Jul - Northern Virginia IPMS

www.novaipms.org
July 2014 Newsletter
Editor: Tom Henderson
The IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers monthly meeting took place on 18 June 2014 at Fairfax High School. Fifty
members attended the meeting, with 20 models entered into the contest.
A highlight of the business meeting was a report on the chapter’s participation in the Smithsonian’s annual
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Become a Pilot Family Day. For those who have not yet visited the museum on
Become a Pilot Family Day, the event is full of aviation fun and education for the family. Event tables such as
ours were scattered around the whole museum. The event tables ranged from model clubs to special stations
designed to teach children about aviation. Outside in perfect weather, the ramp was full of general aviation
aircraft and a couple of warbirds with several antique and modern racy cars parked between them. The pilots
were there to talk about their aircraft and flying, as were the owners of those fantastic cars. Back inside, we
were at our usual location in the hall between the museum center where the SR-71 sits and the space hanger.
The chapter display was excellent. We had six tables which we filled with a large number of well built models.
Chapter members who brought models could not have planned it better if they tried. We had subjects from
WWI to today. We placed a stack of chapter flyers on one of the tables, and spent the day talking to passers by
from all walks of life about the hobby and about IPMS. There is a picture collage on pages 5 and 6 of this issue.
I did not think to count the models but there were a lot. Many thanks to the following members who
participated: Tim Barb, Mike and Carol Fleckenstein, Merry Robert, Jim Fitzgibbon, Aris Pappas, Mark Tuttle
and Jim Rotramel.
Speaking of Jim Rotramel, he delivered the program at the June meeting. As one of the planners for operation
El Dorado Canyon, which was the punitive raid against Libya in April 1986, Jim walked us through the now
legendary mission from take-off to landing.
Jim Rotramel delivering his excellent presentation on Operation El Dorado Canyon, the 1986
punitive raid against Libya in response to its active involvement in terrorist activities.
Following Jim’s presentation, the meeting wrapped up with Walter Schlueter announcing the winners of
the evening’s contest, after which Mike Poreda ran the raffle drawing.
Remember, if you plan to attend the national convention and would like to bring some models to
populate our IPMS NoVA chapter display, please let Tom Henderson know.
The next meeting was on Wednesday, 2 July 2014. It was one of those rare months when Fairfax High
School scheduled us for the third Wednesday. That did not give me enough time to crank out the July
issue in time for the meeting. The August issue, which will document the July meeting , will be out as
soon as I can get it to you.
We are always in need of program ideas and
volunteers to give presentations.
See any club officer for details
June Contest Winners
1/72 & Smaller Aircraft, 2nd Place
Emily Patrol Plane by Dennis Forrest
1/72 & Smaller Aircraft, 1st Place
F-86 by Nhan Do
1/48 Aircraft, 1st Place
A-1 Skyraider by Scott Bricker
1/48 Armor 1st Place
Char B1 bis by Gary Drovbay
Sci-fi 2nd Place
TIE Interceptor by Anthony Alvarado
Sci-fi 1st Place
USS Enterprise NCC 1701 by Mark Wilson
Ships, 1st Place
Liberty Ship by Anthony Alvarado
Figures, 2nd Place
Dark Eldar by Andrew Do
Figures, 1st Place
Zoids Geno Saurer by Kane Lee
Master, 2nd Place
Jagdpanther Zerstorer by Marcin Slusarz
Master, 1st Place
Bf-109G-2 by Mike Larson
Special, 2nd Place
USS Enterprise NCC 1701E by Walter
Schlueter
Special, 1st Place
Red October by Tom Dunbar
Out of the Box
Liberty Ship by Anthony Alvarado
See more images from
the June meeting on our
website
www.novaipms.org
Best of Show
Cromwell Mk. IV by Neal Gause
IPMS NoVA Participation in the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy
Center Become a Pilot Family Day
14 June 2014
IPMS NoVA Participation in the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy
Center Become a Pilot Family Day
14 June 2014
Kit Build: ARII 1/48 P-40 Warhawk
“Pins and Needles”: Improving the Arii 1:48 P-40E
Landing Gear and Spinner
Text and Photos By Rafe Morrissey
Overview: The kit review noted that the kit landing gear and wheels leave a lot to
be desired. In addition, the spinner, while nice in shape, lacks a prominent panel
line. Fortunately, both of these issues are fairly simple to fix.
