Torcan Returns - DH Scale Modeler`s Club

DH Scale
34th Edition
July 2008
Torcan Returns
On May 24 2008, IPMS Toronto and the Peel Scale Modelers brought back the TORCAN Model Contest in grand
style.
TORCAN 2008 set a number of records in the 34 year history of the TORCAN Model Contest. More than 700
individual models were on the tables - the highest number in TORCAN history. More than 150 contestants
entered a staggering 600+ entries. The vendors' area was packed! The raffle table was among the largest ever
assembled for a TORCAN show. It was a great show and one that will be used as a benchmark in the future.
Let’s hope that this show will be back as an annual event. Congratulations to all that helped bring this
together!
A couple of members of the DH Scale Modellers were deeply involved in the planning, organization and
ultimately pulling off Torcan 2008. Derek Pennington, for early organizational involvement, Judging and
Announcing many of the awards. And Wayne Bowman, with his lovely wife Yvette, for organizing, supporting
and photographing this event.
As for the model contest, the DH Scale Modellers did very well. Our results are as follows:
Wayne Bowman:
Gold: 1/72 Ariete MBT
Sandy McRorie
Silver: 1/35 M4 and Long Tom
Iain Fraser:
Silver:
Sandy McRorie:
1/144 Canadair Sabre
Silver:
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1/35 Archer
Silver:
1/35 Deacon
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34 Edition / Jul 2008
On The Table
From the May 2008 meeting
M4 High Speed Tractor
1/35 Hobby Boss kit
built OOB by Sandy McRorie.
This plus the towed “Long Tom”
155mm artillery piece, earned a Silver at
Torcan 2008 for Sandy.
Iain Fraser is building this 1/72 Emhar kit of a
Mk. IV “Female” WWI tank for the club “8” theme
contest. It will be painted to represent one of
the tanks used at the decisive battle of Amiens,
August 8, 1918.
Joe Sheppard brought us this 1/48
Tamiya kit of a Cromwell Mk. IV. It is
OOB, finished with Tamiya paints plus
black washes and pastel weathering.
Here is Derek Pennington’s original 1/72 Frog kit
of the Lancaster. It built OOB and is finished
using the original decals! Derek notes that it is
accurate and compares well in overall shape to
the current offerings!
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34 Edition / Jul 2008
On The Table
From the June 2008 meeting
The next McRorie masterpiece is
underway. It is a 1/35 Accurate Armour
kit of the Alvis FV106 Samson CVR(T)
Armoured Recovery Vehicle. Through
Sandy’s acquisition prowess, he has
managed to get all the right bits form
many sources.
Wayne Bowman brought his Torcan 2008 Gold
winning 1/72 Trumpeter Ariete main battle tank.
See Wayne’s build article later in this issue.
Iain Fraser has completed his “8” club
theme model, a 1/72 Emhar kit of a Mk. IV
“Female” WWI tank from the battle
Amiens, August 8, 1918 (8/8/18). The
unditching beam and some stores are
added beyond OOB. The finish is Tamiya
paints, plus oil wash and pastel
weathering.
Derek has started the 1/48 Classic Airframes
“Derek Pennington Special” DH Venom.
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34 Edition / Jul 2008
Build Bytes
Another “Out
of the Box”
project gone
all to hell.
Building trumpeter’s
1/72 Ariete MBT.
by: Wayne Bowman
It had been my intention
to build a quick and
simple project in order to focus on working
out some new finishing and weathering
techniques. The obvious choice for me was
Trumpeter’s Ariete, which I picked up at
CapCon last year for a grand sum of $10.
It’s a very simplified kit, with few parts,
which would have otherwise fit the bill
perfectly. AMS quickly took hold however,
and a quick OOB project was simply not to
be.
The basic build went quite well, with all
parts fitting nicely. The only peculiarity
was a series of diagonal striations on the
upper surfaces of the hull, caused during
the moulding process. These were taken
care of with a couple of coats of Mr.
Surfacer, and some sanding to level them
out.
Some of the noticeable mods on the
Arietes deployed to Iraq, not represented
by the kit were:
- new cylindrical fume extractor
- fitting of appliqué armour mounting
blocks (tanks in theatre had this
provision although not all had the
appliqué armour mounted).
- removal of the side view mirrors
My first mistake was to purchase some
reference material, in the form of Auriga’s
fabulous Photo File publication on the
Ariete. This has a plethora of photos of
every aspect of the tank, including the
various mods installed when the tanks were
deployed to Iraq. Unfortunately, it also
showed up the shortcomings in basic kit.
And so began the series of “I can fix that”,
and “wouldn’t it look good if I …” decisions
that would lead to what the final product
eventually became.
