Thank you everyone for attending.  Considering it was a couple of days before Christmas we had an excellent turnout.

We started with a test of the Tamiya Paint Retarder.  Those who had used it before did so with an airbrush which in our climate makes a lot of sense.  This time however we wanted to see how it did with brush painting.  With a spare piece of sprue we painted with Tamiya XF-19 out of the bottle using Victor's brush painting technique of patting the paint on rather than brushing it on.  Then we added a couple of drops to a small amount of the same paint and used the same technique for applying the paint.  The paint with the retarder took much longer to dry allowing it to self level better.    But is it enough to make it worth while?  I gave the bottle to Victor and asked him to go try it out.  I'm looking forward to Victor's report.

Next up was the Tru-Color Paint (TCP) that is not new to railroad modelers but is new to us ship builders.  There aren't a lot of color matched choices for ship colors so this was worth exploring as an alternative to Enamels.  TCP is described by the manufacturer as an Acrylic Lacquer which is becoming more popular with modelers lately because of the smooth finishes and fast drying times.

So, time for the test.  The test subject is a Bronco Model 1/350 Type IXC U-Boat.  I had some fun filling the seams so I wanted to have a good primer base.  The model was cleaned in advance.  I applied the Tru-Color primer to the model.  It went on very well and dried quickly and was also very smooth.  After 3 days I then masked over the primer and when I removed the tape about 30% of the primer came up with the tape.  I don't know about you but I use primer to make sure my model is clear of mistakes before I add my finish colors.  It's also important with resin models because those kits often have tiny air bubbles that need to be corrected.  

Next I tried a couple of different lacquer primers.  The first was automotive primer sealer.  The second was Alclad II Microfiller primer and after 24 hours tested with tape again to make sure it wouldn't come off the model.  No issues with either of these primers.  Next I painted over the primer with TCP paint.  The automotive sealer performed better than the TCP primer, but the Alclad II primer worked the best with absolutely no finish paint pealing off.  Another thing I noticed was that the paint straight out of the bottle was a little rough and this I'm sure is due to the paint drying before it hits plastic.  I thinned with 10% thinner and achieved smoother results.  I've ordered some of TCP's retarder and will give that a try.

To be fair to TCP, they recommend not using primer so more testing is required.    I would also add that the colors are excellent matches to the Snyder & Short paint chips.  I'm going to test the paint some more and bring the results to the next meeting.

Next we took a look at some of the new items acquired by our members.

John Widmar brought some real finds.

John found a detail set for the USS Missouri made by The Wood Hunter made for the 1/700 Tamiya BB-63 Missouri kit.  The set contains 12 frets of photo etch, brass barrels, and wood deck.  Actually one of the best wood decks I've seen.  No burn marks anywhere.  Now for the most amazing part of all.  Delivered to the US for $20.00.  That's an outstanding value and the quality of the photo etch is superb.  I ordered three of these sets, one for Martin, Ron, and myself.  Nice find John!!

John also brought a new kit by a new manufacturer by the name of Snowman.  This is a 1/700 scale Gearing class destroyer.  And there are two kits in the package!  It contains a little photo etch but is missing railing and other items that could really spruce these kits up.  Reviews have been excellent.  Criticisim of the kit is limited to the freeboard which can be corrected by adding sheet plastic to the bottom.  Also some have complained about the size of the rivets on the turrets.  You be the judge.  Expect to see some detail sets coming out on this kit.  

What else did John have today!  How about 1/700 HP Models Unicorn resin kit from Freetime Hobbies holiday sale.  Take a good look at the hull.  Very detailed and thinned out for the cut outs in the side of the hull of which there are many!

Yes, John brought more!  How about a 1/720 Zeppelin LZ47.  This looks like a great little kit.  John previously brought a mooring tower from Shapeways so it would be interesting to see the two come together.  

Was John done yet?  I think not!  How about some great little 1/700 parts from Finemolds in Japan.  John brought in several different sets including 1.1' and 20mm Oerlikon anti aircraft guns.  Finemolds makes a number of different aftermarket sets that will really dress up your ship.

