terms of quality, accuracy and detail. This month Nick Shuttleworth builds their splendid Marder II, painting it in an attractive winter scheme along the way…VORPANZER Gary Edmundson completes last month's in-depth appraisal of Dragon's Panzer IV. This time around we provide detailed notes on painting and weathering this impressive little modelWHY WAIT FOR THE RESIN..? A change of pace for our resident scratchbuilder Steve Irwin as he turns his attention from British soft-skins, to a rather interesting, amphibious, Panzer IIMLRS Ashley Webb adds a modern flavour to this month's issue as he builds another Dragon kit, their impressive – if not a little tricky… - Multiple Launch Rocket System

Model Aircraft Monthly.Vol 6, Issue 11, Nov 07, on sale 27 Oct, £3.80Lost before leaving the ground! VMF-221, Midway Island’s sole fighter defence, had its brief moment of glory as Neil Robinson describes, and then he and Angelo Picardo, build the 1/48 scale Special Hobby and 1/32 Czech Model, F2A-3 kits respectively, finished in Battle of Midway markings

Masters at Work a look at the last of the Belgian-flown Fougas still in serviceCold War CamouflageCul-de-sac a British experiment in stealth technology carried out using Radar Absorbing Material on a Ministry of Aviation Canberra in 1958-59‘Cosmic Canberra’ Sniffing on the Edge of Space - a little known Canberra variant used by NASADornier’s Do 17 a look at the recently released RS Models and ICM kitsCroydon Airport the aircraft and airlines of London’s Terminal Airport at Croydon. Len Whalley provides scale plansLightweight Kittyhawk Randy Lutz combines the AMT/ERTL Curtiss P-40N and P-40K Warhawks to produce a P-40N-1 KittyhawkFinest Hours a quartet of Sea Hurricanes based upon the Revell 1/72 scale kits.Korean War Mustangs five of the currently available F-51D Mustang kits in 1/72 scale.Also: 16pg Supplement: Air Wars Part 8 - Air War In Nigeria - Part 2

Scale Aviation Modeller.Vol 13, Issue 11, Nov 07, on sale 27 Oct, £3.95.Modellers Profile: Tornado F.3Budget Stringbag: The Smer boxing of Merit’s 1/48 Swordfish tool, with a little help from the spares boxGustav the Ally by Radu Brinzan Hasegawa’s 1/32 Bf 109G-2 as you have never seen it beforeThe E-Longest Day A report from one on the year’s most influential showsRound Trip Macchi Some care and attention gets a beautiful result from Pacific Coast’s 1/32 Macchi 200 + Spotlight on the new 1/32 Pacific Coast Reggiane Re.2005Polish Eaglet Modelling the Polish Air Force in 1/72 – a striking little trainerIPMS USA Reports from the American IPMSPlus World of Flight Aircraft Guide Part Eleven – Mosquito

Scale Models International.Vol 37 issue 440, Nov 07 on sale 27 Oct, £3.80.Ferrari Barchetta 166 MM 1948, Hotwheels 1:18, Diecast CollectableThe Order of the Griffon Spitfire XIVe Hobby Masters1:48, Diecast CollectableSoviet Sniper T-72B Battle Tank with EDZ, Revell 1:35, Plastic BuildDesert Viper F-16C Fighting Falcon, Academy 1:48, Plastic BuildRacing Colours Audi R10, Revell 1:24, Plastic BuildSlot Racing In the Slot - Policing the Circuit - Aston Martin DBR250Lord of the Rings The Forces of Sauron, Sideshow Collectables, Collectable/Gaming

Model Airplane International.Issue 28- published on 25th October 2007 • Kwik Build: The CMR 1:72 Spitfire Mk IX (Early) by Libor Jekl; Dragon 1:48 He 162D by Nick J. Wigman; Heller 1:144 E-2C Hawkeye by Ian Ruscoe• Mono Morane Stéphane Boirau builds and details the Type N in 1:32 from Special Hobby• Big Jug Part 2 Trumpeter’s amazing new 1:32 P-47D built by Nick J. Wigman• Magnificent Marauder A special photo-feature on Alan Clark’s latest scratchbuilt model, the B-26 Marauder in 1:28• Nordic Dragon Sweden’s delta SAAB 35 Draken by Richard J. Caruana• Detailing the Dragon Juanjo Dominguez Calvo highly details the Hasegawa 1:72 Saab J 35J Draken

