December Ship Club Meeting

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our meeting Saturday.  Our meeting location is in Denver and the city is back to masks.  I appreciate everyone respecting our host by wearing masks.  I know we're all ready to be over it.  I did get a big thumbs up from the store manager when he came downstairs.  

Here's the LINK to the meeting recording.  

Okay, let's get into it.  

I'm starting with a build I forgot to include in our slides.  My apologies to Gerald for this mistake.  First up is the White Ensign Models resin kit of the HMS Gorleston (ex USCGC Itasca).  

Gerald's next kit is the Flyhawk HMS Lance, L Class Destroyer.  Gerald found the tiny bits and pieces in this kit challenging.  Well done Gerald.

During the meeting we started off with a recap of our modeling night.  Attending were myself (David Waples), Roger Schafer, and David Angelo.  We had some good conversations while we were working on our respective projects.  If you would like to participate and have some questions on how to do it, let me know and I'll share some ideas with you.  The next meeting night is Tuesday, December 21st.  We'll continue to try Tuesday's for a few more months and see how it goes.  

Tool Time!  Jerry found an interesting scriber that could prove to be helpful.  The price of this scriber is $10 plus shipping.  The scriber itself is adjusted using a hex screw and Allen wrench.  Jerry has volunteered to put in a joint order for the club.  If you're out of town we can ship it to you, but check with Jerry first to make sure it makes more sense to ship direct.  

Jerry also shared with us Infini sanders.  These are some of the best sanders available for our hobby.  

Here's a LINK to a video done by Will Pattison comparing Infini to some other sanders.  

The next item Jerry shared with us is a fly fishing product.  It's micro tubing that works well in our hobby.  It's hollow and if you slide some brass wire into it you can mold it any way you want.  It comes in a number of different sizes.  

You can buy this from AVIDMAX at 7399 S Tucson Way Suite A3, Centennial, CO 80112.

David & Jerry shared progress on the Loose Canon, 1/700 USS Cimarron.  Jerry received the molds from David and will be casting hulls soon.           

Jerry also has the photo etch which he shared at the meeting...

Jerry explained that they will have a table at the IPMS Nationals in Omaha this summer and would like to have a built copy of the kit to show to people interested in this model.  

David also shared some progress pictures of his USS Housatonic oiler.  Here you can see David's handy work on the catwalk.

I provided an update on my new method of making water bases.  This is taken from Studio Blue Ocean's method During the meeting I talked through the process and materials I used.  The base is made from 2' x 2' construction foam which you can buy at Lowes which you can see at this LINK.  These small panels are very useful for our hobby.  

The material used to make the surface is called Magic-Sculpt which is a two part water based epoxy sculpting material.  This is the expensive part of this process.  16 oz cost about $25 to $30.  Watch the video to see how to use this product.  There is another similar product called Apoxie Sculpt from Aves that performs just as well.  To give some perspective, 16 oz of this material might make a base for a 1/350 destroyer, or two in 1/700 scale.  You can also buy in larger quantities that helps to reduce the cost a little.  I hope to have a completed sample by next meeting.  

On to new releases.  I was very excited to show off this new kit by Carl Musselman.  This is the USS Los Alamos AFDB-7.  This is a kit that Carl started on quite a few years ago.  Fortunately he has finally completed it and I had to have it!  The Los Alamos was a forward operating base located in Scotland for the purpose of servicing the US Submarine fleet.  Carl sells his kits on eBay and the first six he released have sold out.  He is in the process of making 20 more kits.  The kit sells for $105 (shipping included) and includes resin, photo etch, and decals.  

This kit is designed to work with the below to kits from OKB Grigorov.  The Lafayette is no longer available from the manufacturer.  The Franklin still is available.  

Carl has also made a less expensive waterline version of the kit.  This includes a Lafayette class waterline submarine.  There are still some of these available on eBay and they sell for $70 (shipping included).  

Both of these kits are great opportunities for a 1/700 scale diorama of this unique naval base.  

The TAKOM/Snowman team continues to push new ship subjects.  This one is a triple threat.  It includes the SMS Derfflinger, SMS Luetzow, a true to scale 1/700 Zeppelin Q Class (based on their 1/350 release), photo etch and turned brass parts, and if that wasn't enough, a 1/35 scale Von Hipper figure.  This has not released yet and I'm not seeing any pricing yet.  

If you thought that was off the charts, check this one out.  Pontos has released their first complete model kit.  The Yamato in 1/700 scale and includes all the bells and whistles.  Wood deck, photo etch off the charts, turned brass, decals, and 3D printed parts.  Only $150 at Freetime Hobbies.

 

An example of one of the photo etch sheets.  Everyone in the room cringed when they saw this one.

Overall look at parts with this kit.  

Maybe a little more tame... but not much.  Ostrich Hobbies goes 3D with supplemental printed parts for their 1941 HMS Aurora in 1/700 scale.  Some nice details with directors, superstructure, guns, boats, etc.  $99 at Freetime Hobbies.

A new decal manufacturer north of the border.  CanMilAir decals is a Canadian based decal printer specializing in Canadian subjects.  Here is an example of their Flower Class Corvette set.  They offer markings for 8 different boats in 1/72, 1/144, and 1/350 scales.  Sorry, no 1/700 scale available.  I ordered a 1/144 set and will share that at our next meeting.  They also do decals for aircraft and other Cadian subjects.

Sam was disappointed in the Naval History December publication as well as some other articles recently published by the Naval Institute Press.  Of special note is a sailor apparently wearing a Green Bay Packers shirt, and another sailor talking on a cell phone.  Sam did say that there are some decent articles though.

I ended with a recommended reading.  Facing The Mountain, by Daniel James Brown.  This is the story of Americans of Japanese decent who were relocated into camps during WWII, and the young men and women who enlisted in the military and fought incredibly for their country.  I learned a great deal reading this book and I highly recommend it.