DEC - IPMS Phoenix

VOLUME 12, ISSUE 12
DECEMBER 2010
THE
CORSAIR
The Monthly Newsletter of the Craig Hewitt Chapter
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November „10 Meeting Pictures ............... 2-3
Club Officers ................................................. 4
Support Your Local Hobby Shop! ............... 4
Mike Mackowski‟s “View” ............................ 5
Pavla PQ-14 by Jim Pearsall ........................ 6
Pics from the Lt. Ernest Love Chapter ....... 8
Alan Roesler Takes Prescott by Storm ...... 9
AML Fiat G.50 by Carmel Attard................ 10
For Sale ....................................................... 12
Upcoming Events ....................................... 12
Aircraft Detection Before Radar III ............ 12
For the second month in a row, Jay Steward won the monthly
contest. This time the contest was “Famous Firsts”, and Jay
brought in this 1/72 F-18 which was built from the old Airfix kit.
President’s Message
Seasons greetings, all. I hope you all had a good
Thanksgiving and were able to spend some time with your
families and/or friends.
I‟ve been offline for a week or so and haven‟t been able
to keep up. I know Steve Keck is generating the list of
contests for next year. I suspect he will also have a report
for us on separating the contests into two „divisions‟ and
how we‟ll manage that. I think it‟s a great idea and hope it
will generate more interest in our monthly contests.
As you know, our Christmas party is coming up next
weekend. Be sure to bring your money to the meeting to
pay for your tickets. The meal will cost $20 per adult and
$5 per child. We always have a good time and the food is
always outstanding. It‟s also the time when we honor our
Modeler of the Year and Member of the Year. I look
forward to celebrating with you all.
This month, Doug Sloviak will be doing another of his
great presentations of aircraft photographs. I missed the
last one and am anxious to see this one. He promised to
have some F-4s in there for me.
Our contest for the month is Monogram‟s Golden Age,
any Monogram kit from 1945 to 1980. Should be a good
one.
Now for the sad news. Some of you will already know
this, but we received word that Don Alberts, one of the
founding members of the Albuquerque club, in fact all the
Albuquerque IPMS clubs, passed away a couple of weeks
ago. I‟ve sent a card on behalf of the club to the family
expressing our condolences and I received a warm reply
from Don‟s family. She said he always enjoyed coming to
Phoenix and participating in our events. He will be missed.
Come to the club meeting on Tuesday. If you can‟t
make that and want to attend the Christmas party, let Jim
Fry or me know and we‟ll make arrangements for you. If
you can‟t make either event, I hope you have a great
holiday season, celebrate well (but not too much), and find
something plastic under your tree.
See you Tuesday.
Steve Collins
THE CORSAIR
PAGE 2
DECEMBER 2010
November 2010 Meeting
There was a good crowd on hand at the November
meeting, and for the most everybody was on their best
behavior. The contest theme was “Famous Firsts”, and was
won by Jay Steward. Jay built the Airfix 1/72 F-18, which
was based on the prototype of the Hornet. Jay has won the
last two contests. Way to go, Jay!
Thanks to Jim Hough for taking the quality pictures of the
models at the last meeting. If you bring a model to display
at the meeting, don‟t forget to take it to the back of the
meeting room and let Jim take a few photos. That way you
will be able to see your work in the gallery on our website
and in this newsletter next month.
To see more pictures from the meeting, visit the Gallery
on our website at www.ipms-phoenix.org.
One of several models brought in by Gary Thomas.
Here is Gary’s 1/72 P-40Q.
James Hinderliter keeps cranking out the
Gundams. This is the 1/100 Crossbone Gundam.
Dennis Hutchison’s 1/72 Monogram
A-10 Warthog.
Charles Swanson built this 1/35 Aufklarungspanzer
38(t) from the Dragon kit.
This Dragon 1/72 Do-335B-2 was built by John Kienitz.
THE CORSAIR
PAGE 3
DECEMBER 2010
More November pictures...
Mike Hinderliter brought in this 1/72 Academy P-51.
Keenan Chittester built this 1/72 Airfix Helldiver.
Dennis Hutchison also brought in this huge 1/350
Polar Lights NX-01 Enterprise.
Another gem by John Kienitz. This is the 1/72 Heller
Heinkel He-112B-1 in Rumanian markings.
Gary Thomas is the man when it comes to building
vacuform kits. Here is his 1/72 Fw-191V1 built
from the Airmodel kit.
Jim Pearsall’s collection of 1/144 models continues
to grow. This PB2Y Coronado was built from
the Anigrand kit.