Tamiya Model Magazine International.Issue 146- published on 15th November 2007 » HAIRSPRAY HETZER Tamiya’s 1:35 Hetzer gets built straight from the box. Well, nearly...» KICKING UP A STINK Monogram’s classic Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, re-worked» GOING FOR GOLD A classic piece of Formula One exotica, the 1979 Arrows A2» KIT PREVIEW 1:24 Corvette C6-R Le Mans; 1:12 Model Factory Hiro Honda NSR500 ’84; 1:35 Dragon Sd.Kfz234/3; 1:32 Pacific Coast Models Re.2005; 1:35 Italeri AB40 Ferroviaria» COMPETITION £500 of HobbyCraft art store vouchers to be won» THE FRENCH CONNECTION - THE REAL THING... A selection of reference images of a real Leclerc tank

Model Military International.Issue 20 - published on 1st November 2007 » PREVIEW: Dragon’s new Kingtiger with zimmerit; Ian Ruscoe checks out Italeri’s latest Blackhawk, the MH-60K; Paul Egerton takes a look in the box of Italeri’s latest 1:48 Chinook; Dragon’s Panzer III J gets our initial impression» DUG IN DEFENDER a diorama incorporating AFV Club’s 1:48 late Tiger I» ASSAULT HOWITZER Dragon’s 10.5cm armed Stug III» A CLASS DEUCE AND A HALFStep by step guide to finishing the Tamiya 1:48 GMC» FULL SIZE REFERENCE To complement the GMC build, David Doyle supplies some photos of the real thing» HAPPY 40TH Historex Agents celebrate 40 years in the business» TRIGGER HAPPY Paul Egerton reviews Iwata’s TR-1 airbrush» ALL AMERICAN AIRBORNE S&Ts 120mm US Para

Military Illustrated.» The Black Crusade Medieval Warfare - Dark story behind the blackest of all crusades - Will Lawrence» Eating with Zulus Zulu War - Feeding the armies - Ian Knight» Could the Czechs have won? World War Two - Unpublished photos of Czech defences against Germans - Blaine Taylor» Lutzow’s Black Shirts Napoleonic Wars - German irregular warfare against Napoleon -Peter Hofschröer» Taking the Hornets’ Nest American Civil War - Bitter battle of Shiloh - John Barratt» Rape of Nanking World War Two - Seventy years ago this month - Peter Marriot

IPMS Salisbury.

I am very pleased to say that IPMS Salisbury have accepted our invitation for them to visit and will be joining in us for the December meeting (and join in with the frivolities!). We have also extended an invitation to IPMS Portsmouth to come along as well. I should be in a position to confirm numbers early in December.

Website of the month.

Here are a couple of websites that may be of interest. The first is www.modelerchannel.com that contains a series of video clips related to modelling (or modeling, as everything so far has an American bias)! It will be interesting to see how this develops in the future.Secondly is www.making-miniatures.com. I collected a leaflet from them at the Nats and it has a similar theme to the site mentioned previously. You start by making a video of your modelling ideas, hints, tips, demonstrations or tutorials and upload it onto the site. You then set a price for downloading and get some income from it. Mind you, it looks like you will have to pay to use the service as well!

Hobbyboss Competition.

The subjects proposed for the next Hobbyboss competition have not arrived in the UK as yet, so I propose that we hang on a little longer. The airbrushing session that links with this can also be pushed back for a short time. Hopefully we will be in a better position to set dates for everything in the New Year.

Keith Trotman contacted me to mention some problematical aspects of the airbrushing session. “Picture this, twenty people air brushing in the hall, the possible problems are: How do we protect the tables and floor from spillage; How do we protect the hall from paint dust; How do we keep the hall ventilated (I seem to remember at the last course with Robin from Cammett there was quite a bit of fumes near the end).

I haven't got any definitive answers to the above although I will offer some general observations and suggestions. What if it was made in to an acrylic paint only event. There would be fewer fumes although just as much dust. In the event of spillage, if we we’re prepared with every thing at hand and acted immediately it could be easily dealt with. As a side issue, as European Regs may well make enamel difficult to get hold of in the future due to child safety concerns and solvents in the atmosphere. Perhaps we should be looking at using acrylics now anyway. (All of this is true, but in my experience the “smelly part” of airbrushing is when you have to clean out the airbrush between colours and at the end. Note also that one of the best methods of producing a natural metal finish (the theme of the session) is to use Alclad lacquers).

