Model Maker is the Newsletter of the Modellers of Ballarat Inc

Club Office Bearers Patron: Lemmy

President: Gary Zimmer Vice President: Sean Haley Treasurer: Wayne Eagles Secretary: Steve Pulbrook Committee : Mark Pilbeam& Tim Mitchell Publicity Officer: Yvette Eagles Newsletter Editor: Leigh Edmonds

Address for correspondence: Modellers of Ballarat Inc, Box 1141, Ballarat Mail Centre, Bakery Hill, Victoria 3354

Editorial Address: snail mail, as above. email, [email protected]

Club Membership Fees: (1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014)

Single adult $30 Junior $15 Associate (Newsletter only, on approval from committee) $15

Annual membership fees for new financial year are due and payable from 1 July 2013 (Note: New members who join during or after April and pay full membership are members until the end of the following financial year and do not need to pay again at the end of the current financial year. Fees may be paid in instalments with the agreement of the Treasurer.)

Monthly Meetings: The first Saturday of every month except for January Doors open at 7:30pm. The meeting starts at 8.00 sharp. Location: Kohinoor Community Centre on the corner of Errard and Sebastopol Streets, Ballarat.

Disclaimer: Any views expressed in the articles in the MOB Newsletter are not to be taken to be those of the club or its members as a whole unless expressly stated. Accordingly, any concerns in regard to any articles should be addressed to the writer of the article and/or the editor who will pass them on to the relevant person.

The Modelers of Ballarat (MOB) is an incorporated association and operated under the model rules presented in the Associations Incorporation Regulations, 1998 Tis but a scratch manage to drop something, some tiny part that may I recently spent a few days incarcerated in live in the carpet indefinitely. Then sometimes I find hospital. It’s only a flesh wound, as the Black Knight it after months or years, and resume building the from Monty Python and the Holy Grail said. The model it belonged to. This couldn’t happen in usual way to kill the hours in between getting jabbed hospital, any dropped part if not recovered with sharp pieces of metal is to read a book. Three immediately would end up in the 300hp industrial problems there, I didn’t have a book, or my glasses, vacuum cleaner wielded daily by the ultra-efficient nor managed to stay awake long enough to read cleaners. anything. Assuming I was, then what about other However the biggest problem is that in some hobbies? I don’t think the staff would be too pleased circumstances the brain does not function on all if someone arrived bringing me my angle grinder and cylinders. I realized this while trying to watch QI, mig welder. . and if you don’t have your wits about you it is near Most evenings home I typically do some impossible to follow such a show. You seem to be work on one of the many in progress models that about four gags behind the plot. My observation is clutter up the place, why not do some modeling in that modelling is a hobby that requires an active hospital? The first problem would be getting one brain, and I hope the opposite is true, that by doing a from home, assuming anyone else on the planet could hobby that required thinking, dexterity and a bit of actually find anything in my house. As you know it coordination will keep what’s inside my skull from just can’t be any model, it has to be one that I have a clogging up with cobwebs for now. Use it or lose it, particular passion for at that time. One that has been as they say. on the bottom of the pile for the last five years might Anyway thank you Mark (who works there not be the one I want to do right now. Or probably anyway) and Leigh who dropped in to distract me for ever, if we want to be realistic about the situation. a while. In the event that I had a kit with me, it The Eastern Suburbs club swap meet happens wouldn’t be much good on its own. Just looking on Sunday 9 March, there’s no Gestapo and no around me I have a plethora of modelling tools, both standing in queues for the fun of it, it’s good. conventional and otherwise. I don’t think the nurses Zim would like me to have paint, thinners or turps. Of course every single time I work on a model I always The MoB are off and running for another year. The Christmas break seemed to go so fast this time, to me anyway, which is another way of saying that not much modelling got done by me during the festive season. Being a gazillion degrees doesn’t help either when one has to walk what seems to be miles balancing an airbrush, paints, kit bits and pieces all with one hand whilst trying to keep the million little black malley fly’s from invading your nostrils, eyes, ears and trying to dive down your throat.

