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The meeting minutes:
We had an interesting meeting Saturday.
Fortunately, I showed up early. The doors were all open and there
were a ton of Girl Scout age kids running around. The adult
ladies were a little testy that I just walked in without reading
the signs on the door that said the model club had moved. I
pointed out that since they had opened all of the doors, none of
the signs were visible. I don’t know who these people are, or what
organization they represent, but I can tell it isn’t rocket
science. The folks from the Butterworth foundation were very
apologetic and helpful. It turns out that the Garage, where the
girls were originally scheduled, had started renovation. Since
the girls had a larger group, they bumped us, all very fair and
logical; they just didn’t tell us till we showed up. Oh well. We
have a new point of contact now and hopefully this will not be an
issue in the future. We met in the kitchen of the Deere-Wiman
mansion. Very cool and a beautiful day.
We opened up the windows and had a good time. We had 11 folks
show up, not bad for a nice day. We did not have anything special
planned for the meeting, which turned out to be a good thing. In
October, we will have a guest speaker, SGM Dan Bowman. I
encourage you to attend and feel free to bring family members.
Bob Horton will be running the meeting in my absence, his note is
below, this should be a very good meeting and I’m sorry I will
miss it. As I mentioned in the meeting, I will be departing on an
extended TDY starting 1 October and not returning till on or about
10 November. Just a reminder, there will be no November meeting
at the Carriage House; the November meeting will be at the Butch
O’Hare show. If you would like to arrange some car pools, the
October meeting would be a great time to plan it. On Sunday, 21
October, there will be a hobby and craft show in Dubuque sponsored
by Fagan’s Hobby shop. This is the kind of show that you can
bring your wife to as it has lots of crafts stuff as well as
models. The proceeds go to charity, and there are usually some
great model deals to be had. I hope you guys can make it. The
location is the Grand River Center, 500 Bell
street, Dubuque, IA. You can mapquest the directions, I
hear that it is east to find and the parking is free. The hours
are 9:00 am to 4 pm. The model entry fee is $1 per model.
Contact Fagan’s at 562-588-0846 for more info. We voted to
provide plaques to SGM Bowman and Kris
Leinecke for their support of the
club. I also presented a proposal to support a Make and
Take for the kids in the 113 Cavalry Family Support Group. The
club voted to support it. The unit is deployed to Iraq and one
the unit members, and also a member of our club, Christopher
Broman, asked us if we could do that. I am looking at early next
Spring. I made the offer to the
support group coordinator, but have not received a response yet.
I will keep trying. On a sad note, I heard that Art Gerber passed
away unexpectedly. He was the IPMS USA Head Armor judge. I had
personally served under him five times and he was a great guy.
IPMS will miss him. That’s about it for now; hope to see you guys
in December. Don’t forget the $20 challenge. If you entered the
challenge with Ed Wahl, make sure you get those projects done for
December!
Show and Tell:
Shawn Drovesky
gave us a run down of some model shops he hit. Ed’s hobby
Warehouse at 11152 Southeast Hwy, Palos Hills, IL 60465 sounds
like an interesting spot to hit. The web site is
www.edshobbywarehouse.com. He said they have lots of old
kits. He also hit M&Models in Chicago,
also a great shop. Venture was the final
stop., it’s the model mecca for
all Chicago hobby shop visits. This led to a discussion of the
good old days when every hardware shop or grocery store sold
models. There was also some discussion of doing a Quad Cities
hobby shop guide for the web site. Any
volunteers to start working on it? Shawn also brought in
1/16 scale plans for a Jagdtiger, a Tamiya Samurai General that
was very nice. He also talked about the Texas –Israeli war of
1999 book. It’s a great source for “what if” projects.
Brian Clemmons brought in a model of the
Egyptian sun god RA – this was very nice, it took six months to
build. He just finished painting it. He also brought in the
Mummy, it took about a month to build and he used acrylic paints
and pigments on it.
Keith Johnson brought in a 2006 Chevy Camaro
from the AMT Muscle Car series. The kit was in primer and was
looking good.
Ray Norris brought in some paper models that
looked very interesting. He had a Space shuttle, B-24D nose
section,. He gets them from an
internet site were you can download them. You can run a search
for paper card models and should get several hits.
