Demonstration

July Meeting

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Our July meeting went very well and featured a demonstration on what is needed to paint realistic figures. This consisted of a review of the Calvin Tan DVDs and included a practical demonstration and discussion of the process, as well as the paints and technique required. This was a fun and informative activity that the members found interesting and useful. As we know painting figures can be a bit tricky and as scary as rigging WW1 aircraft, but with a little planning, patience and practice its one of those skills that once mastered can really enhance our models.

Check out the Demonstrations page for a copy of the handout!

 

October Meeting Update

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Another meeting done and dusted with the format change marked down as a success. The general feel of moving from a formatted agenda to a more free moving one has proved to be the right mix and my be just what we needed. We had a general chat about this, and the consensus was that the meeting should be flexible with the option of fine tuning as we go. A few of us brought along some kits to build, we had a collection of pre loved kits that were for sale, as well as a demonstration on decanting spray paint from a rattle can into a paint pot.

The formalities were occupied with a small 15-20 segment at the beginning, with an open forum topic of ‘building for yourself or for the club’ and a ‘whats on the table’ segment in the middle, plus a wind up towards the end with the demonstration. In between the formal parts we built our kits and had general chats, with the whole format being really engaging, with plenty of time to cover what we need to as a club and to include all the more fun bits.

This was a great meeting and will no doubt form a template for future meetings.

 

Timber Finish for the Horten 229

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Last year’s release of the 1/32 Horten 229 by Zoukei-Mura created quite a stir in the modelling world. While we’ve become accustomed to their exciting releases, this kit was particularly interesting in that the subject matter was one of the mysterious late war What-Ifs that actually had a substantiated base with a captured prototype. Also of keen interest was the ability to do something special with the wooden finish.

Ho229

Uschi from Germany have released a set of wood grain decals that will also be released soon under Zoukei-Mura branding. While the art of replicating wood-grain has become somewhat of an art-form driven by the Wingnut Wings phenomenon, this is one subject that as wonderful as it looks in natural wood may not actually be all that realistic based on the research at the Smithsonian on their example of the aircraft.

The team at the Smithsonian have exhaustively been analyzing the aircrafts structure and materials working out how to preserve and restore the Horten. Interestingly it appears the wood was treated with a semi-transparent green coating. While the grain is visible, it may mean natural timber panels, while stunning to look at are not truly representative.

Here’s a link to the research done by the Smithsonian on the wooden structure:

Wood

And here are some specific panel samples

Belly Panel After Cleaning

Horten H IX V3

Horten H IX V3 Acrylic

And here’s a view on the metal coatings, it appears to be a similar colour!

Painted Metals

So perhaps as nice as the natural wood and metal finish looks, it may not be all that accurate based on how it appears they intended to produce the Horten Ho229?

You be the judge!!!