Thank you Peggy for delivering Roger to us.  Roger brought in a couple of USN barge sets from Lion Roar.  These will be great models on their own and in dioramas.  Roger solicited the group for some ideas on how to roll some photo etch parts for one of the kits.  Some suggestions were to roll just a little tighter than needed so when it springs back the joints meet up.  Another suggestion was to use some paper on the inside to secure the parts.  Finally annealing the metal (softening with heat) to take the spring out of the part.  I'm anxious to see how Roger resolves this challenge.

John DuGene brought in his finished model of  the Italeri 1/35 M.T.M. Barchino.  John did a great job painting and weathering this little gem.  Also took on painting the included figure.  In the open hatch you can see the charges.  The idea is that the pilot steers this high speed boat at the target and then jumps out.  If all goes well he escapes and the boat with the charge takes out its intended target.  What could go wrong?  Thanks for bring this John!

Next Brian brought a couple of things to share.  First is his Christmas gift to his son which is a Venator Class Star Destroyer.  What made this so amazing was the LED and fiber optics used to light her up.  Brian explained how he used the fiber optics to light up the different sections of the ship.  Outstanding work Brian!  We would love to learn more about incorporating lighting into our ship models.

Brian also brought a future project which is the Trumpeter 1/700 USS Colorado which included the Artwox wood deck, FStar photo etch set, and the Blue Ridge Models 3D printed cage mast.  I'm looking forward to seeing this one because I have all the same parts myself!  

Last but not least was Jerry who is embarking on one of the most satisfying builds you can do, which is a tribute build.  Jerry is putting this together the Mikro-Mir 1/350 USS Lafayette SSBN-616 model for his friend who served on this boat.  Mikro-Mir makes limited run unique subjects.  They build into very nice models with a little work.  Some are better than others and this one looks pretty decent.  Good on ya Jerry!

I think that covers it.  Looking forward to seeing you all in January.

Dave

Ship Club time!
Usual information...
Rockler Woodworking (basement)
2553 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 108
Denver, Colorado  80222
Date:  12/23/2017
Time:  10:00

I'm working on a couple of projects, one of which is testing Tru-Color Paint which is an Acrylic Lacquer.  Don't let "acrylic" fool you because this is a lacquer in every sense of the word.  One sniff and you'll understand.

As I'm writing this I've only tried the primer and I'll be telling you about my experience with it during the meeting.

I will also be bringing Tamiya Paint Retarder.  The idea behind this product is that it will improve the flow of Tamiya paints when brush painting.  We'll try it at the meeting and then I'm going to pass it to the Tamiya brush painting master, Victor, to take home and test and report back and the next meeting.

I'm anxious to hear what you're all working on.  As always...

Bring any new kits or tools

Bring any works in progress or finished models

And finally bring any questions you might have.

See you Saturday!

Dave

Remembering Pearl Harbor... a year later than planned.

It's always fun to see your model on Modelwarships web site and get reactions from viewers.  Very nice of Timothy to hold it out for such an important day.  Might be fun to photograph some of our models as a group and publish them.  I'm really happy with the improved display base.

Here's the link to Modelwarships.com

USS Ward and IJN mini sub - December 7th

Thanks to everyone who attended the last meeting and thanks to Jerry for sharing photos and minutes.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Here's what Jerry shared with me...

Martin Sagara shared another use for a soap bar holder.  Martin uses this to hold his brushes while he's painting.  Nice use of something never intended for modeling! Nice way to keep your brushes organized, especially if you're painting with a couple of different brushes and colors at the same time.

Next John brought a nice display stand from Bandai that he picked up from I'm guessing either Hobby Search or Hobby Link Japan.  Another great idea John!

John also brought a cool color wheel reference.  These are made by Jadar Model in Poland.  They produce them with various manufacturers as the base color.  But they also reference FS numbers as well as colors from Humbrol, Tamiya, Gunze, Model Master, Vallejo/Vallejo Model Air, Pactra, Revell, and Agama.  I didn't even know that Pactra was still around!  Handy little reference chart.  You can buy these from various online stores and direct from Jadar Model in Poland.

Jerry advised that everyone chimed in on what they are working on now.  That's something that we might want to keep doing every month.  Great way to spur conversation about challenges and solutions to challenges.  

