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Meeting minutes:
Well folks, every once in a Blue Moon, I miss
a meeting. I was at Camp Dodge over the weekend with #1 son.
Fortunately, Mike Vinson stepped up and did a sterling job of
writing the meeting notes, on the down side, I had a bunch of show
prep stuff to go over, and I’ll move that to the bottom of the
notes. Now, on to the meeting notes:
There was a reasonable turnout of ten people,
although we’d really love to see more of our devoted member’s
smiling faces joining the fray on a regular basis…hint, hint.
As usual, Ronbo
brought a table array to ooh and ahh
over--this time it included Dragon’s T-34/85 Premium Edition with
bedspring armor, Academy’s Korean War era M4A3 Sherman 105mm
Howitzer with a bulldozer blade, a Revell MAN 5t
milgl 4x4 truck, the Revell 1/24
Sauber F1 Team car by
Bavarisch Motoren
Worken for the purists out there,
Beemer for the nose-in-the-air types, and just BMW for the rest of
us, a Dragon Aufklärungspanzer 38(t)
mit 2cm KwK
38, and one that really impressed me, a Dragon 1/72 Ki-61
Hien (Tony). This impressed me
because of the built-in level of detail I’m not used to in that
scale. He also brought a number of boxes of books, videotapes
and a few kits from the vault of Jack Bruno. For the meeting’s
‘bring and build’ theme, Mike Valentine brought a Tamiya
PzKw IV ausf
D (c. 1973). To bring this kit out of the dark ages Mike has
added a tank tool assortment from a ’98 PzKw
IV H, filled a plethora of ejector pin divots, closed up the motor
and battery holes (has anyone really ever motorized one of
these?), opened up the driver and commander hatches for future
figures, and last but not least, added a crazy number of the
tiniest rivets I’ve ever seen… actually I can’t legitimately say
“seen”; with these eyes I just have to take Mike’s word they’re
there. He had a small tin full of the little goobers—to me they
looked like a pile of dust. Mike, if you have the patience for
that, buddy…
Meanwhile, Ronbo
was busy working on his Dragon T34/76, German Army version. So
far he has the lower hull and wheels and upper hull and turret
(with new metal barrel and Panzer III cupola) assembled. No
wedding date has been set, but he hopes to have the sections
properly dressed and married for a reception at our show in
March. For show-and-tell, Randy Kidd brought a very cool ARII 1:1
scale “Stiel Hand
Granate 24”, a 17 pc kit that looks like it could build
into a very convincing “potato masher”. I must say though, after
it’s finished I don’t think it would be prudent to put it into a
carry-on for a flight to a National! Whoever did the subject for
the box art was either an incredible painter to get the wooden
handle dead perfect, or they found the real McCoy for the photo
shoot. He also had a Minicraft KC-10 of around 1/200 scale with
an F-16 taking a big drink off the probe. The F-16 was an unknown
scale, somewhere around 1/144, but not quite. Randy said, “It
just looked right”. Good enough for me! Brian Clemens brought
his Polar Lights NX-01 Enterprise for a photo op. Shawn showed
off some pieces he’s working on; various 1/72
StarWars figures from Fine Molds that are very well
detailed, an assortment of 1/48 40K figures, a 1/48
Warhammer 40K series Imperial SPG
‘Basilisk’ that he’s modified a bit (?) and added a couple
figures. Shawn thought the original open turret didn’t quite have
the menacing look he wanted, so a new superstructure was
scratchbuilt, and a new gun added. It now resembles a quite
futuristic Stug. In keeping with the
futuristic theme, he also had on-hand an action figure named
‘Villain’ from “The Adventures of Spawn”. Now, the package said
“For ages 8 and up”, but given the way this figure is dressed (or
not dressed actually), I’d say this very barely-clad
cartoon warriorbabe is more PG-13.
Shawn also gave us an addendum to last month’s how-to on figure
painting by giving up his secret color palette. As stated last
time, he uses Ceramcoat acrylic paint,
and the fleshtone colors are: Cinnamon
for the base coat, Caucasian Flesh, Mocha Brown or Palomino (for
Asian flesh tones) over the Cinnamon, Mocha Brown for highlighting
the darker areas in lighter skin tones, and Skin tone, Georgia
Clay and Pink Angel for the lighter highlights.
