IPMS August 2001
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PREZNOTES Accuracy: How Much Do decals, and instructions. Such reviews then You Really Care? leave it up to the modeler themselves to get out their micrometers, scale drawings, calipers etc., and spend time pouring over At a chapter meeting last year, one of the reference photographs to check each and members mentioned that a grand prize every part of the kit for “scale accuracy” winning model at the then recently and to see if all the details are there in the concluded IPMS USA National Conven- first place, and if so, depicting things tion lacked a good deal of “accuracy”. accurately. Such thorough research The member asked “how” this could requires the modeler to have all the happen? Surely if it wasn’t accurate, it reference material to hand. And of great shouldn’t have won one of the top importance: for the reference material itself awards? Since then I have devoted some to be accurate. Can the modeler have total small amount of time thinking about the confidence that the 1/32nd scale plans they subject, and the topic was recently are looking at to determine the accuracy of brought back before me, front and center, an Fw 190D-9 kit are accurately drawn? And when I read an online comment posted on what about even a photo? If you have a one of my favorite armor modeling sites. photo of those Panther Ausf D wheels and The comment was that a WW2 German they show only 16 bolts on the circumfer- Panther Ausf D tank kit released by one of ence of the road wheels, and your model the premiere model firms was has 32 bolts, is your model “wrong” or was “unbuildable” because of accuracy the vehicle it is depicting just manufactured issues. Egads, I thought, what inexcusable at a later date, when the Germans upped the sins had this firm committed to bring such number to 32? Time for more research? Or a damning indictment against its latest just time to move on? release? What if the kit has the details in place, but Turns out that Panther Ausf D’s have they aren’t detailed as well as they “could either 16 or 32 bolts on the outer rim of be”? Is that an accuracy error, or simply a their road wheels (depending on manufac- firm trying to give you a kit at a more Seattle Chapter News ture date), and an additional eight bolts affordable price? Each bit of extra detail more towards the center of the wheel. On the real McCoy, the outer bolts are somewhat smaller in size than the inner continued on page 14 bolts. HORROR of HORRORS, the kit manufacturer made the bolts THE SAME SIZE. Thus the kit, in one reviewer’s In This Issue estimation, was “unbuildable”. (Author’s note: I have built the kit, thus proving Jim Schubert Still With Us 3 beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is Airfix Supermarine Walrus 4 perfectly buildable.) The question really Academy USMC F-4J 7 is: how important is the odd error or Academy Stug IV 8 omission in a kit to you? The Japanese Destroyer Shimakaze 10 Many modelers build their kits straight out of the box. They do read a review if NABBROKE Incident at Our they can find one, but since many Spring Contest-and-Show 12 reviewers these days simply provide “in 2020 Modelfy Kit 13 box” reviews, many of these reviews don’t IPMS Seattle Election 13 Seattle Chapter IPMS/USA delve too deeply into accuracy issues. Photo of the Month 13 June 2019 They tell you what’s in the box, literally, and post a bunch of photos of the sprues, IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 2 SEATTLE CHAPTER CONTACTS President: Vice President: Treasurer: Show Chair: Andrew Birkbeck Eric Christianson Twyla Birkbeck David Dodge P.O. Box 15983 18215 NE 95th Way #103 P.O. Box 15983 Ph: 425-825-8529 Seattle, WA 98115 Redmond, WA 98052 Seattle, WA 98115 [email protected] Ph: 206-276-3113 Ph: 425-591-7385 Ph: 206-276-3855 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] IPMS Seattle Web Site (Web Co-Ordinator, John Kaylor): http://www.ipms-seattle.org Public Disclaimers, Information, and Appeals for Help This is the official publication of the Seattle Chapter, IPMS-USA. As such, it serves as the voice for our Chapter, and depends largely upon the generous contributions of our members for articles, comments, club news, and anything else involving plastic scale modeling and associated subjects. Our meetings are generally held on the second Saturday of each month, (see below for actual meeting dates), at the North Bellevue Community/Senior Center, 4063-148th Ave NE, in Bellevue. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, except as noted, and usually last for two to three hours. Our meetings are very informal, and are open to any interested modeler, regardless of interests. Modelers are encouraged to bring their models to the meetings. Subscriptions to the newsletter are included with the Chapter dues. Dues are $15 per annum, and may be paid to Twyla Birkbeck, our Treasurer. (See address above). We also highly recommend our members join and support IPMS-USA, the national organization. See below for form. Any of the members listed above will gladly assist you with further information about the Chapter or Society. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual writers, and do not constitute the official position of the Chapter or IPMS-USA. You are encouraged to submit any material for this newsletter to the editor. He will gladly work with you and see that your material is put into print and included in the newsletter, no matter your level of writing experience or computer expertise. The newsletter is currently being edited using a PC, and PageMaker 6.5. Any Word, WordPerfect, or text document for the PC would be suitable for publication. Please do not embed photos or graphics in the text file. Photos and graphics should be submitted as single, separate files. Articles can also be submitted via e-mail, to the editor’s address above. Deadline for submission of articles is generally twelve days prior to the next meeting - earlier would be appreciated! Please call me at 425-885-3671 if you have any questions. If you use or reprint the material contained in the newsletter, we would appreciate attribution both to the author and the source document. Our newsletter is prepared with one thing in mind; this is information for our members, and all fellow modelers, and is prepared and printed in the newsletter in order to expand the skills and knowledge of those fellow modelers. Upcoming Meeting Dates The IPMS Seattle 2019 meeting schedule is as follows. All meetings are from 10 AM to 1 PM, except as indicated. To avoid conflicts with other groups using our meeting facility, we must NOT be in the building before our scheduled start times, and MUST be finished and have the room restored to its proper layout by our scheduled finish time. We suggest that you keep this information in a readily accessable place. June 8 July 6 (first Saturday) August 10 September 14 Newsletter Editor: Robert Allen 7919 133rd Ave. NE Redmond, WA, 98052 425-885-3671 [email protected] IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter Page 3 Jim Schubert Still With Us by Scott Kruize I remember a few years back, when Jim Schubert had to handle the modeling stuff left over after one of our modeling colleagues died. Jim addressed us at a meeting with his counter-curse or negative blessing, however you want to describe it: “None of you are allowed to die!” Of course we've lost members since then, and can hardly do a Controlled Experiment to see what our collective mortality would have been without Jim's blessing. But the important thing was his concern for the rest of us, a concern we share with each other, all the time, especially now that Jim has left our physical presence. That's not to say he's gone. Just as we remember, and try to emulate, Ted Holowchuk's insistence on putting the best possible finishes on our models...or carrying on Stephen Tontoni's modeling philosophy, encompassed by his statements “With each new build, we should stretch ourselves and try something new” and “No model is perfect; some models have fewer flaws than others”. We will always retain lessons from Jim: that we should research the details of construction and history of our modeling subjects, even if the rest of us can't construct edifices as imposing, comprehensive, and as well-organized as the Jim Schubert Library. We'll remember that even if content to build a model OOB, it should nevertheless be with the understanding that we should know how a kit can be improved in its contours, dimensions, and details. We will retain Jim's urging to model 'Wings of Peace' subjects, at least sometimes, and not always wallow in destructive military machinery. And we can never free ourselves from wanting to look on all miniature subjects – even toys and Christmas tree ornaments – as worthy of our attentions to make them as good as they can be. There will never come a day that we won't want to take each prop plane model, as it's completed, and be gratified if a brief puff of air on the propeller makes it spin. If it does, we feel the satisfaction of 'channeling' Jim Schubert.