NORTH ESSEX MODELLERS

NEWSMarch 2021 Intro Apologies for the rather late issue of this newsletter, which –barring any late mishaps- should just about get out to you in time to avoid me having to re-label it as the April edition! Part of the reason for the delay has been my internet router giving up the ghost last week, which served to highlight (especially in the current pandemic) just how much the internet has become an essential feature of modern life. Anyway, enough of my excuses! Thank you to all of this month’s contributors, and do read on….

Show Biz No, don’t laugh, I’m, serious! Assuming the UK’s anti-Covid measures continue successfully and the progressive lifting of lockdown runs to schedule, we may anticipate a resumption of model shows during the summer. With that in mind, we aim to secure tables at the Billericay show on July 25. Don’t count your chickens just yet though!

New Airfix – reviewed by Mike Well folks, I am lucky enough to have obtained the long awaited Airfix Beaufort courtesy of Jadlam Racing. It's an early Mk1 bomber from 1939/40. The aircraft is one that was widely used based in the UK, Egypt and . It was also built in large numbers by the Australians. It has been poorly represented by kit manufacturers. It was designed to be produced as either a torpedo strike aircraft or light (medium in 1939) bomber. It was produced in 2 main variants: the Mk I powered by the under-developed Bristol Taurus and the MK II powered by the much more reliable Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp. Due to the effectiveness of the P/W engines in hot climates the MKII was used extensively in the Med and India until the Taurus was developed properly. The kit comes on 5 sprues of light grey plastic and one of transparencies. The first thing you notice is that some of the moulding is not very crisp-especially the U/C legs and other delicate parts. However, you do get both the original and modified flaps with the plates welded on behind the nacelles to improve handling and the under nose 'scare' gun turret - next to useless in an aircraft that hugged the waves!. There is plenty of interior detail available and other detail is up to usual Airfix standard. The parts breakdown suggests that Airfix may have other Beaufort variants in mind for later release: the bomber variant could be produced with the addition of a sprue providing bombs and a bomb bay (the bomb bay doors are included in the kit), whilst the Bristol turret for the Mk Ia (as fitted to the Blenheim) is also included, although the twin Browning guns are not provided. In addition, the engine nacelles are not moulded to the wings which means that a Mk II could be produced. Airfix missed a trick here because the engine cowlings, nacelles and U/C doors on the MkII are different and they should have moulded these parts onto a separate sprue to allow for easy forward manufacture as is done by the likes of Tamiya and Hasegawa. Some Beauforts had ASV aerials fitted so I am sure that after market parts will soon be available for these aerials and the MkII parts and those for Australian variants as well as extra interior details that can be seen through the transparencies. Oh to spend £20 on the kit and £50 on improving it! If anyone wants to know what it was like to fly the Beaufort in combat, read Torpedo Leader and Torpedo Leader on Malta by Patrick Gibbs. Also available is the Warpaint book. I aim to start building this soon so will hopefully do an update in April or May.

Bovington anybody? Dave S has been in touch over the last month, contemplating life after lockdown and what we could do for our next club outing. He reported having had his first Corona jab but seems to have caught another bug instead: building AFVs! He adds “once this virus thing has receded I would like to pay a visit to the Bovington Tank Museum down Dorset way…..I was going to have a couple of nights Bed & Breakfast to give the museum a fair go”. Could be an interesting idea, plus there could be other museums to drop in on en route. Do drop me a line if you are interested…..

And the Winner is….. Thanks to everyone who sent in their votes on the theme of the October competition. The third most popular suggestion was “South East Asia”, with “Hasegawa” as runner-up. But the clear winner was “Simply Red”, hinting that we could be in for a scarlet table-full of models come October. However, our most popular themes inevitably allow some scope for individual interpretation, and of course maybe your take on “Red” is purely political, whilst don’t be surprised if Geoff comes up with a bust of Mick Hucknall….. Whatever happens, we each have 6 months to produce out entries.

In the Workshop Plenty of modelling going on over the last month, judging by the news I have received. Do read on….

Graham In touch recently has been Graham, who confessed to not having built much since we went into lockdown, but has provided photos of his latest project. He takes u the story: “I wanted to try something a little different, - something more visually arresting, So, having read about Judas Goats, I thought I would try to build one, using an old Airfix Liberator kit. It proved quite challenging, but made my brain work. So I chose 'First Sergeant', the Judas Goat assembly ship for the 458th Bomb Group based in Horsham St Faith in Norfolk. Having removed all the armaments from the plane, and built it, I had to find a way of reproducing the paint work. No commercial help seemed to be available, so I rejected the option of freehand painting it! Instead, I decided to use decals for the spots. I made the decals using a pattern from the internet. To reproduce the right configuration I had to cut the pattern on the diagonal and then turn it to fit the plane. The other markings were also homemade decals. I am quite pleased with the finished result, - by no means perfect, but certainly unusual (I think!)”. The fruits of Graham’s diligence are shown below (left). I think Graham be proud of an unusual and very eye-catching model !