Mike Valentine also brought a video of The
History Channel show “Dogfights”. This episode covered the
sinking of Germany’s elite of the fleet, the mighty Bismarck.
After sinking HMS Hood and devastating the Prince of Wales,
Bismarck was dealt a crippling blow to her one Achilles Heel, her
rudders, by an “obsolete” Fairey
Swordfish torpedo bomber. Unable to maneuver, Bismarck steamed in
circles, a sitting duck for the British surface ships that sent
her sixteen thousand feet to the bottom the next day.
The Quad Cities Scale Model Show update:
Unfortunately, we seem to have put show prep
on the back burner. I guess it’s that loss of institutional
memory due to not having done a local show in years. There are
number of things that are done, the raffle letters are going out
the last week of February, as are the mailings to past attendee’s,
Fine Scale was notified, the insurance request has been submitted,
flyers have been distributed at several past and upcoming shows,
flyers are at the local hobby shops, except MVR, I can never seem
to get there when I either 1. Have flyers in my truck, 2. They
are still open because I am working late, or 3. They closed
early. My timing is really off. Anyway, can some one please make
some copies (about 25 would be enough) and drop them off at MVR
this week? I will be working last minute details with the hotel
the first week of March. I have also inventoried all of our
remaining awards and come up with a list to get new ones; this is
the biggie that has fallen through the cracks, awards. Normally,
we have ordered them and have them back by now. I had planned to
visit some award shops on Friday and Saturday last week, but I
ended up having to work Friday and the big snow and ice storm hit
Saturday. I need some help, please check around and if you know
of an awards shop that can turn these around in about 2 weeks, let
me know. We 12 plaques, approximately 5x7, 5
plaques approximately 6x8 or slightly larger175 acrylic trophies
and some engraving done. If you can help, call me at (309)
523-3671. I need volunteers to judge and we need to set up the
duty roster for the show, plus all of the usual last minute show
prep stuff. Please try to make it to the meeting in March.
The Dates:
March 10: Chapter meeting
March 31: Quad Cities Show.
Clarion Hotel, 5202 Brady Street, Davenport,
IA.
April 14: Chapter meeting.
Road trip to Des Moines?
April 14: IPMS Plastic Surgeons 14th Annual
Plastic Surgeons Model Contest. Contact: Greg
Metge
gmgha@mchsi.com 3635 E.P.True
Parkway West Des Moines, IA 50265 our website
http://www.ipmsplastic/ surgeons.com
May 12: Chapter meeting
June 9: No chapter meeting! We will be at
the Regional!
June 8-9: Region V Regional, Knights of
Columbus Hall 401 West Main Street, Ottawa, IL 61350 Contact:
Steve Stohr: 815-434-7279, 2615 Cherie
Lane, Ottawa, IL 61350
thestohrs@aol.com
An update from the Regional Coordinator:
Hello Region 5,
Well folks, I have survived roughly 2 months
now as the Regional Coordinator. It has been fun and
interesting. A few hiccups occurred along the way but nothing
serious. I regret to inform you all that the Pathfinders and the
Nebraska Autos in Miniature chapters were unable to
recharter primarily due to lack of
IPMS USA members in their midst. I mentioned a hiccup or two. One
of them involved the correct mailing address of the chapter
contacts. I am provided a spreadsheet by the DLC which provides
me with current addresses and so on based on the Chapter Fact
Sheets which I have been asking for you to keep current. Most of
you guys are doing a GREAT job at that, for that I thank you and
hope you can keep it up. Speaking of mailings, I know many
chapters frequently mail out flyers, vendor info, etc. for their
shows. More than likely someone at that chapter is keeping a list
of the chapters and their contacts. The hiccup is possible here.
