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Ralph Nardone

IPMS/USA Member
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Everything posted by Ralph Nardone

  1. Our Junior Categories at our June show in Columbia, SC were at the front of the model display area--anyone who walked into the show area walked past them. We only had four models entered in the Junior Categories, though... We also gave away model kits to ALL the junior modelers who attended the show. Can't comment on the contest you were at, as I wasn't in attendance... Ralph
  2. "Watch this space!" You're on your way, Mike. I'm looking forward to the show... Ralph
  3. Perhaps it has nothing to do with huffing paint. Perhaps it has nothing to do with a "Nanny State". Perhaps it has *everything* to do with the fact that we can't have nice things anymore. Rather than taking pot-shot guesses as to why this is, I simply asked the department manager when I was in one of their stores. The answer: They got tired of having to replace the fixtures every year because they were caked with paint and looked like a Jackson Pollock masterpiece. As a chain, they take pride in their appearance, and having a paint-splattered area in the model section was outside corporate appearance standards. Funny thing, too--this same thing didn't happen where the large spray paint cans were displayed with the other craft paint. The only area of the store where paint was on display that was abused in this manner was by the plastic models. In other words, it was done because some people make it impossible for all of us to have nice things. Cheers! R
  4. You can find the same stuff in the RC section of the hobby shop, if you don't have a friend at the car repair shop. Du-Bro and Patriot are two brands under which it is marketed. Also, if you have a good train shop nearby, they may have a similar product used to add weight to rolling stock... Ralph
  5. This came up in 2016--I have never remembered a Convention where the Seminars were limited to members only. In 2016, GA bought you an "in" to the model display room, vendor room, and seminars. Most GA entrants don't know about the IPMS meetings, and as they deal with Society issues, and it is correct that they should be open to Members only. The Seminars, on the other hand, deal with ideas and techniques. The goal is to promote the hobby, and we felt that granting access to the Seminars was part and parcel of that promotion. As the saying goes, if they don't get it here, they'll get it somewhere. YMMV, etc., etc.
  6. I'll fix Jim's link: https://www.skyharbor.com/ Also, last time I was in PHX (October/November last year), Terminal 3 was under construction, so be advised. Traffic moves around the airport fairly well, but it gets a bit constricted around T3 and T4 (T4 due to the sheer numbers of flights from American and Southwest). Alas, no travel for me this year. Y'all have a great show! Ralph
  7. We're getting prepared for our show coming up on the 23rd, and as such I'm gathering the guys and gals and will have the whole discussion on contests, judging, and what it means in the big picture... The advice I always offer to someone new to model contests is this: Read the rules governing the contest. Any game comes with rules, and if you want to play the game, you have to play by the rules the sanctioning body developed for said game. If you don't understand something, ask in advance of the show for clarification. If there is something in the rules you do not like, understand that you have two options--enter, knowing there are parts of the rules you don't like, and accept the consequences; or simply do not enter. By the time a show is advertised, the rules aren't likely to be changed simply because someone doesn't like one thing or other... As for the judging being done while the world watches, my take on the situation is this: All those people milling around had the opportunity to join the judging staff for that show (usually) by answering the dozen or more "If you'd like to judge, we will have the judges meeting in 20 minutes by the water cooler" announcements. It always chaps me that an irate entrant will come up to a judge after the fact and recite why his/her model should have won because, and I may be paraphrasing here, "I'm an experienced judge, and your guys missed this!" Fine, cowboy--if you are such an experienced judge, why didn't you lend a hand with this show instead of wandering around, catching a cool breeze, and (more often than not) trying to lobby the judges to choose your model... The other advice I have for noobs is to understand that "contest" is defined by Merriam-Webster as follows: Definition of contest 1 : a struggle for superiority or victory : competition a football contest between rival teams 2 : a competition in which each contestant performs without direct contact with or interference from competitors He won the contest for best photograph "A struggle for superiority or victory"--which means there will be one winner. So, understand going in that you may win, or you may "not win". What was it that Ricky Bobby's daddy told him (along with, "If you ain't First, you're last!")? Second place is the First Loser...but only if you look at things in a certain light. Go to the show, enjoy seeing everybody's work, talk to people--make friends!--and, if at the end of the day they call your name to go accept a tin pot, so much the better. Not winning a model contest is not the end of the world, especially an IPMS contest where this week's Best of Show can be next week's Out of the Running, depending on what else is present on the tables... (I'll not begin the discussion of why I think the AMPS scoring system is a better way to help modelers improve their craft...) :)
  8. They do offer HUGE support for the shows--they sponsored the decals and t-shirts for Columbia 2016--they just don't have a huge vendor presence.
