Mile High Model Ship Club

Thanks to everyone who made it to the meeting today. Another great turnout. Lots to review.

Here's a link to the meeting video if you care to review.

June ship club meeting Note that there is a password required now for viewing the recording. The password is 7y^@z05a and you have to verify that you're not a robot. I'm sure part of the security requirements to keep the Zoom bombers away.

IMPORTANT: I will only maintain the current and previous months recordings as that's our limit for cloud storage.

We started with a look at the 8050 Dremel tool ($68 on Amazon) I just bought and what went into my decision making. So far I'm happy with it but we'll have to see how well the lithium batteries hold up. Before we go on, Jerry had a great tip on taking batteries to Batteries Plus to have them rebuild batteries you can no longer buy. Great tip Jerry! Sam also offered up another tip I had forgotten about which is the foot controller for the wired Dremel's.

We also took a look at some other options on the market. This was probably my second choice based on a recommendation from John Widmar. These are corded but have excellent features. They are on sale at Micro Mark. The Micro is on sale for $49 and the Mini is on sale for $69 right now. Here's a video on these units.

Another unit I took a good long look at was the Proxxon power station and rotary tool. A step up in price at about $150 for the pair, but very good power and speed range. The power station can be used with other Proxxon tools. A nice choice if you're all in on the Porxxon line.

Last we looked at the DAVIDUNION 550E pro model which also had a separate controller. This unit had the lightest hand piece at less than half a pound and the best low end RPM. But looking at videos indicated that at the low end it lacked power to keep the motor from stopping. It was also quite expensive at just under $500. Update... scratch this one as manufacturer can't sell to the US because they don't have FCC certificate.

They do have another version called the 360E without the controller which is more affordable. While not shown it is corded. It can dial down RPM's to about 1300 but lacks enough power to keep from bogging down. These are a bit hard to find but if this interests you check with Jerry Beasley.

Most everyone had an old Dremel battery powered unit but struggled with the batteries not holding a charge or not being ready when you needed the tool. Jerry's tip on Batteries Plus may be a solution. Hopefully this discussion helped and you'll find a tool that works for you.

Speaking of DAVIDUNION Jerry is working on buying the 400 sanders for the group. If you are interested get with Jerry as he's going to be putting in his order soon.

I shared a relatively unknown ship kit manufacturer called Zucas Studio who produces "Q Series" resin model kits. The gentleman who has this company is Chien Yu Wei and he is a veteran of the Taiwanese Navy. He served on a Knox class frigate. He has the Knox and Perry class frigates available. Service is excellent and personal. The detail built into these kits is remarkable compared to others of this genre. His web site is in the following link. Give it a look.

Zucas Studio

David Angelo shared with us a future kit he's working on. This is the USS Tangier seaplane tender. David is working out a few issues but expect to see a great and unique kit coming soon.

John Widmar also shared one of his finished models. This is the Combrig models Kasato Maru. It's a 1/700 kit available at Free Time Hobbies.

One of the things we talked about were the ratlines. The kit did not come with them. However John utilized some photo etch ratlines. He's been kind enough to do some research for us. Here's what John found in 1/700 plus one I added in 1/350.

Battlefleet Models #BFM-7pl

Ocean Spirit #H084

Super Star # SS700029

Alliance Model Works #NW70060

Alliance Model Works #NW35045

Rob Weilacher also shared his lates build which is the 1/700 Adams Class Destroyer. This is the DDG-9 USS Towers built out of the box plus Gold Medal Models upgrade. I've always liked the look of these destroyers.

Tim also shared his Alvin research submarine. This is from a now defunct company called Viking Models. It's resin, white metal, and brass components. Tim did a great job of upgrading some parts with scratch built creations. Very well done Tim!

We added books as a new topic for our meetings. Unfortunately we lost Rob who suggested this topic to the internet gods. We'll bring it back for discussion at the next meeting. Roger was familiar with the book and spoke to it briefly.

I haven't finished this next book yet. The book is called Shattered Sword and looks at the battle of Midway researched from the Japanese side. So far an excellent read... or in my case listen. As I'm doing choirs and such I listen to books on Audible.

Roger also recommended to us some good books

Battle in the Arctic Seas by Theadore Taylor. This is a story of life on an Atlantic convoy PQ-17 which was devastated by German attack. Roger describes the book as written for young people and a quick but good read.

Escape from the Deep by Alex Kershaw. This is the story of the USS Tang, SS-306, lost in action and the survival of some of her crew.

Finally Blake couldn't be with us today but sent me some links to customer decal providers. They can all be found on Facebook but at least the first three also have their own web sites. They have a library of decal sets but also do custom work. Give them a look at book mark in case you need them sometime in the future.