The other thing that strikes me is, as your suggesting a choice out of four models to make. why not split the numbers (if there are too many) into two courses. Basic air brushing and camouflage, and advanced air brushing and metal finishes. Always assuming there is an equal split among the members for which kits to make. I can appreciate this may not be very desirable as the cost would go up for two courses and it means more work for those willing to give up their time to help others less able. (I think it best to avoid two sessions).

I don't think we should use aerosols at the hall. too much over spray. Don't think we should be encouraging the use of paint brushes for this build. After all the idea came about because you and Paul were discussing the fact that people weren't using their air brushes. Although I can still see a very could case for using a paint brush for small parts and detail (I agree).

Perhaps the next club build could be paint brush only, but I think that would be a backward step, although very therapeutic for some. (I think having to use a paint brush would be too much of a handicap for those who can’t live without their air brushes!).

Airfix Club.

Collected at the Yeovilton show were a couple of slips of paper relating to details of the Airfix club. For an initial fee of either £14.99 for email or £22.99 for postal delivery, you get a club package followed by newsletters and a quarterly magazine.

Solent Sky Museum Wild Bill Project.

There was an article in the Echo of Saturday 27 October to say that the museum has announced a £200,000 project to build a flying replica of Samuel Cody’s flying machine, the original of which took off from a field in Farnborough in October 1908. The airframe has started construction at Hawker Restoration’s workshops in Ipswich. A 1904 Antoinette engine has been donated to the cause by the Shuttleworth Collection.

New Plastic.

I spotted Pavla’s 1/72nd Supermarine S6A/B in this month’s SAMI. It is the first of a series on the Schneider Trophy planes and I thought it would make the start to an interesting collection. I picked the kit up at the Hannants stand at Telford. It wasn’t cheap at £16.50 but I had expectations of a quality kit. Taking a look at it in the hotel room afterwards, I was really very disappointed with the quality. A beaching trolley is provided in resin and this looks pretty crude, with the spokes of the wheels being cast as surface detail. I haven’t taken the parts out of the bag as yet or checked the fit, but from my initial impressions I would urge you think seriously before buying this kit.

Roger Doswell made some kit purchases at the Nats, namely Eduard’s Me110e and Mirage 2000n plus Pacific Coast’s Macchi C205. He found them to be a “bit of a mixed bag really, the 110 is a superb example of plastic moulding technology, but it looks incredibly fiddly to build: loads of thin / small parts, many of which are difficult to separate from the sprues. He has made a start with this one first, building it straight from the box as there is no need to add anything further.The Mirage 2000 is the Heller kit re-boxed with resin seats, colour etch set, paint masks and a superb set of decals, although he plans to do his in Greek markings.The Macchi looks a really nice kit with brass and resin additions, the plastic is moulded by MPM and looks quite good. The Luftwaffe version with smoke ring camo looks particularly appealing, and an Egyptian version may also be on the cards.

Another purchase I made at the Nats was CMR’s 1/72nd Spitfire Mk XII. I have read many positive accounts of the CMR series of Spifire kits that I just had to try one of my favourite marks. I’ve built this aircraft in 1/48

scale using a selection of kits and so I find myself in an unusual situation for me in that I’m duplicating something already in my collection (first time I’ve done that). This kit cost £20 and is a beauty: lots of finely cast resin parts, a super decal sheet and an excellent instruction sheet. You get two vacuum formed canopies in the kit. Like the S6, I haven’t taken any of the parts out of the bags as yet so cannot comment on the quality of the fit, but I would be surprised if it is anything less than good.

My third kit purchase at the Nats was Special Hobby’s 1/32nd Nieuport Nie.11 “Bebe”. I’ve long been attracted to the look of these aircraft and thought Dave Henwood’s 1/48 version in the last Test Trout competition looked superb. This kit comes with injection moulded, cast resin and photo-etch parts. The decal sheet is superd as are the instructuions and painting guide. On the face of it, this also looks to be a top quality kit and good value for money at £25.50.

On the Workbench 1: Lancia S4.

