Ron Bell

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.

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."

Oh, and as to the stripes, be careful on compound curves or tapers.

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

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.

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

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.

I might suggest that before we spend all the effort and money to run a survey which past history would suggest will produce a very meager return, how about running a straw poll at the national? Get the host to provide a table, make a few signs and prepare a VERY short survey, like one or two questions. You don't even need to have survey forms. Just a clip board and a pencil to record yeses and no's and IPMS numbers to avoid repeat or nonmember voting. Now I know the results will be skewed as those that attend the national are not completely representative of the membership as a whole, but if that group indicates decidedly in one way or the other on the question, it could indicate whether proceeding with a more general survey would be productive or not. For example, if, say, 70% say no I w/couldn't attend a convention other than in the summer, it probably would not be worth asking the entire membership. However, if the majority saying no was only, say, 55% or less, then maybe it would be worth asking everyone else. In my own opinion. I have very low regard for membership-wide surveys for a variety of reasons that I won't go into now, but if a group wants to try it, like the GSB survey that was run, more power to them.

Keep one thing in mind. Our convention in it present format is not suffering. Attendance and model entries are at all time highs. Let's work to plan for the future but lets not waste time "fixing" stuff that isn't "broken" about it.

At the nationals I see middle aged and younger guys, jut the ones we want to get into the hobby. To make it less accessible to them would seem counter productive. Don't forget a lot of those grey hairs we see at the shows have kids in college and they are just as involved with that as they were secondary school stuff. And grandparents now-a-days have the same complaint as to school as so many of them are very involved with their grandkids care, school and activities. I know from my 14 years as Second VP and working with the cons that one of the most common concerns/complaint was the start of the school year.

Ed, The usual reply to holding the national convention in months other than the summer is that many people either cannot get off work other than in the summer or have children in school and they can't get away. The complaints when the convention is held "too late" in August due to the start of schools is a constant reminder of this. As to bringing in a professional company to run it, we could do that but the cost of attending would soar as such companies have high rates and some even get a share of the 'gate'. And as to having one steady location, a large part of the attendance at these shows is from either local modelers who come for the day or those that can drive in if the show is within a reasonable distance. Holding the show in one location over and over would effectively exclude all those who don't live within a reasonable driving distance of that location. Couple all this with our lopsided space needed/room night ratio and the choices narrow down quickly.

While that sounds good, its is moire difficult in reality. The headquarters needs to be where the National Office Manager is for her to be able to do her job efficiently, and in this case that's Florida. There are also tax implications as to where we are headquartered. Then there is where all the inventory is stored (past issues of magazines and other "stuff") I wish it was all just that simple, but it never is, is it?

Do you know where I can get a 1/249 scale Robert Mitchum?

Sharp scheme. How many F-86's have you built over the years? I'm guessing it's in the double digits.

One of Revell's later ship kits, this one is pretty good. it was re-released many times and even once as a British DE the HMS England. Fit is fine and detail is good. No molded in railings, but the stanchions are so you need to provide the railings. I did this 100% OOTB. I Like these old Revell ship kits. They put some fun bakk into modeling.

Excellent result and a fabulous finish. My experience, however limited it may be, with Hobbycraft kits is that they can be kind of, well, basic and fit can be iffy. If that was the case here, you did a super job overcoming any limitations.

I have a friend who does resin windows this way and they turn out fine but when I do it I always wind up with a bubble or two and when I sand/polish them it winds up a pit in the window if I break through the surface.

As to the planes in the air...stretch that clear plastic sprue and mount the aircraft on stalks of that. I've done it before and it looks pretty good.

I saw one at the Spanish Air Force Museum outside Madrid. It's an agricultural aircraft. You know, crop spraying and the like. It's designed to do specific tasks in the most efficient way.

Well, Scotty, you are certainly jumping back in with both feet at once. That's a big project. Take it in small doses and take your time. Treating the various subassemblies and small models unto themselves can help. There are lots of tutorials on Utube and similar sites. I'd also encourage you to get involved in a local chapter of IPMS/USA. You can learn a lot from the shared knowledge of the group. Depending on where you are in Northern KY, there are good clubs in Cincy and Lousiville and both have a presence on the web. In any case, welcome back and enjoy.

Your NMF always amaze me. Didn't you do an F-84 in 1/48 a while (long while) back? Would be interesting to see a comparison.

This is OOTB with the exception that I added acetate windshields, which you can hardly see. It went together very nicely with only a dab or two of putty and there was little clean up of parts as well. It's done as a car of an artillery unit in the 2nd New Zealand division in Italy in 1944. I know it's a "off" scale meant for wargamers, but if you need a break from PE and dozens of tiny parts, try one of these.

Mark, The Shangri-La is a bit of wrestling match to get together. Take it nice and slow and pre-fit everything before glueing. Out of the Box it can still be made into a nice display model

Beautiful build and fun to boot. A real win-win situation.

I dragged this out of the stash to have something to do while paint/glue dried on another project and I just got sucked into it. It's the old Airfix Matilda II from a blister pack. It's not terrible, especially considering it's age, although the ESCI one was much better although in a slightly larger scale. But, like I said, I was basically just killing time and it was on hand so I went with it. I back dated it to a Matilda II from the. BEF in 1940. That meant a different armored coaxial MG sleeve, the 'mud flaps' on the ends of the fenders and a different exhaust system. I also drilled out the lifting eyes on the turret just to make them stand out more. The original tracks in the kit were so stiff there was no way they would conform to their proper run, so I cheated and used some much more flexible tracks from another Airfix kit that fit fine, look ok and I was able to make them conform better. You have to guess what kit I took them from. Decals were from the spares pile. So, it's done and I was kind of surprised how well it turned out.