Another great meeting for June.  Thanks for everyone who came and participated.

As you may know our founder, Hugh Letterly had to move out of Colpar.  Hugh is trying to find a home for his magazines and reference material.  Hugh and Roger shared with us some of the information found in these references.  If you would like to look through this collection...

Next Martin shared with us the benefits of using a wet pallet.  The one Martin brought is from Masterson.  The idea is that there is a moist base with a layer between it and your paint.  This allows you to keep your paint fresh for up to several weeks.  Very handy if you've mixed up some paint and are going to be coming back to it later.  Martin got his from Michaels.  He cautioned that not all stores carry them but they are available online.  You can also see some reviews about this product on YouTube.  If you search for Sta Wet Super Pro Palett you'll find it.

Next Bill shared with us some of the 3D printed parts he picked up from Shapeways for the new Revell 1/72 PT Boat projects he's planning.  Bill shared with us information about PT's and the development of radar and weapons, specifically 20mm Oerlikon turrets.  Some amazing radar and turret parts!  Bill also had a cradle for the same kit.  I'm interested to hear how well it fits.  Bill also had a submarine 3D printed.

Next I talked about my annual Easter builds.  This year it was the Fujimi Chibi-Maru Nagato and the I-400 and I-401 submarines.  Both of these builds took advantage of the Fujimi upgrade kits which include photo etch and wood deck stickers.  The Nagato had a brass flight deck.  I painted that Linoleum and used a small chisel to scrap the paint off the stays which were natural brass on the actual ship.  I also took advantage of a technique for securing rigging lines.  Apply the glue where you want the end to be attached.  Soak the line in CA accelerator and simply touch it to the CA glue you previously applied.  Hold it a couple of seconds and it's secured.  One of the best things about this method is that you don't have to trim off your lines.  These kits are just plane fun... most of the time.  You can find them on eBay and with Japanese online retailers.  😎

I then transitioned to my new project which is the Revell 1/700 container ship, Colombo Express.  My hope is to finish this in time for the IPMS Nationals in Phoenix this year.  I purchased the Mk1 detail set for this kit along with some additional photo etch rails.  To take this kit to the next level I cast a bunch of 20 and 40 ft containers.  I also built a jig for grouping the containers together.  The plan is to build it in a water scene and I have a pair of modern tug tractors from Orange Hobby that will be escorting this big ship.  To kick off the project we had a short discussion about container ships.  This should be a fun build.  

John shared with us his efforts to make paint a heavily weathered deck.  I didn't get a picture but it looked very convincing to me.  

John treated us to his latest 1/700 stash...er... collection additions.  John has some really interesting kits here.  The Flyhawk Germany Torpedo boat also has a nice photo etch set purchased separately.  Thanks for bringing these John!  We look forward to seeing them come together.  

Our newest member, Mike Rector, brought a couple of his ships in.  Mike was looking for some ideas on cleaning his models.  It seemed like the consensus was to use compressed air.  Here Mike is showing us his 1/200 USS Arizona.  

Jerry "the tool guy" Beasley brought in a small hobby lathe.  These are designed for bead making but could be handy for fabricating small parts of plastic and wood.  They are very inexpensive at about $55 and up.  

Jerry's working on getting more information on this tool.  If you hunt around on YouTube for " micro lathe", "mini lathe", or "bead lathe", you can find a lot of reviews on this little guy.  You can find many of these with different options on ebay.  Also try www.banggood.com to look at different options.  

The other tool Jerry brought was demonstrated by Roger.  These are premium sprue cutters from Dspiae who have become famous for their packaging.  Roger demonstrated how smoothly they cut and that like Xeron cutters don't leave you with the possibility of launching your part across the room.  The cutters are very well built and include a very nice adjustment tool for cut limiting, and a nice leather case to protect your cutters.  You can find them on eBay for about $35.  Compared to other premium cutters like God Hand, these are reasonably priced.  

A lot covered this meeting!  Next meeting will be July 7th!  See you then.