During our last meeting Hugh Letterly gave us a very good and easy to understand discussion on color theory.  Understanding colors and the relations they have to each other will make us better modelers.

Hugh discussed the different theories and concentrated on the Munsell Color System.  After going through this I feel confident I can do a better job mixing colors and know what to expect when I'm done.

Look for a follow up discussion of FS and Naval Colors from Sam at an upcoming meeting.

John brought his 1/700 Flyhawk model of the Wickes Class destroyer, USS Ward.  This is a wonderful kit that includes everything you could need to build this model as either super detailed or wherever you feel with your skill level.  It's a tiny model packed with detail and very affordable.

I brought a model kit of a 1/350 USN WWII Sub Chaser from L'Arsenal.  This is a new release and what a gem it is.  This model represents one of the SC-497 series o which 438 were built in WWII.  They were modified in different configurations as well.

Navsource has a very good reference for Sub Chaser and Patrol Craft.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/01idx.htm

A few of us are off to the IPMS National Convention in Columbia, SC.  We're also going to take a field trip to Patriots Point to see some wonderful museum ships, not to mention a very impressive Vietnam exhibit.  We'll be sure to do a recap of the convention and the field trip.  

Next meeting we'll have a play with some water color pencils (not to be confused with color pencils) as another way of weathering our ships.  These pencils literally turn into paint with water.  This ties in nicely with Hugh's discussion of color.

See you all next time

July Meeting Agenda

Hi all,
It's time for our July meeting.
Time:  July 23rd at 10:00
Location:  Rockler Woodworking in the basement
Address:  2553 S. Colorado Blvd., Site 108, Denver, CO  80222

This meeting we will be honored with a presentation from our resident art professor, Hugh Letterly, on color.  I'm not sure what Hugh is planning but I do know that every time I've had a discussion with Hugh I've learned something new.

I picked up a few new items from Free Time Hobbies that I'm anxious to show you.  If you have any new kits, parts, or tools please be sure to share them with us.  One of the items I thought we could play with are water color pencils.  They look like pencils but when you add water they turn to paint.  I think there are a lot of interesting applications for these.

I selected my Pearl Harbor anniversary subject.  It will be the 1/700 Flyhawk USS Ward and a really tiny IJN submarine.

I also have a follow up to the L. Mendal Rivers diorama that was a big surprise to me.  I'm excited to tell you about it.

If anyone has anything they would like to discuss please let me know and we'll get it on the agenda.

I look forward to seeing you all Saturday.
Dave

Thought I would share this with you.  I ordered a part from Shapeways.  This is a 1/35 toe rail for a PT Boat model.  I'm working with the designer and Shapeways because this is just unacceptable for a modeler.  The designer, Luis, has been very supportive and has offered to refund my money if Shapeways can't fix it.

The material is their white strong and flexible material which Luis believes is the only way to print this item.

We'll see what Shapeways can do with this but my recommendation is to stay away from anything printed with this material.  I'll keep you posted.
Dave

Sorry for the late update from the last meeting.  We started the meeting with an excellent presentation from Sam on the history of the DASH unmanned helicopters used by the USN.

Here's a link to a video I found on the QH-50 DASH operations.  If you search YouTube you can find a number of them.

Thanks Sam for another great presentation!

I gave a talk on buying and selling on eBay.  During the presentation I showed some items that I put on eBay as a demonstration.  Of the four items I posted one has sold that turned out to be a not so frenzied bid between two buyers.  I didn't recover the cost of the kit but it's out of the house and in the hands of somebody who I hope will enjoy building it.

We talked about being a good seller.  One of the items I was selling was a MacBook docking station.  I set it as an auction with a a "buy it now" option.  A lady in Texas chose the "buy it now" option.  Just to make sure I asked her if she verified this was the right docking station for her computer.  After a little research we found it was not the right unit and refunded her money.  I could have taken the money and run but decided it was more important to have a satisfied buyer.  I value the 100% rating I have.  I got good reviews from her.  So I reposted the item and added some additional information and pictures to avoid confusion from other buyers.

You may have seen the *#@^ storm on Modelwarships.com between Starfire Decals and somebody who bought an item from Mark.  The photo published on the web site was clearly misleading and if I were the buyer I would have been unhappy too.  It showed a resin airplane and a set of decals.  Upon arrival there were no decals and the buyer felt mislead.  I would have felt the same way.  But instead of going directly to Mark the buyer went through the eBay resolution process and Mark didn't appreciate it.  So in turn they had a public fight on the forum.  This didn't work out for either party.  Moral of the story is take care of your customers.  

On a brighter note John brought in some new parts and decks from Infini models.  I think we were all amazed at the quality of thinness of the wood deck.  In fact John pointed out that it's so thin that the modeler needs to pay attention to the base color under the wood deck.  Great point John!  

Martin brought in a very interesting kit from Mirage Models of a flush deck destroyer that was leased to the Japanese Navy and served as P-102.  Mirage has released a number of these destroyers in different configurations.  In addition Martin has the Gold Medal Models photo etch set for this kit.  

I've done a little reading and this is a very interesting story.  I'm hoping this will turn into a presentation. :-)

Jerry Beasley also brought his project for the museum which is the 1/1 scale catapult shuttle for the F-14 exhibit.  The museum wanted Jerry to weather it so I went over to his place and we proceeded to dirty it up using clay based washes from Flory Models.  Jerry's doing a nice job and I'm looking forward to seeing it in the museum all finished.

Blake is also working on another shirt project and Martin suggested that we add our blog address.  We'll look forward to an update from Blake

Speaking of Blake, he's making progress on his USS Arizona kit.  He brought in some very fine photo etch work.  If I were more on the ball I would have taken a photo for the blog.  I need to get better at remembering to do that.  

Next meeting Hugh has agreed to have a discussion on color.  I for one am looking forward to hearing more from Hugh on this topic.  See you at the next meeting!