Dennis's 1911 Fire Tender interested in doing the old original plain white tail with the stylized letter B, I have some fond memories regarding this scheme from the very early 1970’s when I lived in Cairns. That was when the place was a lovely sleepy little place to bring up kids and have fun.

The above doesn’t stop me buying new kits though but I have eased off considerably in the last Jason’s Bf109G-6 and Bf109K-4 six months compared to a year or so ago. After seeing a set of newly released decals from Hawkeye showing the markings for a 1/72 DC3 to be done as one of Bush Pilots Airways aircraft from Far North Queensland I was overcome by nostalgia and asked Prof to get me a set. The only small problem was that I didn’t have a 1/72 kit of the DC3, the Prof was also happy to help out by off loading one of his ancient ESCI kits which had been pushed to the back of his wall of doom. Have I started it... No. I’m more OK health wise with these guys. Peter tabled a very interesting book full of old photos and cuttings from bygone eras which I didn’t get to look at properly but items like these are getting far and few between, we humans seem to more than happy to consign history etc to the dustbins all too readily so it’s great to see people like Peter and others who are helping to preserve our history. I remember when working in Townsville, some plonker threw out at the Thuringowa tip a few massive boxes of old sepia plus black and white photographs taken in and around Townsville during the 1880’s and early Mark’s epic Halifax III 1900’s, there were hundreds of them, I managed to save as many as I could and then took them around to For those who are not aware of it, the Prez the Townsville Historical SocietyMuseum. I thought has had to spend some time laying on his back they were going to pass out in ecstasy when I handed annoying Hospital staff (and trying to con any of the them over. Must have been too much trouble for the nurses into a date I’ll bet) when they would let him plonker who threw them out to see if they could have out due to the fact that he ended up with a highly been more appreciated by others or more than likely infected toe. Prof visited him to cheer him up; Mark he couldn’t make a buck out of them at the time. also visited him to tell him that he wasn’t going to The model table had some nice models once croak. I decided I’d better do my bit to cheer him up so I phoned him and asked him if still had all his toes or had they amputated them? They finally let him escape about a week ago so hopefully by the time you get this newsletter El Prezidente will be back to his old self.

Rod’s little Fokker

again for members to look at, keen eyed members will notice that I didn’t table anything this time around, the first February meeting to not have something new to show. Mick’s modern armour Dennis once again tabled something out of Good to see that the show committee the ordinary, this time he wandered in with a 1911 members are on track. I’ll send the begging letters to Christie Fire Tender which had everyone’s attention; Dawn Trading and Southern Model Supplies in the I’m looking forward to the rest of the years offerings coming weeks. Sean has been busy and has already from Dennis. Jason has been busy completing his hit most of the local sponsors. Harpers Hobbies have 1/32 Bf-109G-6 latest fighter from Revell and his been absolutely brilliant in supplying raffle prizes, 1/32 Hasegawa Bf-109K4, both very stunning I’ll leave that for Sean to reveal all the details at the models. next meeting. Leigh as usual was able to fill the back wall Hopefully next meeting will see the return of of the tables with interesting subjects; this time the Maryborough sub branch as Matt, Len and Allen around he tabled an Arsenal VB-10 French fighter, a were missing from the Feb meeting, hopefully all is very nice Boeing 757-300 in Continental Airlines livery, a Hustler B-58 which has always been a nice looking aircraft from a time when aircraft looked just right, well, for jets anyway. Also tabled was a nice North American AJ-2 Savage from the USN, a Short Stirling B and a couple of rockets from the US space program which always remind me of Jeff whenever I see any space models. Mark brought along his Halifax which is still a WIP and when finished will be another stunner. Mick is still going with his modern armour theme, this time an Abrams and type 90? Rod brought along a Fokker VII, A Sea Venom, Zero, FW-190 and a WIP P-47 Razorback. Sean has finished yet another F-14 Tomcat, the latest version being the Jolly Rogers Christmas Edition. Steve has been busy again toiling awayon the latest Meng monstrosity the Char 2C, this is still a Steve’s armour collection and Zim’s pibber