The Problem: According to Matt Swan’s nice build article
(http://www.swannysmodels.com/P40E.html ), the kit main landing gear struts are
2.5mm too long. This affects the “sit” of the completed model. With regard to the
spinner, on the real thing the spinner was divided into two sections, front and rear,
by a panel line that is absent on the kit part.
The Solution: I followed the recommendation to shorten the struts by removing the
existing position guide with a sprue cutter and sand paper. I then created a new
position guide with a strip of Tamiya tape 2.5mm further down the strut. The photo
should make this clear and in essence, the modification allows the strut to be
inserted 2.55 millimeters further into the wing. This is much easier than trying to cut
and shorten the oleo strut and torque link and makes for a simple, elegant fix. I also
added brake lines with solder and substituted a True Details wheel for a much
improved appearance. The replacement wheels are really nice although my sample
contained pin holes that were annoying to fill.
Adding the panel line around the spinner poses a different challenge- scribing a
straight line on a complex curve. I am no scribing genius and this is difficult for
even the most accomplished modelers. Fortunately, again a simple solution is
available. I made a temporary jig by taping together a number of business cards
onto which I taped my scribing tool. The height of the stack as set to put the tip of
the scriber at the correct spot on the spinner. Then resting the spinner and the
scriber on a glass surface, I simply rotated the spinner against the tip and, voila, a
perfect line formed! Regrettably, this doesn’t help scribing the lines around a
Wildcat fuselage, but that is another challenge for another day.
Conclusion: Hopefully, these easy techniques will help you with your P-40 or
another project. The model is now painted and decaled and I will be back with a
wrap up as soon as the weathering and final assembly is done.
Editors’s note: Rafe recently sent me the final installment of his P-40 build. Due to
its size I may need to spread it over the August and September issues, so be sure to
tune in next month as we get closer to the finish line.
July Meeting Program and Contest Theme
Program: John Holman - Photographic Tour of the Musée des Blindés : Saumur,
France
Contest: Sand and Stone - any desert conflict, any time frame
Visit the club website at www.novaipms.org and join the club Yahoo
group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/novaipms
Both locations will allow you to access the monthly Contest/Program Schedule
as well as information about IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers.
IPMS Northern Virginia
Chapter Officers
President:
Tim Barb
Vice President
Mike Fleckenstein
Treasurer:
Mike Neyland
Secretary/Historian:
Mike Larson
Join IPMS/USA: www.ipmsusa.org
Chapter Volunteers
Contest:
Walter Schlueter
Webmaster:
Sunil Gupta
Chapter Contact:
Tom Henderson
tomhenderson51@verizon.net
Raffle Coordinator:
Mike Poreda
Make & Take Coordinator:
John Figueroa
Upcoming Events in our area
August 6-9, 2014
50th Anniversary 2014 IPMS USA National Convention,
Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, VA
September 13, 2014
53rd Annual National Capitol Model Soldiers Society
Show
Thomas Edison High School,
5801 Franconia Rd.,
Alexandria, VA 22310
September 20, 2014
IPMS Central Pennsylvania
PENNCON 2014 Model Show and Contest
US Army Heritage Center
Carlisle, PA
November 15, 2014
IPMS Washington, DC & IPMS Baltimore, MD
Maraudercon 2014
Hilton Garden Inn at White Marsh
5015 Campbell Boulevard Map
IPMS DC and IPMS Baltimore
Gary Michel 301-922-5308
April 25, 2015
Northern Virginia Modelers Model Classic 2015
Fairfax High School, Fairfax, VA