The existing fume extractor was cut out
and a new one fabricated from styrene
tube. When mounting the new one, it was
noted that its centre line is not concentric
with that of the barrel, and was thus
positioned upward in relation to the barrel
centre line.
To facilitate the surgery and need for extra
parts, another kit was purchased and used
as a donor.
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-
-
-
For the mounting blocks, small pieces of .010”x
.020” Evergreen styrene were carefully glued to
the hull and turret in the appropriate areas
using sparing amounts of liquid cement. When
the glue had set up, .013” dia holes were drilled
in the blocks (2 in most, 1 in a few of the
smaller hull mounted blocks). To represent the
cap screws, small pieces of .010” styrene rod
were then inserted into the holes and set into
place with liquid cement. When cured up, these
where cut down to size.
A few of the improvements to the basic kit
included:
- opening up the commander’s periscope,
and fabricating the lens and mirror
arrangement
- opening up the main sight and adding
the necessary optics.
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-
removing the rather simplistic rendering
of the antenna storage tube, laser
detector, and environmental sensor,
and scratch building new ones.
opening up one of the turret bustle
tool boxes, and scratch-building the
door
fabricating a new “call box”
(conjures up images of Dr. Who
doesn’t it?) on the aft hull, including
the handset & receiver
adding the prominent telescopic
site cover to the front of the turret
opening up a few of the side skirts,
adding the necessary internal detail
Of note on the commander’s periscope
was the use of a piece from a mirror finish
bumper sticker that served as the
periscope mirror, and a piece of .005”
clear styrene cut for the window.
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34 Edition / Jul 2008
The telescopic site cover was fabricated from
a combination of styrene, wire, and sheet
copper, while the cable linkage to the main
sight doors was added from wire.
On the main sight, the moulded on doors
where removed and the sight housing
thinned down. A piece of holographic
confetti was used for the left sensor face,
and another piece for a lens in the right
sight was punched out using a .018” punch,
and inserted into a appropriately drilled hole
in the sight head. The doors were
fabricated from sheet/strip styrene.
The “call box” was fabricated from .015”
styrene, while the handset was carved
from various bits of styrene strip & rod.
The phone cord was made by winding
.007” dia wire around a .010” dia wire,
then cutting and bending it to size.
The environmental sensor on the 1:1
subject has a very complex head, which
was a bit beyond my abilities in this scale.
Fortunately, a picture of the sensor with a
canvas cover was found in my reference
book. This was replicated with a bit of
Milliput and some thin wire for the
drawstrings.
Painting was achieved with a mixture of
Gunze Acrylics.
Washes used were concocted from
Humbrol enamels thinned with Testors
brush cleaner. Rain staining was done
again using Humbrol enamels, dragged
out using a brush wetted with Testors
brush cleaner
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top coated with Gunze orange and red
clear as appropriate.
Decals where a combination of kit decals
with some subject specific markings printed
onto clear decal film using an inkjet printer,
and sealed with a dry spray of future. Once
applied, the decals were sealed with a coat
or two of Gunze clear, and after a suitable
cure time, a coat of Vallejo matte varnish
was applied to the entire model.
Dusting up of the road wheels was done
using Mig pigments mixed into a thin slurry
with Testors brush cleaner, then applied
with the aid of capillary action. This was
allowed to dry, then the excess was lightly
bushed off.
Many thanks must go to Mr. Gaetano
Pisano, who provided the answers to a
number of technical questions about the
Ariete.
MV lenses were used for the headlights and
the taillights were fabricated from .005”
clear styrene, back painted with silver, and
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On The Shelves:
Here are some new products that have been spotted at local retailers,
and on the web:
Subject
Bf 110 C/D/E
Scale
1/48
TA-4J Agressor
P-40E Warhawk
F-105 Thunderchief
Lancaster B I/III
F-8E Crusader
1/48
1/32
1/48
1/144
1/32
Mfg’r
Eduard (2 kits, with ¼ scale
Instrument Panel)
Classic Airframes
Hasegawa
Hobby Boss
A-Model
Avionix (Mk. 5 Cockpit Set)
Rumour Has It…
Here are a few subjects which well placed sources say are due
for release imminently:
Canberra B-57B/RB-57E/G
1/48
Airfix
TSR-2
1/48
Airfix (Now taking Pre-Orders)
Hunter FGA-9/MK.58
1/72
Revell Germany
EE Lightening F1A/F2/F3/F6
1/72
Trumpeter
Upcoming Events:
Oct 04/08
Oct 08/08
Oct 25/08
London Scale Model Show 2008, London, Ont
DHSM Club “8” Theme Contest, Downsview, Ont
Ajax XXVIII, Ajax, Ont
DH Scale is the chapter newsletter produced by and for IPMS de Havilland Scale Modellers (ESC). For
any questions please call:
Iain @ X7259
or email at [email protected]
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