Daniel Daniel has continued his theme of Handley Page aircraft, with his latest cardboard model (above right) depicting the Hastings transport. This joins his HP collection of Victor, Halifax and Hampden.

Mark Last month Mark gave us details of his progress on the German battleship, Gneisenau, but progress is currently stalled whilst he awaits delivery of some etched brass watertight doors. So, a quiet month for Mark? Not likely! “Meanwhile I've got this offering underway (see below), Italeri's M47 Patton, which represents tremendous value for money and can be sourced for £20 or less second hand. The kit allows various versions to be built and has a plethora of parts even down to tiny handles to open various equipment lockers! More than enough to keep me busy for now”.

Kevin Not much model-making for Kevin over the last month, who adds “I’m afraid the only painting I have done this month is my hall and landing”! Jon S Most readers will recall Jon as a club regular from his days based at Colchester Garrison, prior to moving to the south-west a few years ago. However, he has stayed in touch with the club and recently provided an update on events, including a delay to his anticipated return to civilian life. As Jon relates: “In my last 2 years, I decided to use my option of a 2 year extension as I didn't fancy looking for a new job in the midst of the pandemic! Had a lot of time off last year, which was much needed as spent most of 2019 away, during which I completed the 1/16 Tamar class Lifeboat in the picture (below left), but life now back in as normal”. Jon adds that the lifeboat was built from a “multi media kit with glass fiber deck and hull, printed styrene sheets photo etch and various white metal fittings, plenty of scratch building. Intended as long term project but was completed over lockdown 1. It’s fully radio controlled with multiple functions”. Jon’s other recent builds comprise the following:  ICM 1/35 Chernobyl fire engine (bottom right): “very nice kit and a surprisingly large model”.  1/144 CVR(T) Scimitar, 6 parts in resin and white metal from the down gone PG models.  Airfix P-51 Mustang, a “back to basics” build, straight out the box, brush painted with Tamiya chrome silver !  1/76 CRARRV unknown manufacturer from eBay represents 47G of the Queens Royal hussars D Squadron on Exercise Prairie Storm 2 2019 (below right). Jon quietly notes “Commanded by myself”!

Colin F Colin has recently finished a 1940 Ford sedan delivery van, built from an AMT kit. He adds “This was a bit of an experiment for using Alclad candy colours that I have had in the stash for a few years, it was sprayed through my airbrush using Alclad bright base silver as suggested by the company. I am not very satisfied with the results and tried spraying, wet and dry sanding and respraying three times till I got a semi successful finish. The paint is very fragile and like Alclad metallic shades needs a near perfect blemish free undercoat or it will show everything through the paint, no matter how many times you cover it again. This has not put me off using the paint again as I now know what is required for a good finish and it does spray very well without thinning……and I have a bottle of candy green waiting on the shelf. The delivery van (shown below left) was sprayed with Alclad candy red over a bright silver base coat and the top was spayed with Halfords gloss back aerosol, then protected with a few coats of Halfords clear acrylic”.

Colin is now working on another vehicle, a 1/24 scale Fujimi Ferrari 246 Dino GTS (above right). “this one is going to be a kerbside build in yellow and I have another Dino coupe which will be super detailed with full engine and internals with a Studio 27 detail set in conventional red”. He also has a 1/48 scale Airfix Navy Lynx helicopter in the pipeline.

John McD “I managed to get another little Matchbox diorama off of the work bench after about ten years (below left). This is the original boxing of the Matchbox 1/76th scale Renault FT17 and Char B1 Bis. I made the tanks at least ten years ago, hand painting the FT17 with Humbrol enamels. The Char B1 bis was just left green from an old Tamiya rattle can and the base wasn't started. I repainted both tanks using a Mig Ammo paint set I won a couple of years ago. The set covers French tanks of both world wars so is pretty handy. I also used AK modelling putty for masking and it proved pretty useful.

The second model I completed this month (below right) was an old 1/72nd scale Dragon Jagdpanther. This was one of their early models where the entire hull and suspension were die-cast metal. The model had hung about for years undercoated grey until I found it again last year. The tank is painted using Mid Ammo dunkelgelb in my attempt at modulation which went a bit wrong but at least I've tried it now!”

John adds that he has a blog where more details of the models can be found: see https://buggerdefanoblog.wordpress.com/

Chris J

Hauptmann Jones’ latest efforts (below left) continue his interest in the Messerschmitt 109, this time with what he describes as “some pretty wacky night camouflage overspray!”. Chris continues: “the build itself is from Eduard's 1/48 Bf 109 G-6 Erla Weekend Edition, but I wanted to add etched details, so I borrowed the pre-coloured etched fret from Eduard's 1/48 Bf 109 G-14 Profipack. The kit was finished with Tamiya acrylics, mixed up at home to represent the Luftwaffe 74/75/76 scheme, along with plenty of XF-1 Flat Black overspray to tone down the markings. The decals came courtesy of Eduard too, who have released a couple of sheets to go alongside their 'Wilde Sau' dual boxing of the '109 G- 5/6”.

