October Model Ship Club Meeting

Greetings all,

Thanks to everyone who was able to make our October meeting.  Here is the LINK to the recorded meeting.  

Now for a recap....

We started with a discussion of ropes err... lines and how they were laid out on decks at different times.  Roger, Gerald, and Jerry gave us some good background on when, where, and how they were laid out on deck.  We're going to have a follow up discussion on this next month.  The information has been passed to Ben at Black Cat Models who I think is interested in the information we provided.  So maybe lines are in our future!

David gave us an update on his progress with the Heller HMS Victory.  Now comes the arduous job of rigging this mighty ship!

Rob wasn't able to join us and discuss the HMS Prince of Whales Wales.  Never trust spell check!  😎

We'll get caught up on this wonderful kit from Flyhawk at the next meeting.

John Widmar discussed his latest Flyhawk kit, the HMS Ajax CL-22.  John described this as a great little kit.  

We paused to follow up on some storage containers that John really likes.  They are perfect for holding small parts.  They come with labels so you can catalog each type of part.  They also come in different sizes (32, 40, 42, 48, 56, 64).  These are actually Tic Tac mint holders!  And they all fit into a single storage container.

I showed off my new paint rack.  I have limited space to work in.  This is exactly the same as my previous rack except much deeper.  I'm able to double the capacity I had before which is cleaning up a lot of space on my desk.  It's made of solid oak.  Wood is getting very expensive!  

Next Len shared his experience with another SS Models kit.  The USS Nevada in 1/700 scale.  As you can see the 3D parts are very nice.  However they are using a cast resin hull and it looks like more than a handful to clean up with some heavy markings on the hull and an excessive casting block.  

Main turrets look pretty nice!

Very nice little Kingfishers!

The hull is cringe worthy!  Len advises that they are working on improving their hull castings.  Let's hope so!

I gave an update on my Not So Deep Resin Pour project.  Here I've added the acrylic water surface.  The white splotches are the acrylic gel in the process of gassing off.  In a few days it will all be clear.  

It's doing exactly what I wanted it to do.  If you look closely you can see the hull disappearing into the water conveying depth.  I'm going to add an additional layer of thin clear to the surface to smooth it out a little more, as well as some UV glue with some white microbaloons to convey slight white water.

Taking a look at a new kit manufacturer called Red Devil Designs.  They are doing some work with Kraken Models on some interesting 1/700 and 1/350 kit conversions and full kits.  

Here are some conversions for the Trumpeter 1/350 San Francisco kit.  

Here we have full kits of the USS Dewey DD-349 at Pearl Harbor, and the USS Aylwin DD-355 at the battle of Midway.  Look for these coming soon.  

Rob pointed out this little gem in an earlier email.  F Star Models is releasing a 1/700 Casablanca with an over the top photo etch set.  There is some amazing detail in here, but most of us agreed that much of this is fine with the original injected parts, and 3D printing would be so much more welcome.  Remember that Richard Harden from Tom's Modelworks is working with Matt from Kraken to do just that with this same subject.  

Border Models recently released a 1/35 scale Akagi deck with a B5N2 Kate to go along with it.  Takom/Snowman is releasing the same thing but in 1/72 scale.  The challenge will be to find a correct 1/72 aircraft to compliment the quality of the deck section.  Perhaps we'll see that next from Takom/Snowman

Be the first on your block to have a 1/700 scale model of the USS Gerald R Ford.  This is from a new company called Magic Factory who are getting all kinds of buzz for their 1/48 Corsairs that are now released.  While most of the industry was looking at a photo of a 1/48 Skyhawk, I saw this hiding in the back behind it.  This is a full hull kit and measure out at about 19 inches long.  Not many details known about it yet, but as we learn more we'll share it with you.

Finally Jerry brought this to my attention.  These are Russian/Soviet Union ships placards that are 3D printed.  They are in 1/350 scale from a company called Quinta Studios who is based in Russia.  They have been very successful with the best quality 3D printed cockpit panels on the market for model airplanes.  When Russia attacked Ukraine and sanctions were imposed on Russian companies, the supply of this product dried up in the west.  Quinta decided to set up a shell company in Kazakhstan to avoid sanctions and it seems to be successful as you can now buy these products again.  

Well that's it for this month.  I look forward to catching up with you all again at our build night this coming Tuesday and our next meeting in November.