Many thanks to Paul for the following article on, what is for me, an evocative subject. In the days of Group B rallying I lived near Nottingham and I recall getting up early on cold mornings to watch the early stages of the RAC rally. I remember seeing Henri Toivonen leap the car across a bridge at Trentham gardens. I also recall the shock and sadness of his death in the car in a frightening accident in Corsica.

IntroductionToday’s World Rally Championship is a sophisticated, smooth running, well organised and oiled machine, pitching man and machine against the roughest, toughest terrain the world has to offer. The drivers are international stars, helping the manufacturers propel their products around thousands of miles of special stage, from, amongst others, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, France, Greece and Great Britain.The WRC is marketing man’s dream because in today’s championship the teams have to use mass production cars, like the Ford Focus, Citroen C4 and the Subaru Impreza. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Walk into your local Ford dealer and buy a car that looks like the one that Marcus Gronholm drives to win rallies. In the mid 1980’s, things were very different. The manufacturers realised the marketing potential of championship, but the rules allowed the teams to build what amounted to one-off specials. Only 200 identical cars had to be built for homologation, thus allowing the teams to plough vast sums of money into rapidly developing the cars. Rules permitted a variety of engine configurations, four wheel drive and power output was unlimited. And so was born the mighty Peugeot 205T16, Audi’s 650bhp S1 Quattro, MG’s 6R4 (a 400bhp mini Metro!), Ford’s beautiful RS200 and Lancia’s 037 and S4.

Throughout 1984, 85 and 86, the teams staged monumental battles elevating the popularity of the sport to new heights. The cars were spectacularly fast and the pace of development was furious. The cars sprouted huge down-force inducing wings and spoilers in an attempt to harness the enormous horsepower on tap. Unfortunately the sports organisers failed to keep up with developments. Safety was seemingly a side issue and as interest grew, so did spectator attendance. Witness any video from the time and you will see the rally drivers dancing their cars between walls of spectators lining the stages, barely able to see the road ahead. Inevitably accidents occurred. Ari Vatanen just survived a huge crash in the Peugeot, which left him out of

the sport for 2 years. Portugal in 1986, saw 37 spectators mowed down and 3 killed by an RS200 driven by local driver Joachim Santos. As a result, Audi withdrew from the sport. During the ’86 Tour de Corse, the sports most talented driver, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto, were killed while leading the rally. Rather eerily, Attillio Bettaga was killed, one year earlier, on the same date, in the same event, driving the No 4 Lancia 037. Toivonen’s car was also No 4. There were other GpB deaths that year too. F1 star turned rally driver, Marc Surer lost his Co- driver in a fiery crash in a local event after a collision with a tree.

The sports governing body, FISA, had to act, and within hours of Toivonen’s death, Group B was banned for the 1987 season on, and the cars were resigned to museums.

Group B modelsTo make models of the GrpB cars has always presented problems. Surprisingly, only two of the cars listed above have been kitted by the large manufacturers. Tamiya did an early 1985 Peugeot 205 and Hasegawa produced a nice kit of the 1984/85 Lancia 037. All other kit offerings have been in resin, low in quality and generally expensive and/or hard to obtain. There have been a few highlights. Modellers of Japan did a number of high quality kits as have Czech manufacturer Reji Models, which have now become collector’s items, and therefore investments, rather than buildable kits. Some ‘garage’ manufacturers have been producing copies of Modellers kits, which is how I came by my latest project, the Lancia S4. This transkit uses the Hasegawa 037 kit and builds up off of that kit’s chassis. It’s not 100% accurate, but who’s counting?

What’s in the box?The kit has two decal options, the regular factory Martini colours, and those of the Jolly Club, a satellite team, in Totip colours of white, green and orange. I chose the Martini option as this will allow me to replicate the car that Toivonen crashed on the 1986 Tour De Corse. Morbid I know, but how many aircraft have you built that a pilot lost his life in?The kit contains a resin bodyshell, decals, cockpit, exhaust, radiators, turbo, supercharger, wheels, tyres, air intakes, smoke coloured clear plastic for the windows, and vac formed windscreen and a resin centre piece for the rear wing.