Bob R I always tend to find that the further into it that you get into building a model, the more progress seems to slow down. So it is with my EKW C-3605 (above right), with a lot of time spent over the last month on fiddly jobs on the aircraft’s underside. However, at least it has now acquired its undercarriage and the fuel tanks are secured in place, as shown in the photo. With luck I might have photos of the finished article next month.

Tony As can be seen from the photos overpage, Tony has recently completed a “Battle for Berlin” Diorama, made up of various kits shown in the right hand photo. Tony takes up the story: “the Dragon T-34/85 “premium edition” is a good kit with etch parts for the bedspring armour and includes a metal barrel. The only thing that really lets it down is their “Magic Tracks” so I managed to get a set of the Friulmodel metal tracks which made a difference to the finished model. I used the Tamiya set of Russian Assault Infantry figures, which are not as good as resin figures but you do get 12 of them in different poses and they are not expensive. The Diorama base and buildings are from Miniart……I did not realise how much work would be involved to put together the buildings! they are made with very thin plastic and are split in half; the front of the buildings need to be joined to the rear parts of the buildings. Also the instructions are not very clear and virtually all the parts on the sprues had a lot of flash’ on them. I was very surprised as I expected a lot more finesse from this Miniart kit, but the details on the parts are very good.

Bob Rowles 01206-395566 https://northessexmodellers.wordpress.com/.

Bob’s Browser March 2021 Author [email protected]

This document is not intended to replace, or replicate the contents, of any referenced publication. It is intended to highlight information contained in the referenced publications, which may be of interest to Club members whom are recipients of this “Browser”.Airfix Model World is published by, Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 300, Stamford, , PE9 1NA, UK, from whom copies of available Back issues can be obtained, as well as future issues. Tamiya Model Magazine is published by Doolittle Media Ltd.

Notes Based on AMW March & April 2021 AMW have launched a new website, combining Print and Digital content, See www.keymodelworld.com

For those whom aren’t aware. Due to postage delays for Subscribers to AMW, You can now access the Digital version, FREE, at date of issue. You will still receive your hard copy. As a result of postage delays, the editor has found difficulty in maintaining output in real time with current issues. However as we now have access to digital versions from date of publication, hopefully, this problem will be resolved,and we can expand back to the original “Browser” content. BUILDS.. within the magazines are defined in the “contents” images.

Airfix ModelWorld March 2021 Contents

As mentioned in the last blog the Dual build by CJ of Eduard’s 1/48 Dual combo SpitfirePackage, and a Test shot review of the Airfix 1/72nd Avro Vulcan were highlighted for the AMW March issue. The pics on the left are a snapshot of Chris’s dual build article in which he highlights the excellent standard of these kits. The article also points out detailed differences between marks, comments on build steps, and, even visits the debate around rivets.

Never have understood this debate, apart from the fact if you are looking at a Spitfire at a range of say 100 yards, you can’t see the rivets, so adjust for scale or taste. At least that’s my amateur view. -

A brilliant article on all counts.

A further article is the test shot review of the New Airfix 1/72 Avro Vulcan by Andy Davies. One of my favourite aircraft of all time. I distinctly remember working on the Tower to Pad comms, at RAF Honington, underneath an armed Vulcan,, in Cold War days. Try finding the Flight records for those aircraft !

For Auto fans an article on Carbon Fibre decal upgrade to Revell’s Corvette C5-R .

The Titanic features in an article of the Trumpeter model and the announcement of aftermarket upgrades. Airfix ModelWorld April 2021 Contents:

The highlight, to me, of AMW April 2021 is the “Exclusive Build” article, of Airfix’s 1/48 Canadair Sabre F.4, by Alan Price. Used by the RAF in the early Cold War Period, 1954-56. The early build review is accompanied by an article portraying “The story of this 1950s Warplane”, by Malcolm V Lowe.

LATEST UPDATES. Not specifically Model updates, but based on a chance meeting with Andrew, as I cycled through Langham, he mentioned the Essex Modeller’s show. This is highlighted in the IPMS Issue 1, 2021 mag. Date is 25th July 2021.Contact for Clubs is Jim Smith 07422 942228. email [email protected]. IPMS also publishes proposed dates for SCALE MODEL WORLD 2021, as NOV 2021 13>14th. With Nov22, at 12th>13th NOTE THESE DATES ARE ALL SUBJECT TO COVID ALLOWANCES>

BACK TO BASICS. This is an ongoing sequence of basic guides to areas of modelling practice. The AMW March 2021 issue, continues Jay Blakemore’s series, Airbrushing Basic techniques, with an overview of compressors and their usage. The April issue continues Jay’s series, by examining the operational features of compressor units.

The following sections will be resumed in the next blog edition. At least that’s the aim -  PUBLICATIONS. ON THE SHELF. (Kit Releases). PREVIEWS.

Modelling/Monthly review AMW_March/April 2021.doc