THE CORSAIR
DECEMBER 2010
PAGE 4
The club meets at 7pm on the
first Tuesday of each month at
the American Legion Post #1 in
Phoenix. Check the club website
at www.ipms-phoenix.org for
more meeting info.
American Legion Post #1
364 N. 7th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85003
The post is located South of I-10
just a few blocks North of Van
Buren. Look for the huge American flag.
Chapter Officers
President ................... Steve Collins ............... [email protected] ..................... (623) 877-4631
Vice President........... Jim Pearsall ................. [email protected] ............ (623) 583-2308
Secretary ................... Chuck Ludwig ............ [email protected] ..................... (480) 982-0485
Treasurer ................... Keith Pieper................. [email protected] ....................... (480) 994-2263
Chapter Contact ........ Dick Christ .................. [email protected] .......... (480) 983-7131
Member At Large ..... Sam Bueler.................. [email protected] ......... (480) 612-1257
Webmaster................ Don Crowe .................. [email protected] .................. (623) 872-6151
Newsletter Editor...... Keenan Chittester........ [email protected] ................... (480) 706-8178
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HOBBY SHOP!
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216 W. Southern Ave.
Tempe, AZ 85282
(480) 968-1880
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3245 E. Hillery Dr.
Phoenix, AZ 85032
(602) 867-8822
www.airline-hobby.com
Your One Stop Source for
Scale Model Airliner Kits, Decals,
Diecasts and Accessories
1817 E. Baseline Rd.
Gilbert, AZ 85233
(480) 892-0405
Don’t forget to sign up for your HobbyTown Card!
Avalon Books and Hobbies
1510 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 994-2263
Space modeling reference books by Mike Mackowski.
www.spaceinminiature.com
HOBBY BENCH
2 Great Locations!
8058 N. 19th Ave.
NW corner of 19th Ave. & Northern
602-995-1755
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NE corner of 43rd Ave. & Bell
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2018 N. Arizona Ave., Ste. D118-126
Chandler, AZ 85225
(480) 899-6640
THE CORSAIR
PAGE 5
DECEMBER 2010
The View from Space City
Commentary on the Hobby
by Mike Mackowski
Boss Lady
As I noted in this column a
couple of months ago, my latest
modeling project has been a 1/72nd
version of a B-17G that my father-inlaw, Carl Phillips, flew in. His unit, the
384th Bomb Group, has a nice website
with a lot of information. It listed eleven of
the 30+ missions he flew on as a bombardier.
Perhaps the most unique was a run over
heavily defended Cologne, Germany. To avoid
flak, the US tried using glide bombs and Carl was on one
of the twenty aircraft on that raid with those experimental
bombs.
I was able to nail down the tail number and name of the
aircraft he flew that day: 42-97271, Boss Lady. I found a
couple of photos but none show any close up of the nose
area that might show if and how the “Boss Lady” was
inscribed. (Interestingly, one of his most common pet
names for his wife is Boss Lady. I have no idea if it has
anything to do with his exploits in 1944.) A problem is that
90% of the photos I can find are on the left side of the
aircraft. This is not just h his aircraft. I picked up a few
books on WWII bombers and it seems most pictures show
the left side. The right side of the B-17G has a different
waist gunner position so it‟s hard to tell where to put the
code letters. From what I do see, it varies all over the
place. So I‟m pretty much guessing on some of the
markings.
I couldn‟t find any commercial decals that were even
close, so I had to make my own. That‟s not usually been a
problem since I‟ve made my own
decals before, even large ones. But
here I‟m having problems. The large
tail decals won‟t come off the backing
paper. I‟ve tried Testors spray decal
sealer and (in a test) that worked better
than just clear lacquer. Note that the
instructions for the decal paper suggested that
a clear finish should be adequate. Microscale
liquid decal film didn‟t do much better. A single
layer worked on some old solid white that was falling apart
but when I tried it on the inkjet printed markings, the ink
just dissolved.
So I try the semi-gloss clear overspray only and that
slips off the backing but it also tends to fall apart. When I
try the liquid decal film over that it smears the markings.
I‟m wondering if when I used the liquid decal film I did it
on the decals already cut apart and trimmed to the edges of
the markings. Maybe that “sealed” the edges making it
difficult to slip off the paper backing. Eventually I got a
combination to work, and in some cases I had to put down
two decals to patch up the areas that smeared or bled.
Cutting the large decals into smaller sections helped. In
the end it looks pretty good. I put on an overcoat of
ModelMaster Sealer for Metallizer and I‟m ready for
adding all the small parts (engines, landing gear, tail gun,
etc.).