Sometimes there are changes to the chapter contacts (change of
individual or an address) information which is unknown to the
chapter’s keeper of information. Therefore stuff either is
delayed in getting to the right place or person or even arriving
at all. There are two ways to make sure that you get your info to
the right folks. The hard way is to occasionally go to the IPMS
USA website and drop the chapter contact(s) an email to get
updated mailing information. The much easier
way to drop me an email. I can provide the basic chapter
contact info to you either electronically or snail mail. It will
be the most up to date information. Next item is the Meteor Gift
Certificates. The deadline has passed; I noticed a few chapters
failed to take advantage of this offer. It is unfortunate. I
think you should be receiving these shortly. I know several
chapters just got theirs in the last week or so. It would be
really nice if you could take a photo or two and send it to Dick
Montgomery. He'll forward them to Meteor so they can get a little
PR for their efforts. To satisfy my curiosity and assist IPMS
USA, I have a poll question for you all to bring to your
membership. A great deal of discussion is occurring on the IPMS
USA message board regarding the Out of the Box awards at the
National Convention level. In fact, Aris
(head of the head judges) mentioned this in the latest Journal.
The contest committee is interested in what you, the membership &
chapters think. So I ask the following for you to give me a
response to. Should the Out of the Box award be eliminated?
Should it be left just the way it is? Should it remain but
modified to address issues like the newer high tech kits? I hope
you will all respond, even if it is yes or no.
Comments are even more helpful.
On to more positive types of things. I
would like to open nominations for our Region’s Chapter of the
Year. How to do this is simple. Since I have only been the RC a
short time, I have not necessarily known your activities for the
last year. What I
suggest is that you send me a write-up describing what your
outstanding cast of characters has done in 2006.
Shows, make and takes, demos and
community involvements are some good things to highlight (as well
as anything out of the ordinary). I also know that IPMS USA has a
Newsletter of the Year award as well. I am working on getting
some answers on how that is selected. There may also be a Website
of the Year, I am not positive on that one but I am checking on
it. Should you wish to be considered for either of these last
two, please send me an email or give me a call and by then, I
should have more specifics for the submission/selection process.
Some info from Dick Montgomery…..
The IPMS Web Site has a new feature entitled,
"Chapter Spotlight". Your chapter is invited to submit a club
"bio" to Ron Grasmick, the Associate
Webmaster for the Spotlight. The first club being featured is IPMS
Fresno, the recipient of the COY at the K.C. convention. On
another topic, the contest "season" has begun and IPMS wants to
feature your event (contest, display, presentation, ABC class,
etc) in the Events Gallery. Please incorporate plans in your event
planning process to send images of your event to Dick Montgomery,
the Associate Webmaster for the Events and
Walkaround Galleries. Lastly, the ABC course web pages now
include a downloadable Instructor's Manual and a full set of
lesson plans, both in pdf format. This
program has legs. The program has a proven track record of
attracting new members to the IPMS chapters that have organized
some ABC classes and also has re-invigorated clubs with a
membership that had turned away from "building" models. It is
certainly worth a look.
Dick Montgomery
IPMS DLC
A final reminder: I am planning to highlight
chapters and individuals within the Region in updates and probably
on the soon to be realized webpage. Please forward the info on
your chapter and a member or two of your choice so I can begin
this.
Future Floor finish and tricking up your
canopies:
Randy Kidd gave us a demo on using Future
floor finish for canopies, which many of us think we already know
how to do, but randy makes it look too easy. Randy’s steps are:
1.) Cut the canopy leaving a bit of sprue to
hold on to.
2.) Using a shallow, wide-mouth jar dip the
canopy and stir a bit to prevent air bubbles in framing corners.
3.) Wick off excess on a paper towel (cloth
towels may leave dust or lint particles.
4.) Always cover the piece, and then let dry
for a minimum of twenty-four hours. If any dust should get into
the Future you can always soak the canopy in ammonia to strip it
and start over.
A little humor from Mr. Valentine:
Hillary Clinton goes to a primary school in
Ithaca, New York to talk about the world. After her talk she
offers question time. One little boy puts up his hand, and the
Senator asks him what his name is.
"Kenneth," came the reply.
"And what is your question, Kenneth?"
"I have three questions, Ma-am:
First - whatever happened to your medical health care plan? Second
- why would you run for President after your husband shamed the
office? And third - whatever happened to all those things you took
when you left the White House?"
