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Ron Bell

IPMS/USA Member
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Everything posted by Ron Bell

  1. This all boils down to the chemistry of the paint and plastic of the subject with the variable of mold release residue thrown in for good measure. Gil's suggestion is best. If they are used for car models, post on a car specific web site for a chance at best results.
  2. Eugene, That is a pretty early release the the Essex. As the kit was released and re-released many times with several names and air wings, you could probably easily replace it with a newer release to build and sell the one you have. It might go a ways to pay for all those "extras" you have obtained.
  3. I've seen those old carrier models with all those extras done to them and they are quite striking. Good luck with your's. It's a lot of work and will take patience to complete. This is my try at the Atlantis re-release of the old Renwal kit of the USS Sangri La done OOTB. I've been told that it's all sorts of inaccurate, but it still looks pretty good and with all you're going to do to your ship, it will be even better.
  4. Recently I've been bingeing on building early injection molded ship kits. I find them enjoyable, not very fiddly as most new ship kits are and look nice enough on display. My most recent was this 1974 (according to Scalemates) HMS Prince of Wales. I think it's actually older than that myself as I seem to recall building it as a kid and that was a long time before 1974. I would guess the original kit, the King George V, came out around 1960 as that is when the movie that made that ship famous in the USA, "Sink the Bismarck", came out and it would figure that Revell might do a "tie in" it of it. Also the molding and level of detail is much more indicative of a 1960's kit than one from the mid 70's. Now, mind you, Aurora also did one released in 1958, so maybe that's what I remember. I have no real proof either way, just my conjecture based on a fuzzy memory. Anyway, as was typical of Revell, it was also released as the King George V and the Anson. It's a basic kit that is generally accurate in outline but none of the releases reflect the differences that existed amongst the class. Fit over all was what you would expect from a Revell ship kit of this era (whenever it was) with only minor problems here and there. This is done OOTB with the exception of drilling out the portholes and main gun barrels and the what I term "representative" rigging. I found the camo scheme on the internet and cannot vouch for it's accuracy nor do I care. It looks vastly different from all the other ships in my fleet so I'm happy.
  5. Wilky, I think I said that in my initial post. In addition, apparently, it was also issued in Brazil with a Brazilian name and also it had a Taiwanese release with a Chinese name.
  6. This is the old Revell Jupiter kit from the Thor/Jupiter History Makers set. It was originally released in 1958 as a separate kit and everything you see here, with the exception of the second missile, comes in the kit. The decals, however, were damaged and yellowed so I ordered a replacement set that covered both the Thor and Jupiter. Word to the wise to those of you who make replacement decals. Don't just xerox the old decals and reprint them because your will just wind up with new but yellowed decals. Adjust the color before printing. You can see tinges of yellow on the decals in the photos. I had previously obtained another Jupiter kit and while incomplete, it did have all the parts for the missile, so I did one in Army test markings and then scavenged my spare decals to cobble together markings for an USAF operational bird. This is the missile that both caused and helped end the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The US based some Jupiters in Turkey and this prompted the USSR to try to base some of it's missiles in Cuba. Through some tense moments, we offered to remove our missiles from Turkey if the USSR would remove theirs from Cuba and thus the crisis was resolved. The Jupiter was not a particularly good missile having a pretty high failure rate and only mediocre range. It was soon replace in our missile inventory by the Thor. Anyhoo, here 'tis, a 65 year old flash from the past. Oh, and the crane is leaning on the backdrop as I haven't yet figured out how to get it to stand up on its own without tipping over.
  7. Nick, not to split hairs, but mounted has many meanings. You "mount" a trophy stag's head to hang on your wall. (At least some do, not me.) You "mount" a poster on linen to preserve it. You can "mount" an effort to do something. Given possible problems, I think it would behoove the Figure Head Judge to put a definition of "mounted" in the rules to avoid potential confusion. And as to why no Vignettes category for automotive subjects, our basic categories were set up long ago and have been refined due to usage. If a category has no entries for some years, it may be dropped. Or the opposite may occur, if there are increasing numbers of entries, 1/48 scale armor is a good example, a new category may be created. I don't know the stats of this particular category, but it is possible that there have not been enough entries that would qualify as a Vignette in automotive subjects to justify such a category.
  8. In section "D, Dioramas and Vignettes" under "IV Contest and Class Specific Designations" of the IPMS National Contest Rules there is this: "Entries with a single vehicle and/or no more than five figures will be placed into the Vignette (Small Composition) categories. Entries with two or more vehicles and/or more than five figures will be placed into the Diorama (Large Composition) categories." And this: "Vignettes may also tell a story or may simply depict a ‘moment in time/location". Being that this entry is a single vehicle, has no more that five figures and is depicting a moment in time, it would seem it belongs in a Vignettes category. However, there is no Vignettes category in the Automotive categories only a Diorama one (596) which requires an entry to have more than five figures and to tell a story, so unless the judges create one as a "Split" it would go in 545 Motorcycles (civilian/racing only) All entries and the figure would not be judged. (Let's not get into that chazerai right now.) However, there are no class specific definitions for Figures in the National Contest Rules, so what is a "mount" is not defined so this entry might qualify as a mounted figure as well. This one would be up to the head Figure/Automotive Judges to figure out.