drinking beer is not a good thing. Talking about my "doing something useful" Seab’s Christmas Jolly Rogers Tomcat seems to be her favourite topic of conversation. She WIP as after the wheel set up he needed medicating was "only thinking of me" and suggested I go down and a few good whiskey’s, I’m looking forward to to the senior centre and hang out with the guys. seeing this finished as in a temporary slip of sanity I I did this and when I got home last night I was considering buying one of these but unlike decided to teach her a lesson about staying out of my Steve, I got into the whisky first which restored the business. deranged thinking coming from the upstairs region. I e-mailed her and told her that I had joined a Also tabled by Steve was a trio of nice models, a parachute club. Panzer II, a Pz III and a very reworked M60A2 which She replied, "Are you nuts? You are 65 years started out as the very old Tamiya kit which was then old, and now you're going to start jumping out of given the Pulbrook re-alignment procedures so that airplanes?" it started to resemble the actual model, looks damn I told her that I even got a membership card nice too. Stu has been steadily making progress on and e-mailed a copy to her. his AM Dauntless SBD-4 which I asked if he was She immediatelytelephoned me, "Good grief, going to do the Kiwi version, I won’t repeat what his where are your glasses! This is a membership to a answer was. Zim by the looks of things has gone on Prostitute Club, not a Parachute Club." a Churchill production line, one being a Mark VI the "Oh man, I'm in trouble again; I really don't other Mk escapes me, plus a Vietnam era boat aka a know what to do... I signed up for five jumps a Pibber which is still a WIP plus week." WHERE ARE MY GLASSES? The line went quiet and her friend picked up Yesterday my daughter e-mailed me again the phone and said that she had fainted. asking why I didn't do something useful with my time. Life as a senior citizen is not getting any Like sitting around the stock and easier but sometimes it can be fun. CIAO, Wayne COMPETITION MADNESS THE MIGHTY LEMMY COMPETITIONS

We’ve gone completely mad here at MoB competitions, it’s all Master Mark’s fault. He central. For years we’ve lived very happily without thought up our new competitions and he provided the any competitions and now we have not only one, not photos for it. When it came to prizes, however, he only two, but three competitions. cried poor and left that to me, suggesting perhaps a Don’t blame me for this excess of Mach 2 kit. But we’ll come to that in a moment.

The prize for the first competition will be awarded to the MoBster who correctly identifies all three of Lemmy’s models. The winner will be the neatest, most detailed entry submitted, if you feel inclined, in rhyming couplets.

The prize for t h e s e c o n d competition will be awarded MoBster who correctly identifies the AFV against which Lemmy is lounging. Again the winner will be the neatest, most detailed entry submitted, if you feel inclined, in rhyming couplets.

Entries will close on 31 May 2014 and prizes will be awarded at the following MoB meeting.

PRIZES Another option is certificates, the interweb This is a matter for serious contemplation. seems to be full of all kinds of flash certificates you There will be two prizes, one for each competition. can put on your well. There’s also the possibility of I have this Mach 2 kit that I no longer have a need for hand crafted trophies from the Maison de Prof. and I have this box of tissues. I’m of a mind to offer Another possibility is to wander around at a swap ‘n’ them both and let the winners fight for the one that sell and pick up something in a big box that people they find most desirable. We could all stand and might also find interesting but is dirt cheap. Options, watch. Perhaps we could place bets ... options ... WORLD WAR 11 GERMAN TYPE V11C U- BOAT REVELL 1/72nd scale KIT