  9. Sprue Brothers didn't have much in Columbia, either. Darren with Steel Beach had more stuff than Gordon did in 2016... Curious, too--I've never based my decision to attend a model show on which vendors were going to be there, since I can do commerce with many of the established ones from my couch. R
  10. Now, that's pretty neat! I'll have to give that a whirl at some point--although I may have to tweak it for 1/350 scale...
  11. Another something to try: strap things in place (dry) with the rubber bands, and then insert toothpicks under the rubber bands on either side of the seam. They will prop the rubber bands up off the surface so the cement doesn't run under them. Apply the cement of your choosing, and let 'er dry. Works like a charm... Cheers! R
  12. To the best of my knowledge, no. It is more or less a straight exhaust pipe--there are maybe EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) and maybe EPR (Exhaust Pressure Ratio) sensors, but since there is no afterburner, there is no need to have a DI/CON (Divergent/Convergent) nozzle...
  13. I've painted the liner white or light gray, then dusted with dark gray and black pastel, depending how "used" I want it to appear.
  14. The latest, from Kalmbach (Scale Auto magazine, to be exact). Note that this was derived from court documents and not direct discussion with the new owners: http://www.scaleautomag.com/articles/2018/04/revell-has-been-sold So there are some answers--the new owners basically bought the whole wad--molds, trademarks, etc. The questions that remain: 1. Despite owning the molds, will the new owners reissue legacy kits? (My opinion--yes to some, no to others.) 2. Who will distribute Revell GmbH kits in the States? 3. Ditto Hasegawa and Italeri kits. Again, this is early days, a lot remains to be seen. Ralph
  15. I also spy a can of Duratite putty and a bottle of Duratite solvent, a bottle of Satellite City Hot Stuff...and is that a Lindberg F4D Skyray I see underway? I got into the Pactra Authentic International Colors late in the game (1981 or so), and by the time I developed a good feel for it--and an appreciation for just how good it was--it was gone. I switched to Polly-S not too long after that... Ralph
  16. The latest news has a group of investors, thought to be related to Revell GmbH management, buying both Revell GmbH and Revell USA. On Friday, Bert Kinzey made a post in the Detail and Scale Facebook page that said, in effect, that Revell USA has been shut down completely. Supposition has it that all future design will be overseen by the group in Germany. Molds will continue to be cut in either Korea or the PRC. Molding may be done in the PRC or Poland (most Revell GmbH kits are molded in Poland, most Revell-Monogram kits were molded in China). They will need to find a U.S. distributor, since that went away with the closure of the Revell USA offices. Nothing has been said about Hasegawa and Italeri--Hobbico was the sole U.S. distributor for both. I imagine both companies have feelers out for a new distributor here in the states. Lastly, Estes was bought by a group in Colorado. Parties close to the subject say that while the Hobbico acquisition wasn't the best thing to happen to Revell USA, the problems began years before that--some say Revell's problems began even before the merger of Revell and Monogram in the mid-1980's. Still early days yet. It will be interesting to see how this all unravels. Cheers! Ralph
  17. When Eduard came out with the new 1/48 Fw-190 kits last year, the big question I saw on the forums was "Why?" This illustrates the reasons very well. Great work so far. They are meant to have all the guts showing, and for a modeler to close everything up takes some work. You're progressing well... Ralph
  18. Reminds me of a joke... Clem: "Hey, Cletus, why you pulling that rope?" Cletus: "Ever tried to push one?" I've always used either Davis' Invisible Thread (the smoke color stuff if you can find it) or some .010 stainless wire I bought at the 1999 IPMS/USA National Convention. Admittedly, the wire is easier for rigging where you have multiple runs of wire. Invisible Thread works well for single lines, like antennas. Gil cited the reasons above--the thread will need to be tensioned, and tensioning multiple wires at the same time is a royal pain... Ralph