A note from Chapter Contact Bob Horton:
Hi group: I wanted to pass on an early
reminder for a heads up about the program for the October meeting,
Saturday, October 13.....we are going to have a guest speaker/
video/talk presentation by Sgt. Maj. Dan Bowman, 2nd Battalion
123 Field Artillery, Illinois National Guard. He will discuss his
experiences during their groups
deployment in Iraq. I saw this presentation some few months ago
and it is really interesting and a real insight into what our
folks are doing every day over there. I want to especially invite
our member’s spouses to attend. We invite them to probably one of
the best meetings this organization has had....after the talk we
will have an informal cake and pop refreshment session...please
mark you calendars now for a " not to miss meeting." For some of
the older members of the Chapter you will remember Dan as being
one of the National Guard Non-Coms who
worked the snack bar booth when we had our contests at the Armory
for several years...he is a really neat guy and I am looking
forward to this meeting as I hope all of you will.
The Dates:
October 13: Chapter Meeting. SGM Dan Bowman
will be our guest speaker
November 10: Chapter Meeting – at the Butch
O’Hare show
November 10: IPMS/”Butch” O’Hare; 25th
Annual Open Model Contest and Swap Meet; Lakeview Junior High
School, 701 Plainfield Rd., Darien, IL; contact Marco A. Fernandez
at
mfchi@sbcglobal.net
December 8: Chapter Meeting.
Christmas party and annual “What If?
Contest. The $20 challenge will also be held. Bring in the
completed kit you bought for $20 from Ed and get your money back.
A word from the front:
Christopher Broman sent this email. I had
sent him a video of an Iranian mort tube that exploded causing a
really bad day for the insurgent using it: “Speaking of
Iranians: A rocket missed the Oasis dining facility here at Camp
Victory, you might have heard about this, and actually gave 2 of
our cooks concussions. They're fine and no one else from our unit
was injured, but when they examined the casing and remains of the
240mm rocket they discovered it was Iranian.
Neat huh?”
Christopher has made contact with the Baghdad
model club and has started a 1/48th scale Tamiya
Wildcat. He will send some info a little
later, we may be able to send some care packages over. I
have also asked him for “combat reviews” of kits. He has
discovered that Iranian rocket fragments make great nose weights
for the Hasegawa 1/48 F-86.
Hello Region Five,
The year has flown by. Our Regional and
National Conventions are behind us.
Where has the time gone????
First thing I wish to do is thank your
chapter contact(s) for their patience while I switched internet
service providers. I was not able to find a quick way to transfer
my address book from AOL to Charter which left me to rebuilding
it. Since I had to do that, I would create new groups for each
chapter and test emailed each contact then the group set up for
each chapter. I know it was a pain for you all, but thank you for
working with me.
Item 2. We are
literally days away from the charter renewal period which runs
from Oct 1st to the end of the year. Each chapter will shortly be
getting an email from me with the necessary info for the renewal
of their respective chapter’s charter renewal. If you have any
questions, don’t receive it or have any problems, please contact
me!
Item 3 our Region 5 Website. I have updated
the chapter and member spotlights. Please check them out and get
to know a fellow IPMS member and a really interesting chapter.
Also thanks to Ed Wahl and Terry Buschmann
who gave me some missing information on who hosted IPMS USA and
Region 5 Regional conventions. Those too have been updated. At
the request of several folks I spoke with at the Regional, I have
added an upcoming events section to the website and will attach it
to my updates as well. The upcoming events will feature the IPMS
events in Region 5 as well as those in adjoining regions 4 and 6.
Item 4 news on the IPMS
USA front. The National Contest Committee (NCC) is
addressing a couple of issues. Watch the Journal and the USA
website for updates. Some changes to the Out of the Box have been
decided and will be announced shortly. The Competition Handbook
has been the subject of much debate and a group has been assigned
the task of recommending changes. Speaking of the NCC, for those
not aware, Art Gerber passed away. He was the Armor Head Judge
and will be dearly missed.
Item 5, it is quiet in Region 5.
To quote the movie “Airplane” “too quiet”.
I sort of expected more discussions and issues to be brought up.
I have not received much in the way of things that you folks
through the region want to discuss, change, etc. I am not sure
how to take that. Is it the “no news is good news” or “the heck
with him, I ain’t
talking to that idiot”???? I have only received one chapter bio
and one member bio to put on the Region 5 site. Please consider
sending me a brief write up about your chapter and even one of
your IPMS members. Don’t worry about it not being perfect, I was
my chapter’s newsletter editor and if I could make Bob Fisher’s
ramblings coherent, I can make anyone’s sound good. Just submit
it.
