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Ron Bell

IPMS/USA Member
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Everything posted by Ron Bell

  1. Probably in this region, time-wise. 1973.
  2. They would have refueled the a/c as soon as it landed for a quick turn around. So, unless the a/c just landed, the fuel truck would be gone by the time of the next scramble, again unless that happened almost immediately, in which case the armorers would also still be there re-loading ammo.
  3. This is from the old Airfix Refueling set. Between this model, with has the twin axel in the rear and the earlier Airfix Matador with the 5.5" gun, which has a single axel, you have all sorts of possibilities for conversions. This one, however, is pretty much OOTB. I did replace the rear doors out of sheet plastic as the kit ones would have looked out of armor plate. I also "busied up" the pumping equipment as that supplied with the kit is a little sparse. Only other additions are headlights, which the kit omits, and glazing for the windows.
  4. After I finished a major project, I was casting around for something easy to get into. Poking through my stash, I came across my Airfix Emergency set with a K2 ambulance and Austin K6 Crash Tender (firetruck). At the same time, my eye fell on a box of left over 'stuff' from my Airfix Airfield Resupply and Bedford Truck sets. I had not used the long bed in the Bedford truck set, so I checked to see if it could be mated to the Austin K6 frame and, what you know, it could. It took a little doing, like lengthening the wheel wells and some other things, but it fit nicely. I also found a short bed in the Resupply set left over, so that was bodged into an improvised trailer. It turned out a lot better than i thought it would. The first pic is what the K6 kit is supposed to build up into.
  5. How much for all the bagged kits in one lot?
  6. Yeah, lots with the applicator, but not many with the bottles.
  7. Just FYI, this apparently includes Testors liquid cement. I have found all sorts of uses for this stuff. It's hard to find in the glass bottle, even on the internet, but if you like it, look hard and stock up when you find it 'cause it's going away.
  8. The new 1/72 Airfix Gladiator is a real sweetheart of a kit. No flash and any mold seams are slight and easily dealt with. Fit is as with all new Airfix kits, precise to the point that you need to be very careful during clean up not to remove too much anywhere before checking. I did mine OOTB with the exception of using the S.B.S. rigging wire set. (#72046). It gives you a complete set of rigging all pre-made to the correct lengths. You do, however, need to pre-drill holes to receive the wires, so advanced planning is necessary. As they are made in a silver metal, I painted mine a darker metallic color before cutting them from the fret. Almost all the wires fit spot on, but a few needed a slight bit of tweaking, probably due more to my assembly technique than any error on their part. The only thing missing is the antennae. It would have been nice to get that as well, but it's either easily made or can be omitted entirely from some versions on the a/c. I did mine in the camo of the Swedish volunteer unit that flew for the Finns during their war with Russia. (P.S. Notice how I forgot to remove one of the pieces of masking from the left rear of the canopy. What a twit. Problem has since been solved.)
  9. I would refer you to the Unofficial Airfix Tribute Forum. Those guys have been doing this stuff for eons and somebody must have that info. Find it at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/airfixtributeforum/military-vehicle-refs-f67/
  10. Yes. Ertl grew out of Hubley. When I built them long ago they were under the Hubley name.
  11. Bonanf35, As per IPMS/USA By Laws, article VIII, section B. "The Executive Board will meet at least quarterly every year. It may meet more often if it is deemed necessary."
  12. Wayne was not only the head aircraft judge, he was the Chief Judge of the National Contest for years. He basically created the system we have now. I learned how to judge while he was in charge. He was a great leader and a good man. Thank you, Wayne, for all you did.
  13. I had that problem for years. Bought one of those little in-line traps, but it didn't do the job. Then bought a proper water trap and installed it as they said right on the compressor, but it didn't work either. Then someone explained it to me like this. When you compress air, it heats up and hot air can hold more water vapor than cool air, so the air takes on moisture. However, when it leaves the compressor and goes into the hose, it decompresses and cools and the water vapor condenses in the line and it either clogs the line or shoots out your airbrush in droplets ruining your paint job. If the water trap is mounted right on the compressor, the air does not have a chance to cool down, so it retains its water through the trap until it cools in the hose after the trap. The solution is to buy a longer air hose. (Get it a a place like Harbor Freight where it's cheaper). Run it from the compressor for about 10 feet, then cut it and install the water trap there. Then continue the hose on to your airbrush. You may have to buy some fittings, but those are cheap. The air will have a chance to cool and the water will condense out before the trap so it can be caught there. Result, water-free airbrushing. I did it and have not had a problem since. Just remember if you've been painting in some higher humidity that you will have to empty the trap of water when you're done.