Jerry also advised that some are having issues with their airbrushes?  Perhaps we can organize something where we can get together and work through some of your airbrush problems.  Perhaps a special guest star or videos we could watch?

Hugh shared with me the latest release of Small Model Warship's Escort magazine.  Over to the right under Favorite Ship Modeling Sites you'll see the link to Small Warship Special Interest Group.  Go there and click on the Current issue.  You can also browse through their archives which is nice.

I look forward to seeing you all in December.  

Ship Club Time!

Usual information...
Rockler Woodworking (basement)
2553 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 108
Denver, Colorado 80222
Date: 11/25/2017
Time:  10:00

Some things to share...

Daniele shared a supplier of jeweler's tools.  You'll find some really amazing tools on this site.

Contenti

Scale Model World in Telford England just completed.  Every now and then you come across a real gem.  Ship modelers have been aware of Jim Baumann's work for many years.  He is one of the most prolific 1/700 scale builders I've ever seen and I've always admired his work.  This year Jim entered what may be his best work.

Now put it into perspective...

Fortunately Jim likes to share his work and what he learned in his builds and this is no exception.  Here's a link to Jim's build on Modelwarships.com.  If you read through this you'll find some really great tips and techniques that translate to any other modeling you might do.

1/350 Training Ship Sir Winston Churchill

Here's a link to Jim's model gallery...

Jim Baumann model gallery

For those of you waiting on glue, drill bits, and stencils it will be on hand.

Calling all Commercial Ship Modelers!!

A few years back IPMS initiated a commercial ship category for the National competition.  This category has struggled.  If they don't get a better showing it's likely that this category will vanish.  If you want to see this category continue think about building something for the next show in Phoenix.  There are lots of opportunities.  Cargo ships, tankers, cruise ships, tug boats, etc.  Any working ship in a non military role fits the bill.  And if you're a trophy hunter this is easy pickings.  You don't have to be at the show to enter.  One of us going can enter it for you.

As always....
Bring anything new you've acquired
Bring any finished or models in progress you would like to share
If you have any challenges that we can work together to solve bring those questions as well.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Another great meeting and thanks to everyone who participated!

First let's start with best wishes to Roger Schafer who is recovering from ankle surgery.  By all reports Roger is doing well and we'll look forward to seeing him soon.

Let's take it from the top....

Victor bought a new ship transporter and my wish came true when his first transport was the 1/200 USS Missouri made with the wonderful Pontos upgrade set.  Victor did not disappoint!  What I love about these big models is they draw you in and everything is so easy to see.  You can put yourself in the scene.  Victor invested a year in this project.  Let the pictures speak for themselves...

John also did not disappoint and brought some really nice kits and parts...

First HMS Penelope 1940, the new release from Flyhawk.  The kit itself includes photo etch and barrels.  A separate purchase is the wood deck for this kit.  

Another Flyhawk part purchased separately are pre-finished chains

Next up is a new Aoshima IJN Sub Tender Taigei.  This is a big kit for 1/700.  It includes photo etch and there is also a more extensive photo etch set sold separately.  Also included in the kit is a submarine.  This should build up into a real nice kit.

John also brought a resin kit from FSTAR Models.  This is the IJN escort carrier, Akitsu maru.  As you can see it includes extensive photo etch including flight deck.  Something I didn't notice until later was what looks like a gyro copter?  

Also from FSTAR models was this wonderful photo etch set for the 1/700 New Orleans Class Cruiser.

John found these great IJN decal sets that include about every IJN ship you can think of and air wing decals.  

Finally John shared some small parts that flyhawk sells.  One set includes RN 20mm Oerlikon's and Ships boats.  They are very finely molded and would add nice detail to your RN ships.  

Next up Bill Smallshaw.  Welcome back Bill!  Glad to see you building again.  Bill brought in his Trumpeter 1/700 USS New York.  This is Trumpeter's latest release.  Looks like a dandy and you can bet a Texas and detail sets will follow.