Item 6, chapters who have
held shows. I am trying to put together a list of
chapters who have hosted shows over the years. If you currently
host a show annually or have hosted shows in the past, I would
really appreciate it if you would forward the dates of those shows
to me along with any titles.
Enough for now, please check the chapter and
member spotlight columns.
Mike George
Region 5 Regional Coordinator
http://ipms-gateway.com/Region5coordinator.html
A Final Look.
by Brian Casteel.
The 2007 IPMS USA National Convention
Courtesy IPMS Orange County Newsletter
As I arrived at the Marriott on a gorgeous
Southern California morning, Wed the 22d of 2007, I knew the show
was going to be a success, and that it was. I couldn't shake the
dread of paying $20 a day to park but what a small price to pay
to see some of the most amazing models built by some of the most
talented modelers in the world (seriously, the world). When I
walked into the hotel there were already vendors chomping at the
bit to get set up, and understandably so, they were ready to start
making some money and a few ‘die hards’
that were ready to participate in the 2007 IMPS National
Convention. Once the vendor placement map arrived, the vendor room
was set up, registration began and the convention had officially
started. Despite a few computer hiccups and badges rolling out at
their own speed, nothing could keep anyone from enjoying the first
day of the IPMS National Convention. One of our biggest challenges
was the Anaheim Fire Department. Modelers were not allowed to
leave their carry/storage boxes under the tables, this made for a
few gripes and moans but mostly everyone was compliant. No ill
will towards the AFD, they were just doing there job and made sure
everyone was safe.
Overall, the first day was filled with
getting in and getting settled, a few raffles and lots of last
minute loose ends to tie up. The “fires” that needed putting out
were many but small and not life (or convention) threatening. No
matter when I popped into the office, Jim Woody, Nat Richards,
Lindy Woody, and Mike Bradley were continually working behind the
scenes to make the convention run like clockwork. A slew of
volunteers continued to give time by working hard on registration
badges, accounting and other various behind the scenes tasks. At
the close of the third day, there were 713 total registered
attendees (not including day passes) and by the time the last
model was entered there were 2,172 registered model entries! This
IMPS USA National Convention ranks the third highest in regards to
model entries and also holds the first place title in the West. If
I was a wagering man, I would put money on the fact that there
were well over 2,400 individual models on the tables with the
various collections and group entries. New to the IPMS USA
Convention this year was a paper model category. There were 37
entries in all for this category. Wow, it seemed to be well
received! Throughout the convent ion, whenever I perused the paper
entries, the most common quote I heard around that table was
“That’s paper?!?!”By the end of desert
everyone was ready to get the ceremony going so Jim Woody kicked
things of with a hearty welcome and various thank
you’s and then introduced Jack
Kennedy, the IPMS USA President. Mr. Kennedy made some
announcements and then Ron Bell announced the recipient of the
2009 Nationals, Columbus, Ohio. I was introduced and
i had everyone open with our trademark
"How Ya Doin?"
had the distinct honor of announcing the “Best
Of Awards”. It was decided that this year we would not read
all of the individual winners. In doing so, this would allow
everyone to get back into the contest room and see their awards
and bask in the glory with their fellow modelers. A complete list
of winners was mailed out to all entrants. Our most heartfelt
thank you goes out to Nat Richards and Jim Woody for all their
hard work leading up the 2007 IPMS Nationals. Without their
tireless effort, for the last three years, none of this would have
been possible. Thank you! Here is a list of IPMS Orange County
Members that helped put on this very special and successful show.
More thank yous to: Joe Aguilera, Greg
Arnold, Tony Avalos, Michael Bare, Michael Bradley, Doug Browning,
Ted Browning, Mike Budzeika, Daniel
Carlson, Mark Deliduka, Don Drummer,
Leigh Eaton, Clement Eng, Sean Fallesen,
David Fredrick, Mark Glidden, Cip
Hernandez, Pete Hiatt, Terry Huber, Steve Munroe, David
O'Barr, David Okamura, Bob
Penikas, Nat Richards,
Richie Scanapico,
Daniel Silverthorn, Jon
Silverthorn, Dean Smith, Jason Sutton,
Steve Taylor, Salvador Torres, Jim Woody, Lindy Woody, Jaime
Zamora. Also thank you to Cip’s wife
for the home made Enchiladas she made for all the volunteers!