Historical meanderings the reborn U Boat arm, looked upon said job as a The Kriegsmarine U Boat arm at the start consolation prize. Doenitz had been a successful W.W.11, was a professional and highly trained naval submarine commander in the Mediterranean up until force with an esprite-de-corps usually only found in October 4th 1918, when he was captured after he an elite force with an impressive record? An officer attacked a heavilyprotected merchant convoy, during which his U-Boat went out of control and dived to the accepted safe maximum depth of 200 ft then past it to 300 ft where, under immense pressure two of the reserve air burst. Doenitz dropped all thought of evading the enemy, ordering all the remaining air tanks to be blown and the engines full astern. These dire moves had the U-Boat make a crash return to the

with a great understanding and belief in the offensive potential of said force also commanded it. This was of course Karl Doenitz, an ex-commander of a W.W.1. U Boat of some standing within the German surface under the guns of a British cruiser with its navy. It has been claimed that this man, who was destroyer escorts who immediately engaged the serving in the new German Navy, albeit in the submarine inflicting fatal damage. Giving the order surface fleet and rose to command the cruiser Emden, to abandon ship as all the compressed air was gone when offered the job of rebuilding and commanding and the pressure hull was holed, Doenitz was able to save all the crew except the chief engineer and six I am sure that I could have done no better however crew members. It has been claimed that the time he much I tried. After a short while I was given the spent confined in British prison camps during the submarine and I definitely could not have made it any ensuring months that he formulated his ideas of the better, probably not as well. so-called wolf-pack tactics. The backbone of the U-Boat force during the Second World War was of course the Type V11 boat. Although there were several other sub types of the Type V11, the Type V11C was I think the most prolific of them all. Now we come to the model in question. In this particular case Len and I undertook to make the 1/72nd scale REVELL U-BOAT for a friend. Len built and I painted and weathered it. OUR 1/72ND SCALE DAS BOAT. Len told me that the U-Boat went together reasonably well with very few problems. The hull’s

I spent quite some time on my reference material trying to get a mental picture of how I wanted the model to look. Submarines can very easily be over weathered and I most definitely did not want that to happen with this model. An application of a basic medium grey was applied over the entire model and I then started to spray vertical stripes of lighter and darker shades of grey. At this time I also tried to apply a patchwork of vertical striped patches of subdued rust colour as a background. Then came the use of various sized paint brushes loaded with my construction ensures that it is a rigid unit with a mix of rust coloured paint that was applied and wealth of engraved surface detail that I was sure covered and reapplied etc. This was of course a very would come to life with appropriate weathering. The hit and miss affair and I do not know how many goes only problem that gave Len any worry was a small I tried before I was satisfied with the result and I have insert located at the under side of the stern near the been told that it looked quite good. props and rudder. Len overcame this fairly easily The main thing was that our friend David was with a little filing and test fitting plus an application very happy with the result of our effort. of model putty. Having seen the area before and after Len and Matt. or Matt. and Len. The 20 year Starship Voyage