Lets build it!As is now customary, I started with the bodyshell. There’s always plenty of cleaning up to do, so seams, flash and air holes were filled and sanded. I test fitted the shell onto the Hasegawa chassis. Four holes need to be drilled out inside the shell to correspond with the mounting points on the chassis, which simply need shortening 2mm to fit. Following a thorough wash, the shell was primed with Halfords white primer, and after two days of drying, wet sanded with 1200 grit paper. On this particular project (started 18 months ago) I decided to use Halfords reliable Appliance Gloss White. I applied my usual 4 coats, two of which were ‘wet’, heavier coats. A week of drying was allowed before polishing commenced. I used 1500 grit wet and dry and gently sanded back the finish. Tamiya’s compounds brought back the shine, ready for the decals. I planned to clearcoat the decals and so to achieve a realistic finish I applied the Martini stripes and a couple of the large Lancia badges. The sponsors markings on the real machine are not under any clearcoat, just the stripes. Considering these were ‘garage’ decals, they fitted very well and had a nice, crisp finish with good colour saturation. The bonnet decal came in two parts, with one part containing the blue stripes with the red section, and the other just the blue striping. This made application much easier over the curves of the wing and bonnet. The rear decals had to go over the wheel arch and proved a little problematic, but with patience and Microsol, the decal laid down very well. I then attempted to highlight the panel lines with a black artist pen, which wasn’t helped by the fact that I’d forgotten to re-scribe the lines before painting!! I’ll get the hang of this modelling thing one day!

I allowed another week of drying for the decals, just to ensure no moisture was trapped beneath, and during the spring bank holiday weekend I applied 4 coats of Halfords clear lacquer. Clearing over decals is always a scary experience and so I gingerly applied a mist coat and waited for a reaction. After 30 minutes everything seemed ok. I applied 3 wet coats and sat back to admire my achievement. Nothing went wrong! Further polishing with Tamiya compounds left a pleasing finish.

I masked up the windows surrounds and door cills and sprayed these using decanted Halford’s matt black via my airbrush. That just leaves the inside of the bodyshell to be painted matt black too.

Next month I start work on the chassis and cockpit interior.

On the Workbench II: Rapid Mosquito!Many thanks to Tony Adams for the following article and it’s terrific to see such an effort being made to have something to enter into the club competition tonight (particularly as I’ve failed to get my Eurofighter done!)…

Due to moving house, I have done very little modelling this year. With the annual competition coming up in three weeks I wanted to build something quick. I had a 5% complete 1/32 Mitsubishi Zero on the work bench, there’s no chance of finishing that this year (or next), so I had to find an impressive kit that I could complete out of the box in three weeks. I found a 1/48 Spitfire that seemed to fit the bill in one of the many boxes that now fill my bedroom, but I needed some paint. Not having time to wait for the post I drove to Just Add Imagination where along with the required paint I ended up purchasing Tamiya’s beautiful 1/48 Mosquito Mk IV. On opening the box all plans for the Spitfire disappeared: this was the model to build!

First thing first, quick wash with soap and water (then the kit) then straight down to cleaning up the large kit parts. I still haven’t got an internet connection so I didn’t do any detailed research, but the quality of the kit meant that out of the box would not be a problem.

The cockpit detail is excellent; I painted it according to the instructions weathering the floor and walls with “oil stain” from Tamiya’s new weathering kit. The instrument panels were tarted up by the addition of a decal which sunk nicely into the dial details with a little help from Micro Sol solution. The one thing I did regret was using the decal seatbelt which look a bit naff compared to photo etch.

With the cockpit complete I constructed the bomb bay and wings. Finally the fuselage halves where brought together and the joint filled with a little Mr Surfacer 1000. The whole model was primed with Alcad grey primer. I pre shaded all panel lines with black; it was only when I started painting the bottom surfaces gloss black that I realised that pre-shading this area had been a total waste of time! Once the black was on I masked it off and painted the top surface with Vallejo intermediate grey left over from the Corsair competition. This proved to be a bit of a nightmare as the paint had thickened considerably and constantly blocked my airbrush. Still after a bit of a

struggle I had a reasonable surface with the pre-shading showing through nicely. I outlined the camouflage pattern with pencil before filling with Tamiya dark green. This seemed very dark so I lightened the centres of the panels with a slightly lighter colour that worked well. Once painting was completed the whole plane was given a couple of coats of Klear.