Research Resources
By Ed Mate, courtesy Will-Cook Newsletter
Modeling Korean War Aces F-86
Sabres – Part 2
Welcome to part 2 of this article to share
some information about where to find reference photos, profiles
and 1/48 decals (sorry, I only build in 1/48 scale) of your
favorite Korean War Ace’s F-86 Sabre.
To keep track of what I’m doing, this list is in order of
victories tallied and continues from where part 1 ended.
Lt. Harold E. Fischer 39th
FIS, 10 total victories. Here is information on his
Sabre:
F-86F-10 s/n 51-12958
Paper Tiger FU-958. Profiles can be found in
Mig Alley (p. 41), F-86
Sabre Aces of the 51st FIW
(p. 58), and Korean War Aces (p. 53) and photos in
Mig Alley (p. 79), Korean War Aces (p.
32), and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51st
FIW (p. 64 & 65). Decals are on Aeromaster 48-446A and
Superscale 48-812.
Col. James K. Johnson 4th
FIW, 10 total victories. Here is information on his
Sabre:
F-86F-10 s/n 51-12941
FU-941. A profile can be found in Korean War Aces (p. 44)
and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th
FIW (p. 41). Photos can be found in Mig
Alley (p. 66 & 75), Korean War Aces (p. 75), Frontline Color (p.
82), 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 80, 182, 183 & 188), and F-86
Sabre Aces of the 4th FIW
(p. 72). I have not found decals for his airplane, but
Ruddel’s “Mig
Mad Mavis” is only 1 digit off and can be found on
Superscale 48-52 and Aeromaster
48-447A. The Superscale sheet also
contains the squadron badge that is needed.
Capt. Ralph S. Parr 334th
& 335th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is information
on his Sabres:
F-86F-30 s/n 52-4778 Barb
FU-778 (334th FIS). A profile can be found in
Korean War Aces (p. 46), and a photo can be found in 4th FIW in
the Korean War (p. 193). I have not found decals for this
airplane.
F-86F-30 s/n 51-12955
Barb FU-955 (335th FIS). Photos can be found in
Mig Alley (p. 54) and 4th FIW in the
Korean War (p. 189). I have not found decals for this airplane.
F-86F-30 s/n 51-12959
FU-959 (335th FIS). An illustration of this
airplane is on the cover of F-86 Sabre
Aces of the 4th FIW. This is the airplane in which
Parr famously took on 15 Migs
single-handedly and scored his first two victories. I have not
found decals for this airplane.
Major Frederick C. “Boots”
Blesse
334th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is
information on his Sabre:
F-86E-10 s/n 51-12821
FU-821. Profiles can be found in Mig
Alley (p. 37) and Korean War Aces (p. 45). Photos can be found in
Mig Alley (p. 76) and 4th FIW in the
Korean War (p. 153). Decals are on Aeromaster 48-448.
Capt. Lonnie R. Moore
335th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is
information on his Sabres:
F-86F-10 s/n 51-12972
Margie/Billie FU-972. Profiles can be found in
Mig Alley (p. 45) and Korean War Aces
(p. 47). Photos can be found in Mig
Alley (p. 73), F-86 Walkaround (p.
19), and 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 181). Decals are on
Superscale 48-52.
F-86F-2 GUNVAL s/n
51-12836 Sweet Carol FU-836. A profile can be found in F-86
Walkaround (p. 73). Photos can be
found in 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 170 & 172), F-86
Sabre Aces of the 4th FIW
(p. 69), and F-86 Sabre
Walkaround (p. 59). I have not found
decals for this airplane, but “Nina” and Clifford
Jolley’s “Jolley
Roger” are only 1 digit off and can be
found on Aeromaster 48-449A and Aeromaster 48-446A respectively.
Major then Lt. Col. Vermont
Garrison 335th FIS, 10
total victories. Here is information on his
Sabre:
F-86F-10 s/n 51-12953
FU-953. Profiles can be found in Korean War Aces (p. 46)
and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4th
FIW (p. 42). Photos can be found in Mig
Alley (p. 75), Air War Over Korea (p.