  14. Developed late in WW I by Germany after encountering British tanks, only 20 armoured tanks were produced. It was armed with one 57mm main gun and six 7.92 MGs and needed a crew of 18! It was large, cumbersome, awkward and slow and was a less than exciting success. However, it did figure into the first tank vrs tank combat when three A7Vs encountered three British Mk IV's (one male armed with two 6 pdr. main guns and two females armed only with MGs.) during the First Battle of Villiers-Bretonneux. The two female Mk IVs were damaged and had to withdraw, but the male continued to fire on the lead A7V, eventually disabling it and forcing the crew to abandon the vehicle. The two remaining A7Vs then withdrew, leaving the 'field of battle' to the lone Mk IV. This is the Emhar kit that has been re-released. It's typical Emhar in that the detail is minimized, but what is there is nicely done. My main complaint is that the slab sides have beveled joints, so getting them to mate up without any gaps takes patience and care. The decals give you a choice of three vehicles, but all have pretty boring camouflage. Also they are a bit thick and have a large amount of carrier film around them that must be trimmed to avoid silvering over all those rivets. I found an interesting camo pattern in a photo I saw on Google and dressed it up a bit with a new name and the eyes on the front. It makes a nice addition to my WW I vehicle collection.
  15. Oh my. You have some real collectible types in there. Are you checking for any "gems" or do you just want to move merchandise as they say?
  16. This lady, Marie, can tell you. http://manager@ipmsusa.org
  17. Take them to your local copy shop. Just tell them what you want to do and they have the equipment to do it. Will cost you, of course, but you'll get accurate, clear prints.
  18. I saw a couple photos of this pairing from the Tunisian campaign and decided I wanted to do a model of it. The ESCI Valentine kit is very fiddly to get all the parts to fit correctly, but with much care, builds up nicely. I removed all the molded in handles and replace then from thin wire and this version has the length and link hard plastic tracks, which were very easy to work with, especially since I could leave off the entire top run of track as it was hidden by the sand shields. As it is towing the AT gun, I needed to add a towing bar to the rear which I made out of a truck spring suspension part. The Milicast 6 pdr. is much better than the old Airfix offering, but has a lot of flash and molding voids, like on mine the entire end of the gun barrel was just flash, so I had to "Dutchman" in a length of plastic rod. It also comes with the muzzle brake, but since the barrel just behind it was just flash, it was easy to remove. Before the 'scale police' chime in, yes I know that ostensibly the kits are in different scales, but I have found that some kits run a little larger/smaller than scale, and these two look fine together.
  19. Check with Ralph Forehand and Howie Belkin. They are two guys I know of who were around back at the beginning. As a matter of fact, I think Howie's IPMS # is in the single digits. For official IPMS business, the IPMS Office Manager, http://manager@ipmsusa.org, could probably put you in touch with them. ,
  20. Wonderful tribute. Keep them forever and think of her, as I know you will.
  21. A great example of recycling. Approx. 200 obsolete Crusader tanks were re-purposed as prime movers for the 17 pounder AT gun. Many more were intended to be built, but the mounting of the 17 pdr and "77mm" gun in self-propelled mountings made them unnecessary. It's a typical Milicast kit with lots of detail, almost to the point that I think they sometimes overreach themselves as some detail is "mushy" and there is a lot of flash and many pin holes and voids to fill. Close up photography make these pretty obvious. I had to replace the kit's headlights and guards as they were full of flash and bubbles. However, it builds up into a nice replica all the same. All the stowage came in the kit, which went a long way to concealing many of those pin holes. It's posed with a Matchbox 17pdr in the last photo to show it in its "natural environment".
  22. Welcome, Mark. I'm not sure what kind of a 'joiner' you are or where MIami Shores is, but you might find that you can increase your enjoyment of our hobby by associating in person with others of a like mind. If you go here https://calendar.ipmsusa3.org/chapter-map you might be able to find an IPMS/USA chapter near you.
  23. Welcome to our forum. It will be interesting for you, I think, as the 'styles' of modeling differ a bit between the US and the UK. Neither is better nor worse, but different. I'll leave it to you to decide. In any case, vive la difference, eh?
  24. This is a very nice resin model of this A/C. Most were sent to Russia, but after the 1917 revolution, that was stopped and the surplus shipped to France where they equipped a squadron in the BEF. It's off road mobility was lacking and the chassis was overloaded, so performance was below par and they were stricken off the lists after the war. I think some wound up in Ireland.
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