Trawling the internet recently, I noticed that of WW2. The first M60s were an attempt to increase Tamiya have re-released there M60A2 kit. It never the armour and armament of the M48 to keep pace ceases to amaze me how much mileage a company with the latest Soviet vehicles. The M48 with it’s will try to get out of a set of moulds. This kit should 90mm gun was considered adequate for the 100 gun have been put out to pasture years ago. It was first or the T-54/55 series but not the 115mm gun of the released sometime in the early seventies along with T-62. The larger enemy gun prompted the redesign of an M60A1 that has also been re-released. The the front hull to use the new fangled “Silaceous core” original release was motorized and because of this, armour. This was a type of spaced amour with a there were numerous large holes in the chassis. The silica filling (sand?) that offered greater protection road wheels were secured by vinyl caps which left against hollow charge rounds. This armour required large gaps in each wheel. The detail was adequate at flat surfaces so the former curved front of the M48 the time, but was over simplified due to the need to was changed to angled flat plates. open the hull to install batteries. Next to go was the 90mm gun. The British 105mm was installed in slightly modified form into a cast turret that was similar in shape to the M48. This turret had a slightly different rear profile as the recoil stroke for the 105 was longer than the 90mm. The new front armour meant that the improvements could not be installed as an upgrade to existing tanks so all M60s were new built. This allowed the manufacturer to install many other product improvements such as new fenders and a new commander’s cupola. At the same time Defence spending cut backs prevented the installation of the new armour as it was too expensive for a stopgap vehicle. The new hull shape was kept as even in plain Over the years, the M60A1 kit would get steel, it offered better protection over the M48. In this revamped and some but not all of the problems were form the new tank was standardized as the Tank, fixed. The kit got a new turret and roadwheels and Combat M60. It was also the first US tank to do was released as an A3 version, and later got reactive awaywith the old light, medium, heavydesignations, armour and was released as the Marine Corps A1 so was the first main battle tank in US service. RISE version. Both of these kits were released at the As a stopgap tank, it was never expected that time of the first Gulf War and the ancient origins of large quantities would be needed. The emergence of the kit were still evident. The basic kit was also the Soviet T-64 showed that the current prototypes copied by Academy, and improved upon, and in this under development would be inadequate and these form is still commonly available. The M60 A2, new tanks were cancelled. The M60 would need to however received no such upgrades and vanished be extended until a better tank could be built. This into obscurity, to be occasionally seen and ignored at prompted the first major upgrade replacing the M48 various “swap and sells”. style turret with a new larger narrow nosed casting It’s not that the M60A2 kit was overly bad, with a large bustle. This new casting offered greater but the real vehicle was, so as the real vehicle was armour protection and more room for ammo. In this quietly forgotten about, so was the kit. The kit form, the tank became the M60A1.The turret retained represented the earliest form of “A2” and was more the 105mm gun which had a maximum effective correct for the early trials vehicles which were range of around 2000 yards. Wire guided missiles designated M60A1E2 prior to standardization. had a range of about 4000 metres so plans were made Vehicle History to incorporate a combination gun/missile launcher The M60 was not a new design tank but was into the M60 tank. a stop gap, originally designed as a product The M60A1E2 incorporated a new cast low improvement of the M48 Patton Series. The M48 profile turret mounting a 152mm combination gun could trace it’s lineage directly to the M26 Pershing launcher into an unchanged hull. Any height and an interlocked breach that would not open until the air shot was done. This compressor was installed in the engine compartment in a new bulge in the casting under the rear engine doors. The new system no longer needed the bore evacuator and these were removed. Tanks with the new system could be recognised by having a slender barrel of a continuous profile from the breach to the muzzle ring. In this form, the tank was standardized as a limited procurement item as the M60A2. Despite these fixes, the A2 was still a advantage gained by the turret was wasted when an troublesome vehicle. Advances in Soviet armour enormous commander’s cupola was installed making diminished the effectiveness of the missile while the M60A2 one of the highest tanks ever in US advances in ammunition and fire control equipment service. The gun/launcher required a sophisticated improved the range of the conventional guns. The A2 fire control system so the tank included all sorts of was not seen as being worth the bother and they were new gadgets. The old coincidence range finders phased out of service being replaced by upgraded linked by gears to a mechanical range adjustment A1s. The last A2 was replaced in 1981. The turrets computer were done away with and replaced with were removed and the vehicles were converted into electronic systems. This included an analogue bridge layers and engineering vehicles. The ballistic computer and a laser range finder. The tank compressor being useful for those tasks. The turrets also had a new form of night vision equipment, the were scrapped and sometimes used as targets. thermal imager, which no longer required active illumination with infrared light. If this form the tank entered service on a limited basis and most were stationed in West Germany. New technology never works properly and the M60A1E2 was no exception. The technology was way beyond the