We can all be grateful that we weren't in Houston this weekend!
Jerry Beasley kicked things off with the drill press/milling machine he put together. The unit incorporates a miniature drill press and milling table. Here are some links to where these items can be purchased...
Drill press: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040YJTTU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Precision table: http://www.tmart.com/Mini-Precision-Milling-Machine-Worktable-Multifunction-Drill-Vise-Fixture-Working-Table-Silver_p346586.html?cc=USD&fixed_price=us_us&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoZTNBRCWARIsAOMZHmGW0UrFMmDbGibQaDFbkZik1kvWBUZn_je9LDjFb8oDSCEqtIsT0HYaAuBxEALw_wcB
Next Blake treated us to the LED light system he picked up for a song at Costco. It included a fan and a variety of light settings. I was surprised at how the light changed the way the pins I had laid out on a piece of paper looked. Nice find for the workbench Blake!
Next Victor showed off his almost complete 1/350 HMS Ark Royal. Beautifully done as we've come to expect.
Some interesting discussion about the catapult system. Seems it was a cumbersome process. Victor and Hugh discussed how the panels would tip up and the system would push the plane off the end of the forward deck.
Here you can see the panels in the raised position.
If you looked closely you could see the flying wires from photo etch between the struts. Victor mentioned something about test flying but that's a discussion for another day.
Victor and Hugh commented about the differences between this 1/350 kit and the 1/700 kit. Each had something the other did not. For example in Hugh's kit the elevators could be molded in the lowered position. On the 1/350 kit they were represented by decals. You probably would have expected the opposite.
Next John treated us to his most recent build, the Pit-Road/SkyWave 1/700 Akitsushima. John upgraded the build with the Artist Hobby..
John used the insect pins that Sam told us about at the previous meeting. I ordered some of each size and shared with the group to play with. John used an interesting technique for his water. He used the shower class as his base. Then covered it with the blue water film he shared with us a few meetings back. Then he topped it off with acrylic medium. It was a remarkable finish which added a lot of depth to the base. Nice contribution John!
Martin shared with the group that there were some very nice ship related reference books available at Aberdeen Models 3890 S. Federal Blvd, Sheridan, CO, 80110.
Martin also shared with us a new product on the market which is a pen like device which holds chrome paint. It comes in 3 different tip sizes and can be found at Colpar. Martin demonstrated how it works and the results were amazing.
Finally for show and tell, both John and Max shared some new kits they purchased. If I were more on the ball I would have documented the kits better. We'll be looking forward to seeing those come to life down the road.
Next on the agenda was Sam's presentation on Freedom Park naval museum in Omaha which has an interesting collection of equipment including the USS Hazard mine sweeper and USS Marlin SST-2 training submarine. The park has an interesting history and is plagued with political turmoil, yet the volunteers there press on with their handy work. Both vessels are well looked after and Sam pointed out all the interesting aspects of both. He also discussed some of the unique weapons systems in the park as well.
We finished off with a discussion about a seminar at the show which was on stash management. This was a great follow up from our previous meeting and our topic of collecting. 😎 The presenter discussed the various methods for tracking your stash.
The first was called Suisoft which is a Access type database program for Windows based computers. You can load in your collection of kits, parts, etc. and have a record of what you have and its value. This would be handy if something happened to your home or collection. Cost is about $50 and you can learn more about it at this link:
The next was probably my favorite and that is the free web based site Scalemates. The best way to learn more about the capabilities of this program is to view the following tutorial.
What I liked about using Scalemates is that you can search their database, find the kit you have, and upload it into your "stash" just that quick. It also groups parts for the same kit together. Check out the other Scalemates tutorial videos on youtube.
Here's another Scalemates tutorial you might find interesting
Finally here's a tutorial on how to use glue loopers...
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