Just then the bell rings for recess. Hillary Clinton informs the
kiddies that they will continue after recess. When they resume
Hillary says, "Okay where were we?
Oh, that's right, question time. Who has a question?"
This time a different little boy puts his hand up; Hillary points
him out and asks him what his name is.
"Larry," he said.
"And what is your question?"
"I have five questions:
First - whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
Second - why would you run for President after your husband shamed
the office?
Third - whatever happened to all those things you took when you
left the White House?
Fourth - why did the recess bell go off 20 minutes early?
And fifth - what happened to Kenneth?"
Book review, courtesy of Cookie Sewell:
Book Review: T-34: Mythical Weapon by Robert
Michulec and
Miroslaw Zientarzewski; English
Language Version published by Air Connection, Mississauga,
Ontario, Canada 2006 (http://www.airconnection.on.ca)
in conjunction with Armageddon Books (ISBN 0-9781091-0-4); 520 pp.
with both color and B&W illustrations, drawings and 1/35 scale
plans; retail price US $95.00.
Advantages: Very comprehensive coverage of
nearly all of the wartime models of the T-34 tank and its tank
variants; excellent set of plans and photos covering the details
of the different versions of the tank by model and by factory;
indispensable modeler's aid to the T-34 Disadvantages: historical
section suffers badly from the author's biases, subjective
analyses and lack of overall knowledge of the Soviet tank industry
in the 1930s and 1940s.
Rating: Highly
Recommended (less the historical section).
Recommendation: for all '34 fans and
modelers.
Nobody thought back in 1971 that when R. P.
Hunnicutt published his book
"Pershing" at the then unheard-of price of $20 a copy that both he
and his writing format would eventually stretch to ten books and a
complete history of American armored vehicles. These ten volumes
have since been recognized as the "gold standard" for objective
analysis of specific subjects, and are considered to be the best
"one-stop" histories of their subjects. True, they are not perfect
and modelers will always find some complaint about missing items
or a lack of coverage of others, but overall they are the
reference standard for historical analysis of armored vehicles.
The same can be said to a great degree about the series of "Panzer
Tracts" books from researchers Tom Jentz
and Hilary Doyle, which cover German vehicles to the same
relatively objective level of detail. With the fall of the Soviet
Union and relative freedom of the Russian Press, for years many
modelers and historians have been hoping to see the same level of
coverage and presentation for many of the Soviet tanks. Thus far
some excellent histories have begun to appear from the factories
that built these tanks, such as the "Malyshev"
factory in
Kharkov, birthplace of the T-34, and
the Ural Railway Wagon Factory in Nizhniy
Tagil that built that tank, the T-54/T-55, and T-72 tanks.
But these are factory histories and present the factory’s
viewpoints, which are somewhat colored by the pride taken in their
products. When this book was announced some time ago, the
hopes of many
historians and modelers is that this book would be the "Hunnicutt"
version of the T-34's history and as such very useful to all
concerned. Now that it has been printed and is available, upon
reading it the sad fact is that such is not the case; while the
modelers win
big on the book, the historians will have to wait for another
attempt from another author. What the book does provide is the
following material. The first 260 pages cover the history of the
tank and its development; the next 86 pages cover the T-34 in
Polish service; then come 96 pages on detail photographs of the
various T-34s from any of the six factories which built the tank;
then 58 pages of 1/35 scale plans and drawings of the
tank in detail, including "stripped down" hulls, turrets and
entire vehicles; and lastly 20 pages of color photographs of
museum tanks and color broadsides of WWII Soviet vehicles. As a
professional Russian linguist for 33 years I am a bit put off by
the fact that the transliterations from Russian are all done using
Polish transliteration and not standard
English ones, as accepted by most universities and the US
Government, which can make tracing some items back very difficult.
Some are easy, e.g. the Polish "cz"
for the Cyrillic character for "ch" or
Polish "c" for Cyrillic "ts", but most
are not. But this is understandable considering that the book was
written in Polish, so it just has to be accepted from the first.