understanding of the average “treadhead” and the tank was nicknamed the “starship”. The tank quickly gained a reputation as being over complex and unreliable. The gun/launcher was also flawed and continually had problems with ammunition. The largest problem was that the conventional ammunition had a combustible case. This led to problems as the ammo was fragile, subject to swelling due to moisture and often did not The M60 gun tanks left mainstream US fully combust leaving burning residues in the barrel service during the 90s although some remain with the after firing. To combat this last problem, the gun reserve forces. There are many foreign operators still barrel was fitted with a large bore evacuator which using variants as front line tanks more than 50 years blew air into the barrel to blow out the often still after introduction. Not too shabby for an interim burning fragments. Unfortunately, the gun was fitted vehicle. with an automatic breach which opened the The kit breachblock during the recoil stroke. The I have long had the desire to build a kit of the combination of the two would cause burning every gun tank in the M60 series. The A2 is a bit of fragments to be blown back inside the turret and this a problem as the old Tamiya kit is the only game in sometimes ignited stored ammunition and burned out town. References are also scarce as the A2 is the tank. This was such a problem that early tanks generally treated as a footnote with few pictures were only allowed to carry 1 round of conventional published in books, and the same set of line drawings ammunition with the balance being made up of is used by all sources. It has only been recently that missiles. good photos from walk arounds have been available The problem was solved by installation of a on the internet. compressor that blew air into the barrel after firing, I purchased the Tamiya kit in the early 90s. I built the kit out of box but hadn’t painted it when I This bulge also had some covers under the rear purchased Honeycutt’s Patton book. This highlighted engine doors so these were added from sheet styrene. the kits inadequacies, so I started to look for ways to The rest of the hull was built out of box with the improve the model to actually capture the A2 rather exception of the air cleaners and tracks. The A2 used than the A1E2. top loading air cleaners and these were not available Examination of the Tamiya hull showed that at the time except as part of a Verlinden resin update the lower hull was the wrong shape, having no kit. Nowadays, top loaders are more common and can compressor bulge, it was full of holes and the be sourced from the Tamiya A3, A1 Rise, and roadwheels were poor. The upper hull was over Academy A1, A3 and M48A5. simplified, had the wrong type air cleaners and also Next to go was the track. The Esci kit has link had some large gaps. The turret and cupola would and length track using hex blocks. The A2 was have to remain as there were no alternatives. A lot of generally seen using diagonal blocks. The original missing details would need to be added and what Tamiya track is the right pattern but is poor quality. details were present were fairly basic. The correct track can be sourced from a M48 or from At the time of purchase, the only other M60 aftermarket sources. In this model I used AFV club’s kit available was the Esci M60A1. This kit was quite M48 track. This is provided as individual links, held good for the time but has a mismatch of old and new together by interference fit end connectors resulting features. The hull is at least not full of holes, in a movable track. These changes took care of the although the rear end would still need to be hull. remodelled. The road wheels were of the correct pattern, but the tracks were later hex block types. The air cleaner and searchlight also were later styles. This kit became the basis for my A2 conversion. The Esci hull was also an exact fit for the Tamiya turret. Now when I mentioned conversion, this may be a little misleading as it implies that I was actually working on the kit. If fact, the Tamiya turret was tossed into the Esci box and it resided in the wall of death with occasional addition of any other left over bit that might be useful. This would continue for about 18 years, until I finally found a photo of a rear hull bulge on a bridge layer tank (converted from an A2). The Esci kit has been rehashed by both Italeri and Revell and is commonly available. Moving on to the turret, the main problem is the gun barrel. The Tamiya kit provides a barrel with a bore extractor fitted, the A2 requires a straight tube. This is probably the hardest fix of the project as to my knowledge, there are no aftermarket barrels available. The barrel at least is straight sided so it may be possible to replace with brass tube if the correct size can be found. I turned up a replacement on the lathe from aluminium rod using the kit barrel for dimensions. The kit turret is very smooth with no attempt to replicate the cast texture. Modern American castings are much more refined than wartime or Soviet castings so the texture needs to be subtle. This can be replicated by painting the surface with liquid cement and then brushing over it with a This photo showed the dimensions and shape stiff brush. of the rear hull. I replicated this bulge using left over The next thing to go was the searchlight. The Soviet reactive armour blocks as these were just the original is the right shape but poorly detailed. I right thickness. A top skin was added from sheet replaced this with one from a Tamiya M48. This type styrene and the sides were puttied up to fill any gaps. of searchlight is now available from aftermarket sources as Dragon’s recent M48 did not have one. down white glue. Next I added some tow cables to each side of the The next challenge will be to paint the model and I intended to use the 4 colour MERDC scheme as used by vehicles stationed in West Germany in the late 70s. My intention is that it should grace our tables at the next meeting but building took 20 years so why rush it.

