Greetings ship club members.  I'm trying out the idea of using a blog to post information about our group.  I would appreciate feedback from you as what you would like to see at this site.  The good thing about doing it this way is that we'll have a continuous record of what we did at our meetings.  I'm hoping that it will also allow you to post comments on what you would like to see, present, etc.

Just for practice I'll start with a short recap of our last meeting...


Hi all,
Low turnout due to the holidays and weather.  But we had a good meeting today.

Sam started the discussion on a Russian/Soviet ship called the Kommuna.  This is a WWI submarine salvage vessel that remains in active duty to this date, some considering it the oldest active duty ship.  This was designed after the Germany ship you might be familiar with the Hebaschiff SMS Vulkan, produced by Alliance Modelworks a few years back.  You can see the similarities in the two designs.

Hebaschiff SMS Vulcan kit from Alliance...

Kommuna today...

Next I led a discussion on building cases for your models.  I’m organizing a video which I’ll post on YouTube later.  I mounted my model of the L. Mendal Rivers in the finished case.  It consists of using 1x2 inch oak and cutting rabbits into both sides.  One to accept the case top and the other for mounting the foam base.  The base was finished using standard methods.  In this case I used Minwax stain and Wipe On Poly satin finish to complete.  The foam base was glued into place with Titebond II wood glue.  The acrylic top was ordered from Plasticare.  They are very helpful people.  I gave them finished dimensions and the cut the pieces and also rand them through their Jointer machine.  The Jointer gives a very smooth finish to the edge for cementing.  The top sets over the wood base and two brass screws are used to secure it in place.  It should be protected for many years to come

If you want to learn more go to YouTube and watch the videos from TAP plastics.  They demonstrate the correct way to cement the parts together.

Sam also brought an example of how he makes cases.  Sam uses a retail plastic case cover and then makes a base using Chair Rail.  The design is ideal from mounting the base.  Like a knucklehead I forgot to take a picture.

We also discussed 3D Printed Parts.  At the meeting I had a defective print that I received from Shapeways of a 1936 USS Saratoga in 1/700 scale.  They are very good about fixing errors.  The example I had was actually their Ultra Detail example.  The designer, Steve Larson (a.k.a. model_monkey on Shapeways) fixed his design and removed some defects.  When I got home the replacement had arrived.  This one is printed in the Extreme Detail and there is no indication of the Strata layers that I saw in the example I brought to today’s meeting.  It also had not been damaged by shipping.  Everything was straight and perfect.  Some tips on Shapeways products….

You will need to clean them.  They are covered with a vegetable oil that was used to remove the remaining wax which supports the walls when printed.  If you look closely at the below picture you can see some lines at the base that look like they are about 30 degree angle.  This is actually the vegetable oil.  A lot of people use isopropyl alcohol.  Don’t do that!  Instead use warm water and dish soap with a very very soft brush.  I use micro bottle brushes similar to those used for flossing teeth.
If something is bent the way to correct it is with warm water.  They recommend that you use submerge the part in lukewarm water and straighten it in the water.  When you take it out it should cool and stay in the corrected position.

I asked them if an ultrasonic cleaner would be helpful but they said they didn’t think so.  Still I think it might be worth a try with warm water and soap.

AK Interactive recently came out with a line of acrylic US Navy camouflage paints.  It’s believe that AK Interactive was born out of Vallejo.  And now there’s a new brand from Mig Jaminez (also from Spain) that is believed to have come out of Vallejo as well.  I’ve only used the Vallejo and AK Interactive but they seem to behave similarly.  I found that the AK Interactive paints did not require thinning.  They shoot very easily from an airbrush with a .2 needle.  I would say it is similar in consistency to Vallejo Model Air paints.  The best way to clean up your airbrush after using them is with Windex.  The paint I shot did seem to have some small particles in the paint.  I’m not sure if it needs more mixing or if it’s a formulation problem.  I’ve ordered some of their thinner and will do a later test once I get that.  But I will say that the color match was very good compared to the paint chips I have of the actual colors.  You can see the bad side samples I painted in the above picture.

Finally Jerry Beasley told us about some 1/35 ammo links he is working on with our friend Bridge.  He is also working on a tool for wrapping them around the .50 cal ammo.  This is for our big PT Boat project.

Don Kibbe also came by and he’s going to check with the Model Shipwright guys to see if a holiday meeting on Dec 19th makes sense.  Stay tuned and we’ll get back to you with an update.

Thanks everyone
Dave