I built the undercarriage and painted it with Alchad chrome which looked wonderful. Until I handled it that is,then it just ended up on my hands. I wish I primed the parts first! The canopy was masked with Tamiya tape which seemed to take days and sprayed with the interior colour before having the camouflage colours applied. The two canopy blisters (separate parts) where given the same treatment.

I always seem to have some sort of cock-up with decals and this build was no exception. I was having a problem getting the starboard fuselage roundel and identifying letters to set in properly. Having applied lots of Micro Sol, I managed to be rather too brutal with it and ended up breaking it up. After much swearing I managed to patch it up: just don’t look too closely!

The panel lines where highlighted with thinned black oil paint on the top surfaces and grey on the bottom surfaces. I was pleased I did this as it breaks up the black quite nicely and makes this area much more interesting. The whole plane then got a coat of matt varnish before the ancillary parts where applied. When I went to attach the starboard canopy blister it wasn’t where I left it! I sent hours crawling about on the carpet but the pixies hadmade a damn good job of running off with it. Let’s just pretend I have left it off deliberately to provide a good view of the detail in the cockpit.

As I write this (Saturday) I still have a few jobs to do and a set of bombs to construct. Hopefully the complete kit will be in good shape by Wednesday night.

All in all I am very pleased with the result; I ought to rush build more often. I may have an outside chance of getting a place in the competition, which is of course if Pat’s models meet with an unfortunate accident. Ifyou’re reading this after the event it wasn’t me ;-)

On the Workbench III: Lockheed P-38E Lightning.

Academy 1/48 Scale.

Part 3: Painting. I have written previously about the construction of this kit and I have now reached the point where paint is to be daubed on. This aircraft sports the olive drab over neutral grey scheme and should be a simple progression on my first attempts at pre-shading carried out on the overall grey Rafale model. I also assembled the 1/72 Hobbyboss kit of the Curtiss P-40N Warhawk to use as a trial piece to help guide me during the painting process. Not that this avoided me stumbling into pitfalls though! The Warhawk assembled quickly and easily. The only problem found was with an insert at the rear of the cockpit that should have been flush with the fuselage but was actually well beneath it. It would have been a simple enough to rectify by gluing in place plasticard of appropriate thickness and then re-scribing panel lines. However, as I was using the kit for paint trials I didn’t bother to do this.The cockpit of the P-38 had been polished and dipped in Johnson’s Klear. The windscreen and rear section were glued onto the model by first using Microscale Liquitape (you could equally use ordinary white PVA glue, Humbrol Clearfix or Micro Klear for this) followed by thin Superglue once correctly positioned. I used Mr Surfacer to seal the join and then masked the parts for painting. I used the Eduard mask set, but it turned out to be for Academy’s “G” version that had different framing around the windscreen. In other areas the mask fit was “so-so” and, quite honestly, it would have been just as easy to apply Tamiya tape and trim around the frames with a new scalpel blade. Incidentally, the Eduard masks I used for Tamiya’s Shiden were also not that brilliant (and the paint job turned out a disaster, which may explain why you’ve not seen anything written about it), but those for the Eurofighter Typhoon were superb, so I guess they tend to be a bit variable in fit.

The completed airframes from both kits had the seams filled and sanded where necessary. A handling jig made for an earlier model (Tamiya’s He219 Uhu) was adapted to hold the P-38 for painting. The P-40 was held using a pin drill attached to the propeller shaft. Painting commenced by applying Alclad grey primer all over. Some Humbrol Dark Grey 67 was added to this and applied to the undersides to pre-shade this area. From my own point of view, I think this general type of pre-shading adds greatly to the realism of the completed model. I was discussing this with Ben on the way back from our visit to Yeovilton and mentioned that one of the problems when spraying the pre-shade is that you get overspray onto the light areas, particularly when you have things like weapons pylons beneath the wings. So a better way is to spray the shade colour first of all and then to do the light colour. This should be directed onto the upward facing surfaces with a little going onto the sides to give to emphasise the 3-d shape. (I used this method on painting the Eurofighter Typhoon and it came out well, despite making a “right pigs-ear” of the top coat which I’ll tell you about in another article).The undersides were airbrushed with Humbrol Grey 165. Panel lines were then airbrushed with Tamiya German Grey and then by hand brushing. The surfaces were given a light going-over with Micromesh 6000 grade at each stage of painting [2, 3].

