February 2025 Ship Club Meeting

Greetings,

Thanks to everyone who attended ship club Saturday, either in person or via Zoom.   

Here's a LINK to the recording of the meeting.

Before I get started, I did hear from John Widmar.  He's been occupied and unable to join us the last few months.

The following is a recap of what we covered during our meeting....

We missed Sam's discussion about his diorama of the Light Cruiser, USS Raleigh CL-7 and USS Sunnadin ATA-197 after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Raleigh had taken a torpedo hit and some additional strikes.  She is depicted tied up to the quay with ropes and supported by the Sunnadin, along with units used to re-float ships that have sunk.  Sam's base was created using aluminum foil and resin.  Sam provided an excellent discussion which you can review in the attached video recording.

The cat's out of the bag on the new paint from Squadron.  I was sworn to secrecy about this but last week Brandon had the big review and also just did a demonstration of using the paint.  Brandon acquired Scale Colors paints from Jeff Herne who started this business several years ago.  Jeff is now working for Squadron and Brandon's wife will be making the paints in Georgia.  They are still making all their initial colors and should be complete in a week or two.  Brandon is open to expanding the color line and offerings supporting this line of pain.

A little about the paint.  This is a water based paint.  Jeff formulated this paint to be less toxic, and user friendly.  The paint is formulated to be sprayed directly from the bottle using an airbrush.  It is not formulated to be brush painted, although you can do minor touchups with it.  You can use their thinner, or a mix of water and IPA.  I can tell you I cleaned my airbrush with a formula of 50% Windex with Formula D, and 50% IPA and it cleans magnificently.  I would also say that the colors are well matched to recognized references.  

Here's a sample of their color range and some references to paints that are in progress.  Check Squadron for updates on their color range.

Speaking of paint.  Colourcoats (enamel based paint) should be back soon.  Richard advised that the new owner suffered a minor stroke, but is doing well and should be back on track soon.

I shared with the group the Dspiae chopper that I won from the Model Geeks Podcast.  That one is no longer available, but it has been replaced with this one.  Advantages of these choppers are...

• Precision angeles.
• Robust stop block
• Carbon steel cutting blades made in Germany so less likely to wobble or move when making a slice.

I shared some information about rigging wire I learned about from William Adair who is scratch building this 1/144 WWI aircraft.  

It can be bought on Amazon in a variety of sizes for much less than some hobby resellers provide.  

Rob Weilacher shared his Tug-In-A-Day project.  This tug has just a few parts.  The railings are 3D printed.  It can be bought in three different scales.  

Rob also showed us his Loose Cannon 1/700 Victory Ship.  

We showed progress on Rob's Bogue class carrier from Tamiya.  If you'll remember Rob added a photo etch flight deck that he thought really improved the quality of the build.

Another completed ship today was Rob's 1/700 Loose Cannon USS Midway.  Rob also gave this kit positive reviews.

Rob's last ship is the Loose Cannon USS Okanoga, APA 220.  Also positive reviews.  There's a lot going on with this kit!

And how about some wingy things!  Rob shared his aircraft from Tom's Modelworks.  These were older prints in gray.  Most of what Richard is doing is clear, but check with him to confirm materials.

David Angelo's HMS Victory journey continues...

David scratch built his ship's boats.

Here is David's masterpiece nearly complete.  David is working on a nice case to protect his excellent work.

Roger Schafer gave us a great talk on the British S Class Destroyer from Aoshima.  This kit included another ship which was HMS Cornwall.  

My contribution this month was the second of my 1/72 Type A "Midget" submarines from Fine Molds.  I found this one more enjoyable than the Pearl Harbor version.  I'm now working towards some bases for these two models.  More to come...

I received a kit we talked about a few months back.  This is the HMS Victory with in 1/700 scale with full interior detail.  The question is should it be built with the hull buttoned up or displayed open?  Hmmm....

New models that we've seen...

Doggy Industries will be releasing a French Navy Destroyer of the Cassard Class.  

I found a build in progress of the USS Alaska by a builder that goes by SQ Model Maker.  I've seen a lot of his work before and it's quite good.  

He's going all the way with the following...

• Trumpeter 1/700 kit of the USS Alaska
• Ship Yard Works detail upgrade set.  
• Hull bottom upgrade (found on eBay and sold by Ace Model) 
• 3D resin parts from Mini Model Studio (seems like everyone's getting into 3D ship parts!)

You can follow his work on Facebook by the same name.  Lots of good tips for working with photo etch parts!

Our friend, Oto Gerza, has done something I didn't think I would ever see.  He's releasing his passion for the type XXI U-Boat in 1/700 scale.  It consists of three pieces.  The bow section, the stern section, and a guide for joining the two sections together.  They should be available in a week or two.  I'll check to see if anyone is interested in this kit when ready.  

Starling Models is working on a new kit of HMS Venus in 1/700 scale.  This is an Emergency Class Destroyer and the second in this series.

There's a new USS Arizona on the horizon coming out of China.  This kit will likely be sold through 3D-Wild.  This manufacturer normally produces resin kits that break 90 degrees to the centerline.  However this is their first venture into injected molding.  

Trumpeter is releasing a kit of the modern French helicopter carrier, Jean Di Arc.  (Joan of Arc to you and me).  This kit seems to be following Trumpeter trend of adding more photo etch.

Eduard is expanding their naval offerings with some 3D printed detail sets in 1/350 scale.

3D Wild is also partnering with a gentleman in Brazil who's company goes by the name Blandy Maquetes Navis.

They focus on Brazilian subjects.  Their ships mostly came from the US and Great Britain.  Here are some examples of his scratch build/3D printed models...

You'll recognize this boat as a US WWII Sub Chaser.

This boat is US PC class sub chaser.  Those railings are 3D printed, although they are exploring photo etch for their kit offerings.

Here are the models that he has made so far.  Very nice and award winning models!  I sent him our virtual challenge coin.

So who is this gentleman?  Meet Rafael Purgly who is developing his line of model ship kits.  We'll be looking forward to seeing his kits come to 3D-Wild.

Finally we showcased the work of Joseph Lavendar and his amazing scratch build 1/1500 models.  This is the model of the RMS Carpathia.  It's a whopping 4 1/2 inches long!