If I‟m lucky I‟ll wrap that up this weekend and you‟ll
see it at Tuesday‟s meeting. And if I don‟t see you then or
at the party, I wish everyone a happy holiday season!
Join the IPMS/USA!
$25 annual membership includes a one year subscription to the IPMS Journal. Visit www.ipmsusa.org to
download a membership form. Or you can write to:
IPMS/USA National Office
P.O. Box 2475
N. Canton, OH 44720-0475
Membership also gives you access to the online Discussion Forum, where you can exchange ideas and
information with other members of IPMS.
THE CORSAIR
DECEMBER 2010
PAGE 6
Pavla Models 1/72 Culver PQ-14
Kit# 72012  MSRP: $9.95
Reviewed by Jim Pearsall
The Aircraft
With all the attention being paid
to RPVs (Remotely Piloted Vehicles) lately, such as the Predator
and Global Hawk, it was interesting to receive the Pavla kit of the
Culver PQ-14. It‟s certainly an
interesting aircraft, being designed
as a flying target for anti-aircraft
practice. Radio control was certainly the preferred mode, as it was
probably hard enough to get those
P-63 pilots to fly as targets for .50 caliber guns with frangible
bullets, which disintegrated on impact. Flying the aircraft that
they‟re shooting at with 90 mm guns
was probably a non-starter.
The PQ-14 did have standard controls
for ferry flights, and there are still a couple still in existence. It started as the
Culver Cadet, a civil sport plane, but in
1940, in response to a US request for an
aerial target, Culver modified the Cadet
into a radio-controlled target. I think
Pavla‟s drawing of a “PQ=14 pilot” is
pretty clever, although most flights
were made using a C-45 as a control
aircraft.
Assembly
Assembly begins with the cockpit.
Here‟s another interesting thing
about this kit. You‟re expected to
manufacture some of the parts.
Note the control stick (purple arrow). It‟s made from stretched
sprue. OK. But once I had a stick
10mm long, it was taller than the
seat. I cut it down to about 6 mm.
Yes, they were giants in those
days, but not THAT tall. The photoetch is sturdy, and fits pretty cleanly in the seat. Yep, far better than Frog, with their “Little Martian” pilot. The rudder pedals are nice, but once the instrument panel is installed, you are
never going to see them again, which is a shame.
The next step is to install the cockpit seat and floor in the
right fuselage half. It‟s important to notice that the bottom of
this floor is the top of the nose wheel well, so alignment is important here. I had to do some cutting on the bulkhead behind
The Kit
The plastic part of the kit is certainly reminiscent of Airfix
or (gasp) Frog kits of the sixties. One sprue, with two fuselage
halves, a single-piece wing, and some small detail parts. What
brings this kit into the Twenty-First Century is the addition of
PE detail parts and a vac-u-formed canopy. There‟s also a detail for the instrument panel. More on that later. Also, note that
the helpful drawing to show you which parts are which on the
sprue has no relation to the actual sprue layout.
the seat to get it to fit. Also, the weight is added to the nose
now. Quite important. Our friends at Cabela‟s were happy to
sell me an assortment of weights, originally intended for fishing.
The other nice touch in this kit is that they provide a very
nice control panel. I thought it might be a decal, but after I cut
out the panel, I dipped one of the scrap pieces in water. No
effect. So I used craft glue to attach the instrument detail to the
panel.
Also added these steps are the “cheeks” on either side of the
cowling. Since the PQ-14 used an opposed 4 cylinder air
cooled engine, the designers made provision for good airflow
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PAGE 7
DECEMBER 2010
that‟s why I chose the yellow scheme?) and stood up to some
handling. You need to be aware that with the small wing of the
Cadet, the large “stars & bars” go on the fuselage. Also, the
serial number was a little larger than the instructions show, and
I had to cheat it down the vertical stab to keep it from overlapping. Another coat of Future protected the decals and blend
them in.
Finishing up
for the cylinder heads. But that also leads us to our next
“adventure in scratch parts”. Each of these cheeks has an exhaust pipe. You‟re supposed to manufacture it. I lucked out and
found some .020 diameter aluminum tubes, which I picked up
somewhere. Probably at a train show. Those guys have the
neatest tools and stuff at their shows. Anyway, I cut two 1 mm
long pieces of tubing and glued them in place.