(I do wish that they would be careful on some things though; the
UZTM factory [Uralskiy
Zavod dlya
Tyazhyelogo
Mashinostroyeniya or Ural Factory for Heavy Machinery
Construction) keeps getting transposed as UTZM. Oh well.) The
book is presented in European A4 size format, and literally
stuffed to the gills with around 1,000 photographs of the tank in
action. While many of the photos are ex-German showing destroyed
T-34s rather than factory shots of the tanks, from a modeler's
standpoint they show details of service vehicles and not "parade
ground" ones as well as markings. As many are destroyed, it also
shows some sections of the tank not usually visible. The detail
shots are very useful as they sort out which tanks were built by
what factories and when. It does fall into the same trap of the
popular "Modeler's Guide to the Sherman Tank" by Pete Harlem in
which arbitrary terms are used to describe the different parts of
the tanks. While each component of the T-34 had a factory drawing
(indicated by a 34.xx.xxx or 135.xx.xxx identification number)
most of these are not yet available to researchers so the author
has come up with his own generic terms. (As a case in point,
recent information from Russian researchers on the KV-1 tank shows
the turret was
considered "parts group 57" and all turrets for that tank had a
number ending in 57, e.g. 57, 157, 257, or 957.) The plans by
Witold Hazuka
are incredibly detailed, and should solve many problems faced by
modelers who are trying to replicate a specific factory's tank in
a specific time frame. They by themselves are worth the "entry
price" for this book. For anyone specifically interested in Polish
T-34s and their operational history, the book covers it in amazing
detail, down to serial numbers and which units received which
tanks. But the book falls down badly when it comes to the history
of the T-34 and the amazing path it had to follow to even get into
production, let alone "roll with the punches" to adapt to wartime
needs. First off, it needs to be stated that the T-34 was a
product of the Soviet military-industrial complex during the
height of the Soviet Union's rise to power. The author is a Pole.
Ignoring the history of just the 20th Century, the Poles and the
Russians fought with each other on and off for over 400 years.
Each one would take turns dominating the other, and the Ukrainians
likewise were involved (recall that the euphemistic term for the
invasion of Poland by the USSR in 1939 was the "liberation of the
western Ukraine" and you see the point.) The bottom line is that
even today there is little love lost between Poles and Russians,
even with a shared Slavic heritage. Mr
Michulec has unfortunately allowed
these old biases to color his views of the T-34 and to take cheap
shots at both the tank and its designers at every opportunity.
These show up both consciously in his writing and in the selection
of as many photos of destroyed T-34s with Germans gleefully posing
with the tanks as he can seem to locate. Among many of the
problems he has with his history is presenting as evenhanded a
picture as possible. One thing is a lack of knowledge
of the fact that both the Germans and
Soviets considered tank losses as combat losses and "non-returning
losses" (Soviet term.) What this means is that if a unit sends 50
tanks into combat, 30 are lost but 25
are later repaired and returned to service, the losses reported
out are only 5 tanks. The other side, who knocked them out on the
battlefield, will claim 30 tanks destroyed. (Tom
Jentz has noted this with the Tiger I,
as one of the true mysteries about that tank is how
many troops and other weapons systems were lost recovering them
under fire to be repaired.) Not understanding this fact causes
Mr Michulec
to call actual Soviet heroes like Mikhail
Katukov of the 1st Guards Tank Corps a liar and somebody
guilty of lying to his superiors. In point of fact,
Katukov was considered one of the best
Soviet tank corps commanders and later on one of the prime reasons
that the T-34 became the main Soviet
combat tank and the KV-1 was not. Katukov
was the only Soviet commander of the early part of the war who
could stand up to Zhosif
Kotin, the KV-1's designer and a
"connected" chap who had married Kliment
Voroshilov's goddaughter, hence
ensuring the KV (which Kotin named for
Voroshilov) would be produced and
honored as a "war winning weapon", that it was a piece of junk and
got more Soviet soldiers killed than it saved. Some basic research
would have shown this, but Mr
Michulec chose to "cherry pick" facts
to suit his view of things and not look
at either the political or physical conditions of the time. Recent
information out of Russia confirms the suspicion of some
western analysts that all things in the Soviet Union were really
more dependent upon cliques and groups of "connected" people -
referred to by Russian writers as "clans" - and that had a greater
impact on the progress of their industry and army than anything
else. The T-34 came out of a fight between the "Leningrad" clan,
headed by Kotin, and the
arising of the "Kharkov" clan under
Mikhail Koshkin, who had been sent to
Kharkov after the purges in 1937 to
bend that factory to follow guidance from Leningrad. There is not
sufficient room in a simple book review to recount the entire
history of the T-34, but Mr
Michulec missed most of the pertinent
facts that the "Leningrad" clan made four distinct attempts to
bury the T-34 or fling it on the dustheap
of history, all of which failed. Part of the reason was the
intercession of V. A. Malyshev, who
became the Peoples Commissar for Medium Industrial Production (a
euphemism for tank production) and became a champion of the T-34
as a forward looking vehicle unlike the clumsy and overwrought
KV-1. While Mr
Michulec raves about the T-34M tank design, which became
stillborn on 22 June 1941 when the Germans invaded, he seems to
have failed to grasp the fact this design was being forced on the
"Kharkov" clan by
Kotin's cronies; scale up the drawings of the Leningrad-
designed T-50 light tank by about 30% and overlay them on the
T-34M and the origins of the vehicle's design are very apparent.