turret. The tow cable ends came from the Esci M60 kit, as did the replacement machine gun barrel in the cupola. Most of the small details such as the antenna bases can be sourced from that kit. Others can be replicated from sheet styrene such as the sight covers and the trunnion ends on each side of the turret. The most fiddly part of the built was to add mesh to the turret basket. This requires 10 different shapes each of which needed a pattern to be made The final tally shows that the tank required 2 full from paper. The paper was gradually trimmed until it kits, the Tamiya M60A2 and Esci M60A1, 2 fitted the gap (on the inside) and then the mesh was aftermarket kits, AFV tracks and Verlinden M60 cut to size and glued into the basket. Several of the upgrade and leftovers from at least 6 other sources. pieces need some thin strips to be added to support Even though the M60A2 has been rereleased, I don’t the edges. Following that, some tissue was added to think I’ll be building another. Life’s too short. each of the gun mounts to replicate the canvas Steve covers. This tissue was glued in place with watered You Started It

“Vy do keep going on about ze vor?” Fiat engine between them. The Eso kit has some “You started it!” remarkable features, such as most of the interior, and “Vot are you talking about? Ve did not.”” link and length tracks. That is what the tiny objects “Yes you did. You invaded , didn’t you?” That of course was Basil Fawlty being as diplomatic as ever with his German hotel guests. Basil later went on to establish the Basil Fawlty School for Customer Service, and while most hobby shop staff thankfully never went near it, there have been a few I have met who obviously graduated with a first class honors. This brings us back to who did start what. There is a new maker of models from Poland. The box top has the name Wrzesien which in English means “Unpronounceable”. Hannants, where I got these kits, list them under the name “First to Fight”, as indeed Poland was. While the seeds of WW2 began two decades before, the official kick-off was 1 September 1939, For some reason the Poles are somewhat proud of this fact, considering that, well not to put too fine a point on it, they lost. This is however in contrast with Austria, who could claim the title “First to join the losing side” or Czechoslovakia, “First to roll over without fighting at all”. Once one of my fellow tenants was Slovakian, and was as thick as a pallet of roof tiles. One day he mentioned that he did national service in their army, and he was a captain. At that moment I knew how the Germans could stroll in and take over without are on the sprue, and a Humbrol can to show how firing a shot. tiny the whole model is. The TK3 was armed with a machine gun, the TKS packed a 20mm cannon, this kit builds either. Now on with First to Fight. Each FTF kit comes with an A4 size magazine booklet, it’s only use is as a painting guide, unless you can read Polish. In contrast to Eso’s rendition, FTF’s TKS is greatly

Before we get to Unpronounceable kits, let’s start with Eso. This was (is) a Polish manufacturer that so far has produced one kit, a TK3 tankette. This was a tiny little box on tracks shorter than a VW Beetle, with driver and gunner side by side with a simplified with about 12 parts. The track units are one piece each, upper and lower hull are 2 slide molded parts, and assembly took me about 20 minutes. The tricky bit is getting into the tracks and running gear to paint, but the cure for that is mud. Making an Eso TKS is fine for a collector who wants just one, but a whole regiment would see you carted off in a padded van. Besides, wargamers just want to get their TKS together as fast as possible so that they can see whether Poland wins this time.

turned out to be good aiming points for Polish gunners. The front crosses were soon covered with paint or mud, the side and rears were also toned down. Lastly is a unique kit, a C2P . C2P means Ciagnik (= tractor) 2 (ton) Polski. Ciagnik sounds like a brand of mini cigars. The C2P was based on TKS running gear but the idler was now a trailing idler, running on the ground. The only DIY needed is a piece of clear plastic for the windscreen. The canopy comes off, inside are four seats and a steering wheel. There are no decals with the C2P or the TKS either. The verdict is that this is all good stuff and I am salivating with anticipation to see what FTF release next. Hitler gambled that Britain and France would

