Considering there was a much anticipated swap meet at Colpar, we had an excellent turnout.  Thanks to everyone who came and participated on line.  My apologies to John Widmar.  I know we lost you which may have been due to my fat fingering the monitor we use and struggling to recover that.  It got so bad that every time I started to touch the volume on the monitor, everyone in the room cried out "noooo!!!!" sensing another catastrophe!  😱

Now the other bad news is that Zoom recording wasn't working.  I didn't get the usual notification that a recording had started and the option to start recording was missing.  Disappointing but hopefully I can capture everything that we discussed...

We started with with David sharing his work on the USS Chicopee which of course is in 1/700 scale.  David is working on the instructions now and the kit should be available soon.  Price is going to be in the $80 range.  More to come on this kit.  Nice work, David!

Jerry and David also talked about the other project they're working on and which we've been following.  The Cimmaron, AO-22.  Jerry showed one of the fueling masts that David designed and Jerry printed.  Trust me, it's even more impressive printed out.  

Next up Richard from Tom's Modelworks gave us an update on the two kits he's working on.  He decided to re-work some of the items to add some interior detail.  Richard is working with some of the best 3D designers to take their designs and modify them to fit his project.  For example Steve from Model Monkey will tell you that his designs are made to the actual prototype specs as opposed to fitting a particular kit.  There is a difference.  Richard is fine tuning them to fit the model so that the builder has a good experience.  Here is the observation tower 

We checked with Richard to find out how his supply of Colourcoats paints are holding out.  He's in good shape, although the modern USN colors are running low.  Richard is getting ready to put in another order and asked that if anyone wants something added to the inventory to let him know.  You can contact him through his web site.  REMEMBER THAT COLOURCOATS PAINTS ARE PURCHASED FROM THE WHITE ENSIGN MODELS WEB SITE.  

Next up Rob gave us an update on his experience with the Kraken upgrade set.  The only thing from the original Midship Models kit was the basic hull and mast.  Everything else is 3D printed resin upgrades.  Rob couldn't say enough good things about their products.  Be sure to visit the Kraken web site and check out what they're up to.  They are expanding rapidly and have excellent parts and upgrades for both 1/700 and 1/350 kits.  Bravo Zulu, Rob!

PS.  Notice that white creature in the upper left corner.

Next Rob talked about the next kit in that picture which is the USS Chicago from Corsair Armada.  Rob is really enjoying this one.  It's gone together well as you would expect from Mike at Corsair Armada.  Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

So that kit in the upper left is the USS Niagara from a company called Fairy Kikaku.  Rob was pretty kind with his description of this kit.  I've heard Australians describe these kits as "agricultural".  😎. 

Stay tuned for the further adventures of the USS Niagara.  Stay strong, Rob!

Next we looked at some new products.  A new 1/700 kit from Ostrich Hobbies is this 1/700 Flower Class Corvette.  In 1/700 scale we pretty much had the old White Ensign Models kits now sold by Atlantic Models, and a long out of production kit from HP Models.  This is a very nice and new resin kit with a nice photo etch set and decals included.  You can find it on eBay for about $31 through Global Toy at this link.

And then there was the great 1/700 Russian Tug caper!  Snowman Models has been threatening to release this kit for several years now.  They did a fine job with this kit in 1/350 scale, and if the 1/700 was even close it would be a great kit.  But so far nothing... until this came along.  It's the same subject for less money than the Snowman offering.  A little simpler than the Snowman offering.  So did Snowman defer the project to Youfeng?  Or did Youfeng rip it off?  And from whom?  It looks very similar to the wonderful tugs that David made up for me.  Did Youfeng get David's drawings?  How could that have happened!  😎. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes.  

Next up isn't exactly ship related, but it's creative.  This is a new kit from Iwata.  It's a sci-fi space ship in the shape of an Iwata airbrush!  It actually comes with a lighting kit and sells for about $65

Next on the agenda was a discussion about Lifecolor paints.  They have just released a new set of modern US Navy paint colors.  These are true water based acrylic paints.  They airbrush and brush paint really well and the colors have been accurate.  The only down side to this paint is that it is a little fragile.  It's very easy to scratch so it's a good idea to protect your finish with a clear coat.  

They make a number of other naval sets, but you can also order the individual paint colors.  You can find them at Michigan Toy Solder or Megahobby.  I've used these in the past with great success but lost track of them because they were hard to find.  Thanks to these online retails they are available.  Rob is using these paints and hopefully we'll get an update from him on some of his future projects.

Jerry told us about a new sander that he picked up from Dspiae.  This tool has an adjustable straight edge with fine degree markings.  Self adhesive attaches to the bar on the back which you can slide back and forth to get a precise angle on something you're sanding.  Jerry mentioned that you can put four different grits and flip the slider around to the grit you want.  That's a very good idea!  

Speaking of Dspiae.  Several of us have their precision circle cutter.  It's a great tool, but the down side has been that it was difficult to make small precision adjustments as the scale was on the inside of the frame.  They have changed the design so that the scale is on the top and much easier to see and make adjustments.  This is how this tool should have been designed all along.  Highly recommended!  This one sells for about $68.

They've also come up with another version they call a "stepless" circle cutter.  It sells for about $36.  Personally I would just go for this one.  It does exactly what you need it to do. 

I took a trip down memory lane to a product that John DuGene recommended to me.  This is the 1/4" sanding tool from Maus Werx that John talked about sometime back.  Often times we buy tools and they rarely if ever are used.  I picked these up and have used them regularly with great success.  They are a sponge sander disc that attaches to the end of the rod using self adhesive.  You can buy the individual grits as well.  Just work through the grits as you wish and you get excellent results in small places.  

The last new product we talked about is metal rigging wire.  This wire is made from tungsten.  It is very strong and has a natural sag to it when rigged between two points on the model.  This was previously produced by a company called Modelkasten.  But they vanished.  Now a company called Epic Hobby out of Japan has released the same material.  What Epic has done which is nice is list the different diameters on the back of the package and which scale they should be used for.  This helps with buying decisions which to use when.  You can attach this with CA glue, or my preferred method of UV resin.  

This give you a good idea of how the product looks on the model.  I'm going to play with this some more and demo at our next meeting.

Last topic is a scheduled build night.  The idea is that we start up a Zoom meeting at the work bench.  We can build and talk about what we're doing.  Just a time to hang out.  There will be no formal presentations.  Remember you can use Zoom on your smart phone or tablet which makes it more mobile.  I'm thinking we'll shoot for Tuesdays?  Maybe the 3rd Tuesday of the month?  I'll send a separate message and ask for your thoughts.  How does 7:00 PM Mountain Time (02:00 +1 Zulu) work?   

I think that about covers it.  See you in December!