The T-34 did have a great number of failings, many due to its
production and design flaws and others due to the failure of the
Soviet high command to recognize the need for two simple but
critical items, namely a radio set in every tank and a dedicated
commander to both observe the battlefield and direct the tank's
operations. The T-34 did not get the former until much later in
the war, and did not get the latter until the advent of the main
production models of the T-34-85 in early 1944. It suffered from
being cramped inside, dark, possessed of poor visibility of the
battlefield, having production of variable quality, and poorly
trained crews and command staff. The
gunsights were boresighted for
only 750 meters so any gunnery over that distance was pure luck.
It took quite a bit of work to fix most of these problems or at
least get to the point where they were acceptable problems. While
any of these subjects deserve fair treatment that is not what they
received from Mr
Michulec, which is unfortunate. He did seem to have access
to a great deal of good material, some new, and also cites many of
the same books I possess and have read in Russian on the history
of Soviet armored vehicles. He could have produced a good book
about the somewhat convoluted history of the tank and its method
of staggering to greatness (so to speak) but instead he has
launched a petty diatribe against it, with many items of innuendo
and personal beliefs subjectively overlaid on its history.
Overall, while I seriously think few modelers will read the
historical section other than to check out the wealth of
photographs, it is a shame that the book will not be the "Hunnicutt's
history of the T-34." For that we must still wait. Thanks to Steve
Zaloga for the review copy.
And now a word from Paddy McGannon,
our foreign correspondent:
A guy walks into a Glasgow
library and says to the prim librarian, "Excuse me Miss,
dae ye have any books on suicide?"
To which she stops doing her tasks, looks at him over the top of
her glasses, and says........
”Bugger off, ye'll no bring it back!"
Kit Review, courtesy of Cookie Sewell
Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale
Modern AFV Series Kit No. 3539; M51 Isherman
- Premium Edition; 831 parts (671 in grey styrene, 117 in etched
brass, 22 clear styrene,12 steel springs, 6 brass tubes, 2 DS
plastic track runs in tan, 1 turned aluminum barrel); price US
$44.98.
Advantages: upgrades the running gear and
details from this older DML kit with contemporary levels of
detail; replaces disliked two-piece single link tracks with DS
plastic and "slide molded" center guides.
Disadvantages: Some lingering problems, but
attention to the etched brass fret and supplementary sprues show
others have been fixed; directions not correct (again)
Rating: Highly Recommended.
Recommendation: for all Israeli and Sherman
fans.
When DML released their highly anticipated
M50 and M51 Israeli Sherman kits over 10 years ago (Nos. 3528 and
3529 respectively) they landed with something of a thud. While DML
had many of the details right, and at the time the best 1/35 scale
HVSS suspension, the kits suffered from a lot of sloppy details
(such as water can holders that did not fit) and poor research on
others, such as the signature muzzle brake on the M51 which was at
least 20% under scale. The directions also were murky, as they did
not cite the right parts during assembly. Needless to say,
disappointed modelers were not happy nor
kind with their comments about the kits, especially when Academy
released an M51 which was better in many areas, had a simpler
suspension to assemble, and vinyl tracks. Fast
forward to 2007. DML has now revamped their M51 kit, and
are re-releasing it in the Premium Edition series. The kit has
received a lot of TLC, etched brass, and some corrections, and
while far more expensive than the originals (some which can still
be found at shows or flea markets for single-digit prices) it is a
much more substantial
kit and more in line with the acceptable norms for kits today.