47), 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 149 & 186), and F-86
Sabre Aces of the 4th FIW
(p. 76). I have not found decals for this airplane, but Fischer’s
“Paper Tiger” is only 1 digit off and can be found on Aeromaster
48-446A. The squadron badge is available on this sheet as well.
Lt. James F. Low 335th
FIS, 9 total victories. Here is information on his
Sabre:
F-86E s/n 51-2870 FU-870.
A photo can be found in 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 141). I
have not found decals for his airplane.
Lt. Cecil G. Foster 16th
FIS, 9 total victories. Here is information on his
Sabres:
F-86E s/n 51-2868 FU-868.
I’ve never seen a photograph of this airplane, but you can read
about Foster getting 3 of his kills in this airplane in
Mig Alley (p. 49 & 50).
F-86E-10 s/n 51-2738
Three Kings FU-738. A profile can be found in F-86
Sabre Aces of the 51st FIW
(p. 52), and photos can be found in F-86
Sabre Aces of the 51st FIW (p. 35 & 41) and
Mig Alley (p. 51). Decals can be
found on Aeromaster 48-448.
F-86E-10 s/n 51-2738 Four
Kings and a Queen FU-738. Profiles can be found in
Mig Alley (p. 40) and Korean War Aces
(p. 50). Decals can be found on Aeromaster 48-446A.
Major James P.
Hagerstrom
67th FBS, 18th FBG, 8½ total victories (2 scored with 4th
FIW). Here is information on his 67th FBS
Sabre:
F-86F s/n 52-4341
Mig Poison FU-341. Profiles
can be found in Korean War Aces (p. 55), F-86
Sabre Aces of the 4th FIW (p. 43) and
Mig Alley (p. 45). Photos can be
found in Mig Alley (p. 52) and F-86
Walkaround (p. 78). Decals can be
found on Aeromaster 48-447A.
Selected References:
F-86 Sabre Walk
Around (Walk Around Number 21) by Larry
Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 2000
F-86 Sabre in
Action (1033) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1978
F-86 Sabre in
Color (6502) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1981
Air War Over Korea
(6035) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1982
Mig Alley (6020)
by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1978
Korean War Aces, Aircraft of the Aces #4 by
Robert Dorr, Jon Lake and Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 1995
F-86 Sabre Aces
of the 51st Fighter Wing, Aircraft of the Aces #70 by
Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 2006
F-86 Sabre Aces
of the 4th Fighter Wing, Aircraft of the Aces #72 by
Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 2006
F-86 Sabres of
the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, Osprey Frontline
Colour #6 by Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 2002
The Korean Air War by Robert Dorr and Warren
Thompson, Motorbooks International
1994
The 4th Fighter Wing in the Korean
War by Larry Davis, Schiffer
Publishing 2001
Building the 1953 Corvette
Carrera
Panamericana Racer
Courtesy GTR Auto Modelers Newsletter
By Chuck Hermann
In 1953 Chevy introduced the very first
Corvette to fill a need for an American made sports car. There
were only 300 made, all were white with red interiors. The first
Vettes featured a 235 cubic inch
straight six Blue Flame engine with 150 HP and a two speed
automatic Powerglide transmission. So
while it was a sports car, it took a few years until the
performance was enhanced with V-8 engines and manual
transmissions, leading to the many famous racing Corvettes over
the years continuing thru today. The first example of a racing
Vette was a car entered in the 1954
open road race running over roads in Baja Mexico, the famous La
Carrera
Panamericana. This event was similar to the
Millia Miglia
and Targa Florio
events in Europe, and was held from 1950 to 1954. Today there is a
vintage type event held each year over much the same course, but
the original races were dangerous, flat out blasts through Mexico.
Photo from
The first example of a racing Vette
was a car entered in the 1954 open road race running over roads in
Baja Mexico, the famous La Carrera
Panamericana. This event was similar
to the Millia
Miglia and Targa
Florio events in Europe, and was held
from 1950 to 1954. Today there is a vintage type event held each
year over much the same course, but the original races were
dangerous, flat out blasts through Mexico.