  19. I used to part-time (and still help out) at the local HobbyTown. And I can assure of this: For every "traditional" model (military, automotive, etc.), we would sell a dozen Gundams. And that's a good thing. Why? Because they are plastic models, same as those Sherman Tanks, P-51's, and iterations of the USS Arizona or KM Bismarck. It is getting kids into the hobby of plastic modeling. The shop has opened up to hosting "Model Building Day" every Saturday, and for every "traditional" modeler, there are three guys building Gundams, MaK, or other Sci-Fi kits. Our upcoming show in June has a category for these models, and we've been getting the word out to the community that not only are they welcomed, they're encouraged to bring their models. I also agree on the WoT and WoS interest--Italeri issued some kits in line with these games, and Dragon used to include coupons for game points in their kits. While some of the "Senior" members of the modeling community squawked that all they were were "old junk" in new boxes, the younger guys and girls who were playing the games snapped the kits up. I had to remind a few of them that regardless of what we thought, IPMS and AMPS represents a very small percentage of actual modelers, and what we found to be junk was perfect for beginning modelers. On another note, I'm dismayed at the comments directed at the youth of today. As a kid, I built a fair number of non-traditional models. I built Star Trek, Star Wars, Aurora and Monogram movie monsters, Aurora dinosaurs, and movie sci-fi stuff just as often as I did an airplane, car, tank, or ship. As I got older, my interests gelled around historic vehicles, but it wasn't the only thing I built back in the day. The point? That kid snapping a pre-painted Gundam kit together today may well wind up being tomorrow's Rusty White or Gil Hodges. We'd do well to welcome them, rather than turn a cold shoulder to them. Ralph
  20. As with most ANG units, finding decals for everything is usually a treasure hunt. In a lot of cases, you'll have to cobble together what you need from insignia, letter, and number decal sheets. If you wait for a sheet dedicated to a particular airplane, you may be waiting. That being said, Caracal Models has been doing a lot of neat subjects lately. You may want to check them out... http://www.caracalmodels.com/ Ralph
  21. The Tornado was a parallel project to the Typhoon, with the Tornado using the RR Vulture X-block engine and the Typhoon using the Napier Sabre H-block engine. Both were 24-cylinder liquid cooled powerplants... Nice work, Ron!
  22. The problem stems from the fact that the carrier/thinners in the AK wash are the same as for the acrylic metallics you used. As suggested above, try a water color wash. Another something to try would be to apply a coat of Future (or whatever they're calling it this week) and letting it dry for a few days. This becomes a barrier that is impervious to even oil washes. Beware, though, it will slightly dull the metal look. Honestly, I don't like the AK or Vallejo washes. They're acrylic, which means that they dry and set quickly, allowing very little time to manipulate them. They seem to be better used as overall filters instead of pin washes--I know people who have mastered them, but I have been yet unable to do so, and so I stick to washes made with artists oils. Ralph
  23. Yes, you can use a contrasting color pencil--hold it so the side of the tip rides along the raised line. Others have sanded all the panel lines off, and once the model is finished they have drawn new panel lines on the model, then sealed it with clear flat. Yet others re-scribe. One of the neatest re-scribing techniques I've seen is Paul Budzik's technique of scribing the lines not into the plastic, but into the final painted model. He hasn't re-posted that particular video on YouTube yet, but if you search his name he has quite a few great modeling tips, both on YouTube and his own website. Here's a bit of background on panel line detailing. You may know this, I'm adding this for everyone's benefit... Now, here's something to consider before you even begin. Why do models have panel lines? "Accuracy"? Nope. Realism? Okay, maybe. A sales tool? By and large, yes. See, the model kit folks back int he day were looking for a way to make their kits stand out above the other guy's