Such a scenario is not so far fetched, as FTF not react, and after dispatching Poland prettymuch as (that’s not the same as FTW or FTA by the way) also happened, he would then be free to get stuck into the make a Panzer 1 ausf A. This is a good thing because Soviet Union. Poland was the reason why Britain and previous Panzer 1 kits have all been the Ausf B, France declared war on 3 September, although they longer with a different engine deck. The Panzer 1 of could do nothing on the German-Polish front in course only had a pair of 7.92mm machine guns, so 1939, or anything to evict the Germans afterward. it couldn’t actually do anything to an enemy Six years later the only result for Poland was to armoured vehicle, other than convince its crew it was exchange German occupation with Soviet hailing outside. The 20mm on the TKS on the other occupation. Anyway Poland lasted four weeks. hand could easily ventilate a Panzer I. The Panzer I France on the other hand had a larger army than has brass bits, the mesh exhaust covers, and decals Germany, the Maginot Line, the BEF as well, 8 for 1939, and several different turret numbers to keep months notice, and didn’t have Stalin coming over the wargamers happy. The solid white crosses were the opposite border. France lasted six weeks. in use at the start of the Polish campaign, but they Zim. EXT MEETING THE POETRY COMPETITION The next meeting of the Modellers of Ballart No entries yet. Some of you might think that will take place at 7.30 on Saturday 1 March 2014, at this is a good thing. Who knows, you might be right. the usual venue. See inside the front cover for And don’t forget the other competitions that details. we’ve announced in this issue. Even I can identify FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK the tanks, but I’ve forgotten their SdKfz numbers by There are three items held over from now. Anyhow, I don’t want the prizes. publication in this issue because we don’t have room THE SCOURGE OF THE for them. But there will be plenty of blank space in BLANK BACK PAGE that next issue is we don’t have even more on the Gone! I had to get some new PDF software back burner by the time it comes for me to put it and the result is that those annoying blank pages at together. So get to it. the back of each issue are a thing of the past. I hope. THE MOB WEBSITE If I remember get rid of them. Master Andrew has been a very busy MASTER WAYNE’S MoBster and our new website is going from strength WHACKY WORLD OF HUMOUR to strength. Not only will you find the complete back You probably noticed that Master Wayne copies of our newsletter, every one except for this snuck one of his funnies in earlier in this issue, but one, you will now find all of Master Mark’s annual this one is short and sweet so we’ll try this one as calendars and the beginnings of all the photos of well. But don’t make a habit of it Master Wayne! what had been on our display table, starting with I was walking past the mental hospital the 2008. This is a mighty effort and I hope it isn’t other day, and all the patients were shouting keeping Master Andrew away from his modelling ,'13....13....13' table too much. Go and have a look. You will find The fence was too high to see over, but I saw it at: http://modellersofballarat.wordpress.com/ a little gap in the planks and looked through to see I NEVER CLAIMED I CAN COUNT what was going on. Way back in the mists of time there used to Some b#stard poked me in the eye with a be these things called career guidance tests. One way stick. and another I ended up doing these tests twice Then theyall started shouting '14....14....14'... (perhaps they couldn’t make up their minds about AND THAT REMINDS ME what I should do, I know it took me enough time to I’ve been saving this one up for a while find out). At the end of the process I was advised waiting for an empty space that needs filling: that one of the career options I had was to become an engineer. Heaven forbid! We all know what engineers are like, don’t we? Putting that aside aside for a moment, I knew that there was something wrong with these tests because they missed the simple fact that I was already aware of, I can’t count. And so it is with the numbering of the issues of our newsletter. Master Andrew, who probably can count, has informed me that due to an error somewhere in the past, the real number for this issue should be 158, not 157 as I had expected. So, if you are wondering about what happened to issue 157, I have to tell you that I don’t know. It must exist somewhere, if only as a concept perhaps.