First off, the model retains about 200 parts in mix-and-match
sprues from the M50 and M51 kits, with some updating and
corrections, and then adds in the 439 parts of
DML's excellent new HVSS suspension
from its M4A3E8 and M4A3 (105mm) kits. Since the Israelis eschewed
rubber pad tracks, this works well as those kits came with the T80
steel faced tracks and that is provided here with the two DS
plastic runs with separate guide teeth. For simplicity's sake
(e.g. simpler cross- kitting) A slide
molded lower hull is provided. Turret and hull details from the
M4A2/A3 kits are also added in, such as the vision cupola, the
fuel filler caps, and either the M2HB machine gun or a .30 caliber
Browning. One of the big slams against the original kit was the
fact that the signature of the big French 105mm smoothbore gun
stuffed into the turret, its fancy muzzle brake was at least some
20% under scale, and many modelers were upset over this failing. A
close examination of the sprues in this kit shows a more accurate
one with more correct
proportions tucked away on the M51 sprues, so DML has at least
responded to its critics by fixing that glaring error. The new
muzzle brake copies the shapes from the original; in his great
book "Israeli Sherman" Tom Gannon noted that DML had the shapes
right but was way under scale, whereas Academy had the right size
but was too flat and missed the character of the muzzle brake.
This kit would appear to have fixed that problem. However, there
is a big problem with the directions (par for the course.) The
CORRECT parts for the accurized muzzle
brake are H-6, 7, and 9. The ones which are INCORRECT as they are
too small are J-30, 31, and 32; both sets appear to attach to
muzzle cap J-33. Surprisingly, while the kit now comes with
extensive etched brass upgrades, an etched brass muzzle brake is
not one of them. (It would actually be too thin in scale if they
did make one that way, so not a big loss.) The kit does come with
etched brass water can carriers, fenders and braces, and other
"standard" Sherman bits like periscope guards and headlight
guards. It also has clear styrene parts from other Sherman kits,
such as headlights and periscopes, as well as one item missing
from the original kit - a clear lens for the searchlight. The kit
comes with a nice set of Cartograf
decals, but only one
finishing option; the "Zippori"
Brigade, IDF, Sinai 1967. Overall, DML has fixed most of the
"gigs" with the original kit, and anyone who did not get one the
first time around will want to pick this one up, as this time it
really requires no additional items to create a really good model
of the vehicle. But I suggest you get good references as Israeli
vehicles are subject to changes from vehicle to vehicle. Thanks to
Freddie Leung for the review sample.
Mikey’s update on the National New
Media:
1. WALL STREET JOURNAL is read by the people
who run the country.
2. WASHINGTON POST is read by people who think they run the
country.
3. NEW YORK TIMES is read by people who think they should run the
country, and who are very good at crosswords.
4. USA TODAY is read by people who think they ought to run the
country but don't really understand the Washington Post. They do,
however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. LOS ANGELES TIMES is read by people who wouldn't mind running
the country, if they could spare the time, and if they didn't have
to leave LA to do it.
6. BOSTON GLOBE is read by people whose parents used to run the
country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS is read by people who aren't too sure who's
running the country, and don't really care as long as they can get
a seat on the train.
8. NEW YORK POST is read by people who don't
care who's running the country, as long as they do
something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE is read by people who aren't sure there
is a country or, that anyone is running it; but whoever it is,
they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional
exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist
atheist dwarfs, who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY
country (or galaxy) as long as they are Democrats.
10. MIAMI HERALD is read by people who are running another country
but need the baseball scores.
11. NATIONAL INQUIRER is read by people trapped in line at the
grocery store.
12. STARS AND STRIPES is read by people
who will live and die for their country.
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