Bill is also doing an ambitious kit bash of the USS John F. Kennedy CV-67.  The base kit is the Italeri 1/720 USS Kitty Hawk, with flight deck augmentation, and a few other parts from the Italeri USS Harry S. Truman kit.  The Kennedy was a Kitty Hawk class ship with the flight deck attributes of the follow on Nimitz class carriers.  Kennedy also had a unique island, a modification from the Kitty Hawk ships in having a slanted funnel.  As the Nimitz class was nuclear, the island structure for the follow on carriers do not have funnels.

Additionally, the Italeri Kitty Hawk kit is of that ship in the mid-1980s.  The Kennedy had fairly different stern sponsons from her partial sisters during this period, supporting the NATO Sea Sparrow launchers.  Rather than rebuild these elaborate structures I opted to retro the kit back to the early 1970 configuration of Kennedy.  The sponsons of this vintage supported the BPMDS systems, which are much easier to model.  

Bill made reference of two source items available on the ship:  Ray Bean's CD of USS John F. Kennedy photographs and the Detail & Scale book on the subject.  The combination of the two provides enough photographic evidence to work the build.  Thanks for the narrative Bill!

Jerry Beasley demonstrated the Flexy 5K CA glue.  It has some very nice qualities.  It's designed for photo etch parts.  It takes longer to dry so it could be very useful for these large photo etch plates that are applied to structures.  It is thicker as well so not ideal for attaching small wires and such.  If we have some interest we can put together a group order.  This came from Michigan Toy Solder web site.  It is currently listed at $7 per bottle.  

Jerry brought an interesting naval subject well suited for Halloween.  The skeletal remains of a Roman wharf rat.  I didn't get a picture but it looked something like this little fellow...

Last but not least was from your's truly.  Victor took a year to build his 1/200 Missouri and that's how long it took me to get around to finishing my model of the USS Ward and IJN submarine sunk in the opening hours of the Pearl Harbor attack.  

I really hate blowing up photos of 1/700 ships.  They don't look nearly as good this way as they do in person.  This ship is 5 inches long and the sub is only an inch long.  I focused on the rigging during my talk.  I used .6mm Tungsten wire from Modelkasten for the stays, antenna, and standing rigging; .001 inch lycra rigging from Uschi for supporting the antenna and rigging attached to the davits; and for halyards I used UNI-Caenis 20den black monofilament thread for the halyards.

What I liked about the Tungsten wire is that it is strong.  When I added them to the masts it increased the strength significantly.  There were 8 standing rigging lines on the main mast.  It also allows you the show off a natural sag on the main line from the bow to the top of the main mast.  The Uschi rigging allowed me to keep the antenna very straight.  I demonstrated this on my old ship demonstrator the USS Pine.  I used Tungsten wire for the rigging and bracing on the sub. 

Anyway, here she is and I'll bring her to another meeting to talk more about the rest of the build.

Ship Club Time!

Rockler Woodworking (basement)
2553 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 108
Denver, Colorado  80222
Date:  10/28/2017
Time:  10:00

Could it be?  A year later and I'm finally finished with my 1/700 Flyhawk USS Ward!
Well, truth be told I'm putting the finishing touches on her now.  But I'm feeling confident I'll be unveiling her at the meeting Saturday.

I'm looking forward to talking to you about the build.  But mostly I'm excited about the rigging and I want to spend some time sharing with you my how I went about it.  I used metal, elastic, and nylon and I'm going to talk about how I used each material and why.

There's also a little surprise subject for the model and I've put together what I think will be a very nice base and case to display her in.  Here's a little teaser...

Jerry Beasley will be providing us with a follow up to the Flexy 5K CA.  I'm looking forward to hearing how he got along with it.  If there's interest we can try and organize a group order on this as well.

For those of you who purchased Gators Grip glue or the drill set I have them all and will bring to the meeting.  As a reminder Gators Grip glue is $5.00 per bottle and the drill sets are $5.50 each.  We'll probably have a story to share about the drill sets.  

• As always if you have a finished model to share with us be sure to bring it.
• If you have any new kits to add to your stash be sure to bring those as well.
• And if you have any questions or need help with your project as a group we'll do what we can to help you figure it out!

As a reminder this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) the new hobby show will be at the Denver Merchandise Mart, now just called The Mart.  So I hope you'll come to ship club before you go check it out.

See you all Saturday.