newsletter - association of london modellers

NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2015
October and we are just days away from Telford 2015. This month we have the results from the
“Anniversary 5” themed comp, News and what’s been happening in the Forum...
ERIC’S MONTHLY
SHOW GUIDE
NOVEMBER
7-8: Scale Model World
The world’s greatest model show
presented by IPMS (UK)
Telford International Centre, Telford,
Shropshire, TF3 4JH
We welcome back the club newsletter.
It’s been away for a short rest but is now
back. As before, copy from members
with an idea to share is more than
welcome rather than relying purely
on Martin and my sad commentaries.
The next big event for us is SMW but
the Islington show in December is
more important in terms of visibility in
London. I will try to agree dates for 2016
meetings in the next week. I’m not sure
how long the arrangement with
DECEMBER
6: London Plastic Model Show
Club Displays, Traders, Demonstrations
and competition
“Bruce Dickinson’s emergency landing”
“RAF Marine Boat and Wartime
Bombers on Display”
Next month, the Michael Beetham
Conservation Centre at RAF
Museum Cosford will be opening
its doors, allowing Museum visitors
behind the scenes access to
aircraft conservation projects and
the chance to speak with the team.
From 9-14 November visitors will
be able to get up close to all of
the current conservation projects
undertaken at Cosford. The Range
Safety Launch (RSL) 43ft boat,
number 1667 is one of the centre’s
longest running projects will also be
on Display.
Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson was
forced to make an emergency landing in
his Fokker Dr.1 replica when the aircraft
began running low on fuel. Dickinson, an
experienced pilot with over 7,000 hours
and part of the Great War Display Team,
was able to land at RAF Halton, where it
remained for several nights.
Date: 9-14 Nov 2015
Time: 10am and 1pm, each tour lasts
15 minutes
Cost: £5 per person
2015 “ANNIVERSARY 5” COMP WINNER
Borodino, Tsushima 1905 - 1/350
Simon Heathwood
for Carl’s 1/24 Hurricane build alone.
Martin has more ideas for forum-based
activities which he’ll explain to us all
tonight (I hope).
See you next month for the Group Build
shoot-out and Telford inquest.
Chris
the Institute can last so alternatives do
need to be looked at - they may hike
the price, for example, but we’d be hard
put to get anything else within budget
without a serious increase in subs..
While the newsletter’s been on its hols.,
the forum has blossomed, mainly thanks
to the appearance of Alan and Richard
and the reappearance of Carl: finding
willing participants in Martin (obviously),
Si and Sean, they have probably
doubled the post count in the last month.
If you’re not, but could be, on there then
please consider participating - worth it
Septembers competition “Anniversary 5” brought three completed projects to the table,
although not the best turn out of the year the quality was of a ususal high standard and a hard
fought battle for the top points, here are the results...
“Nimrod tours at Cosford”
The Royal Air Force Museum Cosford is
re-introducing tours on selected dates in
November. Tours on board the aircraft
proved so popular the Museum wants to
repeat the offer, offering a limited number
of tours for those who missed out.
Islington Business Design Centre, 52 Upper St,
London, N1 0QH
ALM SEPTEMBER COMPETITION
THE LAST THEMED OF THE YEAR
SECOND PLACE
Bf 190 E-4, 1/48
75th Anniversary of Battle of Britain
Harry Bone
“ARC’s Buchon to fly at Wanaka...”
“2016 - Big New ‘Tiffy’ From Airfix”
Airfix 1:24 scale Typhoon, due for release
next year. No, it’s not Groundhog Day,
it’s actually the ‘car door’ version of the
Hawker Typhoon coming our way.
The Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC)
based at Duxford will be taking their
ME109 (Buchon) to New Zealand for
the 2016 Warbirds Over Wanaka, 75th
anniversary of the Battle of Britain show.
