We all love to get he very best out of our kits, and with this comes the process of gathering references and all the necessary products to make your build the best it can be. I think that most modellers in general will go down this road in some form, with some going to the enth degree to get things perfect.
With some kits new or old, there can be a mine field of changes that are needed on top of the base kit. This can be to take things to the next level with additional details or simply to correct a series of omissions or errors ….eeeeek.
MENG recently released the Fokker Dr.1 Triplane which from initial reviews and the sample I have on my bench looks to be a nice little kit. However and to be fair, like many other kits this one falls a little short in some areas when it comes to this boxing.
Fellow club member Michael Turner has completed some much needed research for those interested in building this kit. Click this link to access Michael’s work on the ‘Resources’ page. The content of the guide is one persons view but I think the work done is fairly exhaustive given the references available to complete this work.
Having said that I have just started removing parts from the sprue ready for the classic Red Baron version, and after reading this guide found that I was slowly going down the wrong path. Now that I have access to the guide it will surely be a great reference for me to get the best out of this kit, which take me back to my opening statement……….
I hope that you find this as useful as I have so far, and a big thank you to Michael for taking the time to put this excellent guide together.
The good new is that the Warbirds 2021 meeting dates have been confirmed by the Ashburton Library so we are all set for our February meeting. We will be able to attend our normal venue as well as run our COVID Skype format on alternate weeks – more to follow!
2020 was a year that disrupted the modelling community in every possible way due to COVID. From the cancellation of scheduled modelling competitions to the inability of clubs to hold meetings at their various venues. Our favorite walk in model retailers were mostly closed but eventually opened with limited numbers of customers and strict 1.5 and handsan on entry. The real savior was that the online retailers were alive and well and most items were easily available. Although is some instances the supply of some stock was either reduced or just not available due to wholesalers/distributor supply issues, mostly coming from overseas.
Even though we are a modelling group we are all members of the wider community who has felt the punch of all things COVID. We were all looking in dismay as people began to hoard toilet paper which drove store shortages and how people then moved onto cleaning out staples like pasta, rice, sugar, flour etc etc. It was crazy out there, and when you did get toilet paper it was like you needed a security guard just to get it to your car. I can remember looking out of my office window to see a massive line of people lining up for CentreLink. It really made me value the fact that I had a job and it hit home that people out there were doing it tough. Masks became mandatory and more and more people were now working from home. Social distancing became the norm, and a huge amount of effort and cost was put in place to make it work – and it did! For a while my son couldn’t leave the house to earn some more driving hours, and booking a licence test was put on hold for thousands of learners. Boarders were closed and you needed permits to travel for work. Pubs were closed, restaurants were closed and many other retailers were closed so life wasn’t easy for most. Small groups began to protest about restrictions and police were fining those who were breaking the new COVID rules. Mind you all of this was in Victoria and the approach was different for all states, which made me wonder why a national unified plan wasn’t formalised.
2020 was really a crappy year but it gets better, or worse depending on how you look at it as its not really over. Victoria had gone 60 days without any new cases until we got 3 new case a day ago and Sydney is becoming the new Melbourne of a few months ago. At least now things in Victoria are looking much better than earlier in the year and we did come out of COVID and enjoyed a xmas with family and friends.
One of the positives for me during this time and for many others who I know is that my modelling time has increased with more kits being built. I have a feeling that once the comps return there will be a flood of kits, which will be a great thing of course. Our members have continued to keep in contact using Skype which really helped to break the feeling of isolation. Even though Skype has been around for years I think COVID showed us what a great tool it is especially for our more remote members. We will continue to use it or perhaps explore some of the other similar tools available.
Lets hope that 2021 is more brighter and that our Ashburton meeting schedule kicks off with out any COVID surprises. Please check out our new 2021 meeting dates.
This is no joke, we have actually been given the green light to host our meetings back at the library, this Sunday 5th July!
OMG this cannot be real after months of being separated from fellow members and being locked out of our club venue – we are finally back in business. So much has happened in the COVID modelling world. The truth is that most of us model alone, locked away in a world similar to COVID…..so what really changed anyway……life’s been normal for me!
Ok, we are back to hopefully a normal club schedule but we will have to monitor the news for any expansion to the current lock down arrangements. COVID has presented our club with an opportunity to host meetings via Skype, which has worked really well. I can see this as being something we will continue to do into the future, as a way for the more distant members to attend meetings. There will more discussion on this one coming soon.
This meeting we will be having a topical discussion on ‘Coffee Table Model Displays’ which will be interesting. We will also be gathering numbers for our next Warbuild (club build weekend) at San Remo in August. There will also be the usual show and tell.
I saw this post on FB so had to share it here, and is a much welcomed event especially since our Model Expo long weekend died (and others) due to COVID-19.
Bayonet Military Modelling Club – 20th June, 2020
Winter Swap and Sell
Details:
15 Somerset Close Werribee
Traders set up 9.00am
Open to buyers from 10.00am
No entry fee
No table fee
Small number of tables available, first in best dressed
Please call Craig Murray 0424 206 456.
Hopefully you can all get down there to support this event.
W&T was on today and was a great show with around 100 entries on the tables. The standard was as high as usual, which gave the judges a real challenge to come up with the placings. This event was supported by a number of traders who made sure we poor old modellers emptied our wallets – a terrible sight!
Once again the IPMS boys and the traders made this a great day – click here for some pics.
Our March meeting went very well and we had some great discussions on various topics. Our meeting table was impressively full included many boxing’s of newly purchased kits, a few built kits as well as some new products.
We also hosted the presentation for our BAB (Build A Bitch) and Gunna Build which was a carry over from last years efforts.
The BAB is a mini event where the builder has to complete or get very close to completing a nasty kit. It may be nasty for reasons such as:
age of kit
horrible fit of parts
terrible plastic quality
just plain ugly
difficult to construct
way out of your comfort zone
The Gunna Build is also a mini event, where the builder selects a kit from the stash that is no more than 25% complete or completely fresh. Generally its a kit that you wanted to build but never really got there, or one that you started but it ended up as a shelf queen.
The three place getter’s for the Gunna Build:
1st – Mike Dawkins
2nd – Martin Reid
3rd – Michael Turner
Winner for the Build A Bitch award – Martin Reid.
Model Expo 2020 is getting closer and so is our club display. I wont give anything away, but it will be a unique display which will invoke some thought as to why we build scale models.
warbirdsamg.com 