The Corvette was also sponsored by von
Esser, who owned a performance shop in Chicago. The car was
basically stock, and with the
stanadard
powertrain was no match for the factory backed exotic
Ferraris and Mercedes than dominated the overall results. The
obvious modifications were red wire wheels replacing the steel
wheels and hubcaps, the grille and headlights were taped up and of
course the racing numbers and graphics. The red and white color
scheme always looked neat to me, so I wanted to do a model of this
Vette. In 2002 Revell reissued the
1953 Corvette, kit 85-2164 in 1/24 scale. This is an old tool that
had been released many times in the past. This time it included
some decals for the Carrera car.
(Note: there is also a Fred Cady decal sheet for this car). But
there were no wire wheels in the kit, just the stock hub caps
which do not look like they would belong on a race car. Correct
ones are available from the aftermarket, by Curbside
Dioramics (RDU-1518) available from
R&D Unique. After putting off ordering them I finally did so
earlier this year then got to work on the model. This is a full
detail kit, with engine and suspension detail. The kit shows its
age, lots of mold lines, especially on the chrome bits and there
are some fit problems. Most of it I built up box stock, so I will
touch on the updates for the race version along with any problem
areas. The engine is an eight or nine piece assembly (there is an
option for the carb set up). I used
Testors sky blue but it looks a little too light, but
int built up compartment it is not so
bad. One thing missing was any hoses connecting to the radiator, I
added some from parts box bits but once the hood is installed this
is barely visible. Note that if you wanted to add spark plug
wires, on the real thing they are hidden under a cover so they
were not visible. There is a full suspension included, but to use
the aftermarket white metal wire wheels I had to modify the
mountings. The kit wheels slide onto plastic posts, but the wires
had a much bigger hole. So I cut some 5/32 brass tube, pushed it
onto the posts and glued it onto the wheels. Neither the new
wheels nor the kit provide brake details, which really show up on
these wire wheels. So I found some old style drum brakes in the
parts box and adapted them to fit. I found the rear shock assembly
very difficult to fit, ultimately I
gave up and did not use it. I painted the wheels red. Note that
the instructions with the wheel set say to soak the tires in hot
water to soften them up to press onto the wheels: do this!
Otherwise it is a very difficult task to squeeze them on. Glue on
the knockoffs last or you will break them off adjusting the fit
and height. The interior is rather basic, and it should be red
with a white dash. I used Testor Flat
Red then did a wash to bring out the details. The dash glues onto
the body, so be careful fitting it so it lines up when assembled.
The top of the dash is actually part of the body, the section
behind the windshield. I test fit the windshield frame, marked off
the dash part then painted it the same red as the interior. There
are no decals for the gauges so I picked out details with paint.
The steering wheel features a chrome horn ring.
The body is basically one piece, with the hood a separate
piece. There were a few mold lines but they are in the usual
places and cleaned up easily. I painted it with Tamiya Pure White
lacquer from the rattlecan. While it
may not be accurate, I sanded off the chrome trim on the sides and
the front emblem. There is a decal for the front emblem, and I
felt the graphics on the sides looks better without the trim in
the way (and I am not that comfortable doing a lot of Bare Metal
foiling). I also removed the front wipers; they were molded in
with little detail. I still am looking for a nice replacement.
The rear exhausts exit thru the body above the bumpers. I thought
they looked too small as provided so I drilled out the holes and
scratchbuilt some from brass tube. The chrome bumpers have no
defined mounting position on the body. So I drilled a hole on the
back and glued in a small piece of wire, then drilled out a spot
on the body to mount them into. There is no side mirror provided
in the kit, and the rear view mirror on the dash has two severe
sink marks. So I cannibalized an AMT Snap Fast kit of this car
that I had earlier decided not to use for this project. The
headlights are chrome buckets that did not fit the holes in the
body. They are covered up, but the kit decals provided would never
have fit, and did not match the reference photo I had. So instead
I cut some white labels to cover more of the lights. The grille
used in the race is a screen rather than the stock “teeth”.
here is a decal to represent this, but
no place to apply it! I put it on a piece of plastic stock cut to
fit, but ended up using a piece of screening material from the
parts box. The license plates are decals, but again there is no
place to put them so plastic stock was used here as well. Speaking
of decals, they went on with no problems. That’s it. There were
some issues with the kit, and I am not sure the headlight’s poor
fit, on my example at least, would have let me build an acceptable
stock version. But overall I am satisfied with the results. As I
said I always liked the color scheme of this car, and the old
style road races, like the Carrerra
and Mille Miglia, are fascinating
reminders of how racing got its start. Danbury Mint: Danbury Mint
makes a finished diecast of this
subject. The photos off the web look nice if you don’t want to
build one. The AMT snapper I mentioned is also a possible easier
alternative, but it is 1/25 and noticeably smaller so the wheels
and tires may be a bit too big. And the level of detail is very
simplified.