stuff. So, they added lines to represent panel breaks and rivet lines. The other guy sees this and decides to add raised dots to stand in for rivets. Then a third guys decides to etch the marking locations into the plastic. Pretty soon, our models were embellished with raised detail, because it was easy to add to the finished tool--etch a line (or a series of pits, etc.) in the surface of the mold, done! In reality, though, overlapping panels, well, overlap. Along the entire surface, not just at the boundary (a common argument states that raised lines best represent an overlapped panel). And in the day, it was easy to do. These days, look at a modern Eduard kit--they show overlapped panels as just that. Butted skins are just that, too. In the real world, they butt together leaving a gap that's between .030" and .040". On older craft, this thin gap, when scaled down, would be invisible at any viewing distance consistent with scales--remember, 1 foot away from the 1:1 equals 72 feet away in 1/72 scale, 48 feet away in 1/48 scale, etc. Under paint, you don't see much at all. On a bare metal airplane, you see tonal differences. You don't notice rivets, either. Unless (there's always an "unless", right?) they've collected dirt or the rivets are "working" (moving and creating what is essentially metal dust--in the trade, we call these "smoking rivets"). These effects are not uniform. Seldom is nature uniform... On most modern airplanes, the same holds except the skins are not only riveted to the structure, they're bonded and/or sealed--"assembled wet" is the trade lingo. The structure is painted with a sealant/bonding adhesive, the skins are aligned and temporarily tacked into place with clecos (think of them as a removable rivet), and the rivets shot in. Any sealant that squeezes out is cleaned off the surface with a rag and solvent (which tends to fill the gaps between skins), and as a final step, the rivet heads are shaved (sanded flush, if they are flush rivets--round or universal head protruding rivets are left as-is) , rendering them nearly invisible. Now, add a coat of primer (sometimes two, depending on the airplane or part of the airplane--the entry door areas on corporate jets are usually given at least one coat of high-build primer to make is smooth), and a coat or two of paint, and you can't see squat, other than removable panels. And even removable panels are edge-sealed and the paint touched up. So, you may see the screw heads--if they're not also pained (which many are). But largely, you see nothing but an expanse of, well, airplane... Modern helos tend to be the exception. Look at any modern USN or USMC helo, and the grime collects in the panel lines and around the raised rivet heads. My advice is to get a few good photos of your intended subject, and model what you see. You can't go wrong with that. And, if you trippin' that contest life, yo, include the photos with your entry form. A picture is worth a thousand words, and should answer any questions the judges may have. In the end, it is your model--do what you want to do. But personally, I don't make a big deal over panel lines, except on airplanes in bare metal. Even then, though, I'm judicious in what I do... Cheers! Ralph
  24. Hobbico's debt came, in part, from a patent infringement lawsuit--one of their subsidiaries, ARRMA (a manufacturer of RC cars), was sued by Traxxas (probably the premier manufacturer of entry- and intermediate level RC cars and trucks). https://www.scribd.com/document/320063741/Traxxas-v-Hobbico-Amended-Complaint Hobbico filing Chapter 11 is a surprise only in that it hadn't happened earlier. When I worked at the local hobby shop, we were taking bets that it would happen as early as 2016... Ralph
  25. Two choices. Have you tried Windex or ammonia? Or even Isopropyl Alcohol? If they don't work, get a jug of Purple Power (it used to be Castrol Super Clean) and a plastic tub large enough to submerge the model. Fill the tub, put the model in the soup, and wait about 30 minutes. You should be able to scrub the old paint off with an old toothbrush. Rinse, let dry, and you're ready to go again. Use gloves. This stuff is a degreaser, and will dry your skin in a second. Once you're done, let the gunk settle, then pour the cleaner back into the jug. Ralph
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