The grey areas were masked with Tamiya tape. The wavy transition between upper and lower colours was obtained by lightly applying a wide strip of tape and marking the line by marker pen. The tape was removed and cut along the line before finally attaching to the model. Once completed, the masking seams were sealed with liquid mask to eliminate the risk of colour bleed through during spraying [4].The upper surfaces were sprayed with Lifecolor OD41 Faded, UA008 [5]. To pre-shade the panel lines I tried an experiment with different colours on an old business card [6]. A stripe of the Lifecolor paint was applied and then this was crossed with a selection of green and brown paints that I thought would make good candidates. Once dry, these were sprayed over with Humbrol Olive Drab 41. The best colour seemed to be Winsor & Newton Burnt Sienna and this was used on the P-40 first of all. However, when applied as a thinned colour it was too orange and so I added some burnt umber when I came to do the P-38. The paint was mixed with Liquin and Humbrol thinners and applied by hand as a thin glaze, resulting in a quilted effect [7]. I have decided that hand brushing the pre-shade around the panel lines is easier and quicker than airbrushing. I also like the idea of applying the pre-shade to the leading edges of panel lines and this is easy to do by hand brushing [8].

The following day I applied the top coat. The weather was nice so I set up my table and airbrush on the patio and worked outside [9]. Humbrol Olive Drab 41 (one of the old “Camouflage Colours”) was mixed with 50%

Liquin and then thinned with Humbrol thinners for airbrushing. This was applied as thin layers over the model until the contrast with the pre-shading was just as I wanted it to be. I was really pleased with the finish [10] and began to think I liked this kit after all!So, we are on the home run now so what can possibly go wrong? The next step was to gloss coat ready for decaling. I used Humbrol Gloss Cote that had to be well thinned with a lot of Humbrol thinners for it to airbrush well. It made the model look a whole lot darker [11] but the finish came up nice after a rub down with 8000 grade Micromesh. Also, the finish was tacky (and remained so for weeks afterwards!) and made handling of the model very tricky. Lesson 1: I don’t think I’ll be using Humbrol Gloss Cote again!

Now one of the jobs we all look forward to (or maybe Paul Adams isn’t so keen any more after his last motorbike!): putting the decals on. The kit ones looked good on paper, but were damned reluctant to come off it even after a long soak. And I guess it left the glue behind, because it sure had no intention of sticking to the aircraft. The yellow serials remind me of a woman’s wet tee shirt competition, but not as much fun [12, 13]. Lots of Micro Decal Set and Decal Sol were used, including stabbing the decals with a scalpel blade to get the stuff to flow through underneath. Something stronger than Microsol was needed to get the decals to settle and remove silvering, so out came the serious stuff: SOF Extra Strong Decal Softener. Handle this stuff at arms length using asbestos gloves! I tried this on the stars on the booms and disaster! - the colours ran and smeared the paintwork. What a mess! I cleaned up the areas as best I could and, after asking club members for some replacement, put some on even though they had a crescent of white showing at the outside edge: I was past caring. Lesson 2: avoid using Academy kit decals in future!The model was airbrushed with Testors Dull Coat and weathered using various shades of yellow and brown (which all seemed to turn

out grey on the model!) airbrushed to create streaks in the direction of air flow [14]. The worn metal areas were hand brushed using silver printer’s ink mixed with Liquin, following photographs for guidance [15]. I rested a pint brush against a straight edge to help keep the lines of wear marks nice and neat. The turbocharger was airbrushed with Alclad Dark Aluminium and shaded with a mix of Alclad and enamel Metalcoat paints [16]. The guns were coated with black oil paint over Alclad Dark Aluminium. This was removed by using a soft, dry brush until just the right effect was obtained [17]. The kit tyres are made of rubber. The moulding seam was removed and the tyre given a worn look using coarse abrasive. It was painted as if it were a plastic part. The raised rim on the hubs was ground away so the tyres were an easy fit requiring no stretching.The canopy masks were removed having first trimmed around the paint edge with a new scalpel blade. The completed model is shown in photos 18 – 21.

Next Meeting: December 19

Remember to bring your model entries back for when we present the awards and for voting “Best In Show”. Families are cordially invited to join us for the evening and please bring along any food or drink contributions to the buffet, items for the “bring and buy” and donations to the raffle.

Happy modelling! Pat Camp Tel: 02380 266828, email patrick.camp@btinternet.com