  9. I voted an hour or so ago and both officer and amendment votes went through. I used the links in the email.
  10. Keith, You are the only person I've ever encountered that had this interest. I have this book (see photos) that covers most if not all, between the war Czech A/C. No photos, but line drawings and data tables. Unfortunately for many, it's in Czechoslovakian. It's hardbound and 361 pages. If you want it, you can have it. I'll send it Priority Mail, which will cost around $10. Don't bother paying for it, unless you are at San Marino, in which case you can buy buy my a "pivo", beer in Czechoslovakian. Just PM me your address.
  11. You will never beat the "what's in it for me" argument that is current. It's found throughout society, not just in our little model club. I know why I'm a national member. I have friendships that go back almost 50 years and span several continents. I served "my time in hell" as the saying goes on the Eboard because I believed our organization had something to offer. We speak a lot of local club members, but a huge number of IPMS/National members are not affiliated with a local chapter. We are a link to their modeling community. I'm biased, I know. I understand why others don't join, I just don't agree with their reasons.
  12. Outstanding. I've done Paragon conversions and they are very basic at best and require much work just to get them to fit. And how much weight and where to keep the nose down?
  13. This was started as something to do while paint/glue dried on a much larger project, but it started to get fun and didn't turn out too badly for a 1963 kit. That's 50 years! The kit is a bit of a hash of the various marks of the aircraft, but, hey, what do I know from DXXI's. The only thing I did to this was to add a spinner as I thought the versions with a spinner looked cooler. I did have to replace the decals, however, as after 50 years they were pretty far gone. Note the price tag.
  14. Three more in progress, you say? What are those?
  15. Very nice work. It's a good model, but does need some attention. This particular variant was not used by the Brits, but rather as Lend-Lease by the Russians. The biggest single flaw in the model is that these boats did not have wooden decks, so all that deck detail Revell added was incorrect. Which doesn't detract from the good job you did on getting it together. Nice work, as usual.
  16. Just wondering. If this space is to discuss the 2024 venue change, why is it titled "2023 IPMS/USA National Convention"?
  17. This was done just for fun and wound up with just as much heartburn as any other kit. Now mind you, it dates from 1955 so you can't expect too much and they delivered..not much. Zero interior, two figures that look more like construction workers than military pilots, LOTS of rivets and raised panel lines and decal locators, immovable turrets molded into the fuselage, no nose gear well and on and on. However, and surprisingly, with a little care the fit was pretty good requiring a minimum of putty and the clear parts were quite good. I sanded off all that raised detail, but that's pretty much all I did. The NM finish is Alclad. I put a coat of DullCoat over the gloss on the control surfaces, cowlings and gear doors. That way when you apply the Alclad it has a different finish there than on the rest of the plane. Kind of breaks up the monotony. The decals were excellent and went on very easily. Now, mind you, there are many many flaws in this model most of my own making. That's why there are no close up photos. Anyway, here's a blast from the past.
  18. As written above, "A Basic Kit Build entry shall be composed of single-media only built from the contents of a kit. Only the primary material type contained in the kit may be used in the completion of the entry." I know that in the rules it says otherwise, but according to this you could not add rails/rigging from thread even if called for in the instructions. The two need to be brought in line with each other.
  19. Two things. One, in the basic kit category, it says that the model should be made out of a single media built only with what comes in the box.What if the kit comes with PE parts, such as railing? Can you not use the PE or if used is model not a "Basic Build"? also, some older kits in the instructions tell the modeler to add rigging and or railings from thread which is not included in the kit. If the modeler follows the instructions does his model not qualify as a "Basic Build"? Two. In Presentation it says "The simple dynamic movement (bow waves, wakes) of a waterline ship presented on a sea base will not be required for placement into a vignette/diorama category." I would suggest changing the phrasing. The use of 'will not be required" is awkward. Maybe just say "The evidence of simple dynamic movement (bow waves, wakes) of a waterline ship presented on a sea base will not cause a model to be moved to the vignette category."
  20. Oh, and as to the stripes, be careful on compound curves or tapers.
  21. EF Go Head tours are great. Small groups. Certified Egyptologist guides. Been on several and all were very good. This was my tour and was great. https://www.goaheadtours.com/guided-tours/egypt-the-nile
  22. And I see one of your areas of interest is ancient Egypt. I went on a tour up the Nile this spring. Giza, Luxor, Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel and more. Amazing trip to an amazing place.
  23. Microscale makes decal stripes in all sorts of colors and widths. MUCH easier than painting. https://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=STRIPES&Check
  24. I've got a bottle that has to be at least 20 years old and has not yellowed. Just down in the basement with all my other modeling supplies.
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