On Saturday, April 11, the Marietta Scale Modelers met at 1 p.m. at Hobby Town USA in Kennesaw. We had a packed house with 18 members in attendance and quite a few models on display.
Dave Lockhart kicked off the meeting with some images shared by the membership of their model displays at home. He also had a list as to why guys prefer guns over women (I am pleading the Fifth).
We are formally announcing our next two club builds. The first one will be "Dr. Bob's Models", with the models coming from Dr. Bob's stash (Contact Bill Ficke for more information). Our target completion date will be the December 13th meeting.
Our next group build following that will be called "MEDIC!". Our target date will be the 2015 Marietta Show. Any type of medical subject, civilian or military, can be entered. Any era or genre as well.
Dave also had some photos he took during a recent visit to the U.S. Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker, AL. They are in the process of constructing a new exhibit hall which will be a neat addition to a great facility.
There are two upcoming shows to attend. On May 10th, IPMS Atlanta Con 2014 will be held at the IAM Local 709 Union Hall, 1032 South Marietta Pkwy SE, Marietta GA. Get there early as it is commencement weekend at Southern Polytechnic and traffic will likely be challenging.
The second show is the IPMS Robert L Scott Scottcon 2014 at the Museum of Aviation, 1942 Heritage Blvd, Warner Robins, GA on June 7th.
Keith Scruton shared some photos he took at the Anniston Show from the previous weekend. Many good shots, although not one tank was to be seen...did they ALL go the AMPS Nationals?
On to our models. James Young kicked it off with three aircraft. First he had a Revell F-101B Voodoo. He grew up watching Voodoos flying around. He used Update" to depict a Texas ANG aircraft in ADC Grey. He hand painted it using the out-of-production Model Master paint.
James also had two F-94C Starfires. The first was the antique Aurora kit, which is older than James is. It is a box-scale, and he completed it out-of-the box. As a companion piece, James had the Emhar F-94C in 1/72 scale. He replaced the kit tires and ejection seat with True Details ones and again hand-painted the kit.
Buz Pezold had his in-progress Grumman F3F-1. The base kit is the Rareplanes Vacu-Form in 1/72 that Dr. Bob gave to Buz. He has scratch-built many components to give them a more accurate look. Buz used Tamiya spray can Aluminum and Humbrol for brush painting. It will represent an F3F-1 from Fighting 3 off the U.S.S. Lexington CV-2.
Keith Scruton completed two kits. He had his Matchbox HE-111, completed as a flight leader. This was the Matchbox kit in 1/72. He finished the kit with Model Master enamels.
Keith's other build was the Italeri T-6 Texan in 1/48 scale. He sanded off the canopy frames as they were too thick. He also finished it with Model Master enamels and created markings of a T-6 that flies out of Kissimmee, FL. Keith actually flew in this warbird and told us of the fun he had.
Mike Idacavage had two works-in-progress. First is an old ESCI C-47/R4D5 in 1/72 scale. He showed the group how, by gluing no more than 2 inches at a time, he was able to salvage a terribly warped fuselage into a usable one. He is planning to finish this in NASA markings as a support aircraft from the X-15 Program.
Mike is also continuing his work on the Hasegawa Cessna Citation in 1/48 scale. He has the airframe primed with Mr. Surfacer to smooth out the details. KLM Blue to follow.
Art Murray had a neat diorama piece with some great family history. Art built the superb Tamiya Willys Jeep in 1/35 scale as well as two U.S. infantrymen. He added them to a base done with sand fixed with white glue, topped with static grasses, Silflor flowers and Woodland Scenics trees augmented with some yard twigs. The scene depicts an incident that happened to his father, an infantry battalion commander with the Third Army in Europe during WW2. During a forward reconnaissance on a hilltop, he was spotted by the enemy who began sniping at them and his Polish driver...with an "88"! His dad recalled the Germans fired about 7 or 8 rounds at them in 15 seconds.Luckily the rounds were aimed too high. Quite an incident indeed!
Rob Morales finished his Minicraft DC-4. This is the 1/144 scale kit completed OOB. The kit decals depicting a early 1960s Pan American World Airways propliner.
Rob also had a work in progress tank. He is building the Dragon 1/35 Sherman III (M4A2) in markings for the Free Polish forces attached to the British Army in Italy during 1944-45. The kit includes some photoetch details that greatly add to the realism.
Fred Heil brought in a die cast USAF F-35 Lightning II. The model is produced by Hobbymaster and includes all armament. It can be displayed gear up or down and weapons bays opened or closed. Fred notes that many experts say the F-35 is likely to be the last manned combat aircraft.
Dave Lockhart completed show and tell with his Nantucket Light Ship in 1/95 scale. He built it from the long-gone Pyro kit. Using Model Master paints, Dave used vinyl stick-on letters to spell out the ship name on the hull over a white base. He then oversprayed the hull red and removed the letters to reveal the neatly formed ship's name.
Art's diorama was voted Model of the Month. Mike Idacavage won the gift certificate.
Due to the show in Marietta on May 10th, we elected to move the May meeting to May 3rd. We will meet that day at Hobby Town USA, Kennesaw at 1 p. m.