Kit Review: Hasegawa 1/48 Scale Aircraft in
Action Series Kit Number
X48-11 (36011); FOLLOW ME Jeep Willys
MB; 71 parts (66 in olive drab
styrene, 4 clear styrene, 1 length of brass wire); retail price US
$23.00
By Cookie Sewell
Advantages: provides a nice airfield diorama
accessory for 1/48 aircraft or a suitable Jeep for use with 1/48
armored vehicles Disadvantages: vastly overpriced for value
received; decals not a great idea for "Follow me" color option, as
is having the vehicle molded in olive drab.
Rating: Recommended.
Recommendation: to 1/48 scale aircraft
modelers and any armor modeler who REALLY wants a Jeep in this
scale now. The ubiquitous Willys MB
was probably the most popular US-built vehicle of WWII, nosing out
the GMC CCKW series or the Studebaker US6 series trucks with just
about everybody. Light, nimble, fast and useful, it found all
sorts of applications. The USAAF used them for just about
everything as well, from simple transports to air-ground liaison
with forward air controllers and even airfield management
vehicles, painted in bright colors for safety and generally fitted
with large signs saying "FOLLOW ME" to guide aircraft to and from
their parking areas. There have been a few kitted over the years
in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale, but this one from Hasegawa is a
brand-new effort and is designed to compliment their airfield
accessory line of figures, vehicles, and modern missiles and
ordnance. As it comes, the kit provides a Jeep with an optional
canvas top, console with ground-to- air radio set, three figures
(two crew and one pilot), and decals and markings for three
different vehicles. The primary option is for a red and white
"FOLLOW ME" vehicle fitted with the radio set.
So far, so good. The Jeep itself is not bad, coming with
even a three- piece engine and hood which can be position either
open or closed, separate springs and shocks, a complete exhaust
system, and all interior controls less foot pedals. The figures
have separate arms and two have separate heads, giving some
options on posing them. Both of the ground figures have the
baseball caps, and the pilot has a WWII helmet and goggles vice
soft cap or other headgear. But, the design of the kit appears
based on the old Tamiya jeep kit from 1973, which was not bad, but
again, 1973. The current kit is much more accurate and better, and
as a point of fact will probably be the pantograph stand-in for a
promised Tamiya kit. The production values for this kit are not
high, with the belly riddled with ejector pin marks (at least
Hasegawa put them on the bottom of the body) and "soft" details on
the body to include the reflectors and hand holds. No tools are
provided, and while the brackets are also missing, at least
Hasegawa did not mold them to the body. I checked my copy of TM
11-27, "Radio Communication Equipment" (April 1944) and the radio
set seems to look like many of the home-grown mountings placed in
jeeps to carry out air-ground coordination or airfield management,
and while nothing specific can be identified it looks to have one
HF radio set on the left and one VHF set (like either an SCR-522
or SCR-542 set) on the right. The radio antenna looks about right
if a bit short. While two of the optional finishes are in olive
drab, the primary one of red and white check is a hard one to
replicate and in this case the modeler will first have to prime
the model, paint it white, and then, as the checks are provided as
one bit (63 x 80 mm) sheet of decals, cut them to fit and try to
get them to set down over the body details. This will be a very
tough job and put any decal setting agent to the test. (The decals
are red and white, but most modelers know if you put the average
decal over a dark color the white is rarely thick enough to be
opaque.) At least Hasegawa, like Tamiya, has first-rate
directions. They show the three options for the kit as being a
"Follow Me" jeep from Iowa during WWII; 323rd Bomb Squadron, 91st
Bomb Group, 8th US Air Force, England 1943; and a USAF radio jeep
in Korea, 1950. (I personally like the latter given the misery of
the red-and-white paint job and will probably do this one posed
next to a T-6G "Mosquito" in Korea.) Overall, this kit could have
been much better and especially for its very high price. Hasegawa
can get away with that for its aircraft, but if aircraft modelers
held this kit to the same standard for the
price charged it comes up wanting. Had the body of the
jeep been prepainted, it could have
been worth the price.
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