Author: warbirds2014

The Vintage Aviator Museum – New Zealand 2016

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Almost every year my wife takes off to New Zealand to visit family and every now and then I go along, so I took this opportunity to add in some extra must visits to make this trip extra special.

NZ has a number of excellent military museums and aviation exhibitions, but the one I was very keen to see is based at Masterton (North Island) at the Hood Aerodrome. The fighter collection can be viewed inside the showcase Hangar of The OId Stick & Rudder Company. This museum has the largest collection of flyable replica WW1 aircraft in the world so I was very excited to get there, and to experience these aircraft up close.

I did have the luxury of a hire car and so began a 2 hr road trip with my son to finally arrive at the Hood Aerodrome. The aerodrome itself is nothing fancy but does have a number of hangers and workshops as you would expect. Upon entering the hanger you pass through the small shop where entry is only $15.00 and from there you gain access to the collection. Incidentally the moment we got there we were able to join a tour which had just started. From there a very knowledgeable guide took us around the exhibits providing background information covering not only individual aircraft, but also the technologies and impact they had on aerial warfare at the time.

I was completely in awe at what I was seeing and could only think of the wonderful WingNut Wings kits that are on offer to build one of these replicas. The camera went crazy and as much as I tried to plan my images and how I would take them I just lost all control. As a visitor you just take pics of what you see, but as a modeler you take more detail shots so my head was in two places.

The collection can be seen in flight to mark events during the year such as Remembrance Day, ANZAC Day or for general public viewing such as Wings Over Wairarapa and the Omaka Airshow held at Blenheim (South Island). Details for all these events can be found online or by clicking on the link below:

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz

Click on the image below for pics of the holy grail of WW1 aircraft. I will definitely go back, but only this time to visit the workshops to see how they build these things.

 

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Michael Tabone

Vice President

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Merry Xmas 2015

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2015 has been a year of growth and building for our club as well as establishing our meeting format, whilst enjoying the hobby that we enjoy. We have made our presence felt at several modeling events such as the Melbourne Model Expo, Bayonet Military Model Competition and the SAPMA 2015 Model Expo with great success. These events gives us an opportunity to engage with the general public and to promote our club, either in the form of general model displays or themes that showcase who we are and what we do.

As a club we put together the Galland’s Wish display featuring a collection of Spirfires built by members that were in German markings, which generated much interest. We also saw the running of the 2015 Build a Bitch where members were challenged to build a horrible kit within a time frame, which produced some interesting results.

At just about every meeting we have had something new whether it be discussions of interesting topics or live demonstrations including:

  • scribbing panel lines
  • True Metal demonstration
  • Launch of the club website
  • new product reviews and discussions
  • Slide shows
  • member completed builds and in progress builds

Our members have enjoyed very comfortable surroundings at our Ashburton location, and most of all have had the opportunity to share their interests with like minded members.

We will be back in 2016 with our first meeting on February 7th, and please see our Membership & Meetings page for a full list of meeting dates.

Have a great xmas and a very safe new year and look forward to building lots of kits.

 

Michael Tabone

Vice President

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Bayonet Model Comp 2015

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Warbirds attended the Annual Bayonet Model Comp 2015 which was recently held on 14th November on a perfect sunny day. For those who are not familiar with this event it is held at the B-24 Hanger in Werribee where there is a classic B-24 under going some pain staking restoration. This event had a number of tables dedicated to swap and sell and an additional section containing the competition tables and club display area. There were a host of categories with 1st, 2nd and third places awarded to some lucky entrants, with the real draw card being this amazing aircraft and the fact that all the tables are dotted around it. All in All it was a great day and hats off to the organisers and the lovely people to manage the site and allow this event to take place in these surroundings.

Click here for some pics of the day and hopefully you might come along to next years event.

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What We Are Up To

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Ever wondered what a typical Warbirds meeting is like and what the members get up to at the meetings, and at home on the workbench. Well here are a few pics that speak for themselves with a range of new products, builds in progress and completed kits. There is a lot of talk around what you see here as well as up coming events, interesting modelling and historical facts plus the odd demonstration to hone in your skills and to see how others craft their art.

Although we are called WarbirdsAMG we are not just focused on aircraft but models of all genres. We have a sub chapter called WarMachines which is still growing which allows members to bring along kits not related to aircraft, which we fully encourage.

We also have our Build-A-Bitch member competition which offers up some horrible kits for those daring to build them. This year saw Rod Hoystead take out the golden prize or perpetual trophy marking our first winner of this event – more on this later.

SAPMA 2015

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The Weekend of October 10/11 saw the running of the Annual South Australian Plastic Modellers Association (SAPMA) Expo. This was the first year the event was held at Immanuel College near Glenelg. It was a smooth transition, the hall itself is well lit for great model viewing and carpeted to make pleasant hours of walking around the model tables as well as the traders and club displays.

SAPMA invite modellers to put their works on display regardless of whether they wish them to be judged or not which is a great idea. This is in addition to an array of club and private displays. A large cross-section of teh modelling art was on display with something for everybody.

A few Warbirds members made the trip across the border to meet up with some of our South Australian members. The Galland’s Wish display made it safely with all 13 Spitfires present, a big thank-you to all members for making their kits available. The display was well received and as at Melbourne, some puzzled faces soon had smiles on them once the display boards were read and the intent understood.

Thank you to the SAPMA team who made us feel so welcome and congratulations on another great Expo!

Check out the pictures from the tables including an array of club displays.

November Meeting Reminder

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Please note our next meeting will be on Sunday, 1st November  12:30 – 4:00PM

Ashburton Public Library

154 High Street

Ashburton Vic 3147

Please note that this will be our last meeting of the year, so it will be a good opportunity to catch up and to enjoy more modelling fun.

Check the Membership & Meeting tab for specific details.

Model Expo 2015 Club Display

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The weekend of June 6th – 8th saw the running of the Australian Model Expo at Sandown Racecourse, Melbourne. Attendees were treated to a modeller’s paradise of over 700 competition models, traders, demonstrations and many club displays including our tribute to the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Instead of a more traditional display depicting actual aircraft, we took another perspective based on the supposed discussion between Goering and Adolf Galland about what was needed to win the battle. Galland is supposed to have asked for a squadron of Spitfires to Goering’s disgust and infuriation. If this were to have happened and the Spitfire proved successful, we presented how an array of Spitfires may have looked with their new owners. In all, 13 1/48 Spitfires based on the Tamiya kit were built by club members.

The Expo display, Galland’s Wish, went well and certainly beyond expectations. With all committed builds completed, it was a resounding success as a display to the public and model community, but more so as a team exercise for the group. Renowned profile artist Claes Sundin was commissioned to produce the profile of Galland’s Spitfire. Display signage was donated by members Chris Dowsett and Les Enniss. A special thanks to Chris and Les for their contribution and also to Gary McGrath for the photos presented. The display will make its way to the SA Expo on October 10th – 11th run by SAPMA, the South Australian Plastic Modellers Association.

Click on the image to view the gallery of Galland’s Wish.

 

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