Owner John Romain is excited about
going to Wanaka. “It has been on my
wish list for some time to bring the Me
109 out to New Zealand and perform
at the famous Warbirds Over Wanaka
airshow, it ticks a lot of boxes for me.”
THIRD PLACE
Focke-Wulf FW 190 A-8, 1/72
Operation Boden Platte 1/1/45
Ian Watt
ALSO IN THE NEWS
OCTOBER 2015
Breaking news from the Warbird scene and what’s top in the UK defence tabloids...
FORUM HOT TOPICS
October has seen some great progress in the Forum and a big thanks to everyone for taking
part, hopefully this will become a huge resource for the club. The main aim of the forum is to
bring us members together and to keep in touch outside the monthly meets, to show builds,
discuss and debate and share modelling techniques. If you haven’t been on the forum for a
while it’s worth a second look with some excellent builds under way.
So, what’s been happening...
Carl’s 1/24 Trumpeter Hurricane IIc Trop
“P- 40 Kittyhawk: Guns Armed!”
Visitors to the Warbirds Over Wanaka
International Airshow next Easter will be
treated to a display of a P-40 Kittyhawk
aircraft as she strafes the airfield with
six x .50 caliber machine guns. The
display was first performed at Warbirds
Over Wanaka by Garth Hogan in 2008.
P-40 aircraft was restored some years
earlier and the guns were later fitted
by Paul McSweeny and his team. Paul
says all they had to do was fit the guns
and connect them electrically and they
worked, all of the cockpit detail and
plumbing for them was already fitted.
“BBMF Lancaster returns to the air”
“Challenger 2 MBT to be modernized”
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro
Lancaster (nicknamed Thumper) has
returned to the air for the first time since an
in-flight fire earlier this year that grounded
the aircraft. It had been due to take
part in a number of flypasts throughout
the summer including overflights of
Buckingham Palace. Since the fire the
aircraft has undergone extensive repairs
with many parts having to be specially
made while an exhaustive check of all the
aircraft’s components has been undertaken
to ensure none were damaged in the fire.
This news is to be cheered. I’m sure
many armor enthusiasts are gonna be
disappointed but budget reality is budget
reality. A new tank is beyond the reach
of most ... but the fact that the British
Ministry of Defence is taking the task of
upgrading the Challenger seriously is
really good news.
The engineers at RAF Coningsby where
the aircraft is based deserve to be
applauded for their tireless efforts to keep
this incredible aircraft in the air.
and continuing from the ALM’s August
“Group Build”
Richard’s 1/72 Eduard MIG
Alan’s 1/72 Marauder B from Midway
“R4118 to remain in the UK”
There were fears that this Mk1 Hurricane
would be lost to the UK when it was put up
for sale but has now been purchased by
a British aviation enthusiast and software
entrepreneur, James Brown.
“F-86A Sabre flies again in Illinois”
North American F-86A Sabre 48-0178, the
only airworthy F-86A Sabre and one of the
oldest jets still flying, has returned to the
skies this week in Rockford, Illinois, with
Paul Wood at the controls. The aircraft
was previously operated in the UK by the
Golden Apple Trust and returned to the
USA earlier this year where Heritage Aero
worked to restore her to airworthiness.
“Royal Navy to build laser cannon”
The RN to build laser cannon by end
of the decade. The “directed energy
weapon” will be able to fire high energy
beams to damage and burn up targets at
the cost of only pence per shot.
James said: “R4118 is a remarkable
survivor from the Battle of Britain. When
the aircraft was put on the market, I knew it
was critical that she remained in the UK.
R4118 has been moved to its new home
at the Old Warden Aerodrome, where it
will be placed on public display within the
hangars of the Shuttleworth Collection.
The forum is for all club members and is free. It works on all computer platforms and smart
devises such as phones and tablets. The Forum can be accessed by the main ALM website
home page via the “Members Login” tab. Anybody wanting to get involved please contact me
via email and I will set up accounts for you - martin@unit53.co.uk