I cut out the vac canopy. Pavla thoughtfully provides two,
but I only needed one. I did have to use a brand new #11 scalpel blade, as the canopy is thicker than I am used to, and couldn‟t use my usual method of cutting with my decal scissors. I
installed it, using Micro Krystal Kleer® and except for one spot
at the upper rear, the canopy fit beautifully. I fixed that spot
with a drop of Krystal Kleer, and after it dried, I painted the
canopy.
I assembled the prop, wheels and gear while I was waiting
for the canopy to dry. Really simple; and they include the scissors for the oleos as PE parts. Unheard of on a 60s kit. And a
nice detail. The prop apparently doesn‟t have the yellow tips,
but there‟s a piece of PE for the hub, with all those bolt heads.
CA is necessary here. Putting the gear in place was pretty simple, although the only locating item for them was a dimple in
the bottom of the cockpit floor. I had no problem with the main
gear doors; there aren‟t any. There‟s only one PE nose gear
door.
I added the PE pitot tube, and finally the stretched sprue
antennas. A quick coat of Clear Flat to get rid of the gloss finish, and the project is done!
Overall Evaluation
Next was the horizontal and vertical stabilizers, the wing,
and the canopy rails (PE). There are two little “horns” at the top
rear of the cheeks. They‟re PE too, and I added these just before
painting. I always paint and decal before adding landing gear,
antennas, props, pitot tubes, etc, because I know I‟ll break them
off while handling during painting and decals.
Painting
Here‟s where this kit shines. There are three possible aircraft
you can build, one yellow overall and two red overall. I chose
the yellow one, because it used the pre-1947 USAAF markings.
The red ones are USAF and US Navy aircraft.
The painting was simplicity itself. Mask the cockpit, set the
airbrush on “paint the wall”, and rock n roll. Then go back and
paint the wheel wells interior green and the exhausts “burnt
metal”.
Decals
I put a coat of Future on the entire aircraft to make the entire
finish uniform. The decals were good quality, opaque (maybe
Recommended for experienced modelers. Since it‟s a limited run kit, there are some issues with separating parts from the
heavy attachment points on the sprue. There‟s also the added
need to manufacture some small parts. On the other hand, it
was a hoot to build, really reminiscent of the fun I had with the
69 cent Revell kits when I was in high school. Thanks to Pavla
for the review kit and the fun time.
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PAGE 8
DECEMBER 2010
Photos from the Lt. Ernest A. Love Chapter in Prescott
Photos by Norm Camou
Editor’s Note: These photos are from the April and May
2010 meetings. My apologies to Ed Tharp for not including
them in an earlier issue. Ed sent them to me at about the
same time that I switched computers, and I simply
overlooked them when I was transferring files. Human error
overrides technological advancement every time.
THE CORSAIR
PAGE 9
DECEMBER 2010
Alan Roesler Talks To Prescott Modelers
Photos by Dennis Quigley
Author and IPMS Phoenix club member Alan Roesler
recently journeyed up to Prescott and gave a presentation to
the members of the Lt. Ernest A. Love Chapter. Alan is a
fount of knowledge when it comes to World War I aviation,
and his presentation focused on Lt. Ernest A. Love and the
aircraft that he flew. As many of you know, Alan has written
a book about the life of Lt. Ernest A. Love entitled “An
Arizona Aviator In France”. The Prescott airport is named in
honor of Lt. Love, and the IPMS chapter meets on the first
Sunday of each month at the airport.
THE CORSAIR
PAGE 10
DECEMBER 2010
AML 1/72 Fiat G.50 Series II
Kit No. 72-007  MSRP: about $38
Reviewed by Carmel Attard
History
The Fiat G50 was the
first all-metal fighter in
Italy that was fitted with a
retractable undercarriage.
At the time it was regarded adequate for the
fighter interceptor role and
it had proved itself in
combat when rushed to
Spain where the G50 series 1 fought in the Spanish Civil War alongside
the Messerschmitt Bf109B of the Condor Legion. The conflict exposed
major shortcomings principally being lack of adequate visibility. The view
from the cockpit was inferior to that of the Bf-109
and even the Polikarpov I-16. The G50 was also lightly
armed with 12.7mm machine guns at a time when fighters
then in service were fitted with the more powerful cannons.
Still the G50 had its share of fame where a G50 series 1, FA
-25 shot down 4 enemy aircraft and a G50 Series II, FA-1
shot down 9 aircraft besides other ace G50s while in service
with the Finn AF during the war.
The kit
Fiat G50s, „series II‟ (72-007) and the earlier release
„series I‟ (72-005) are neat kits issued by AML. It is a small
fighter aircraft that I often associated with the Finn AF more
than those of Italy or
Spain. There is little difference between the Series I
and II and while I have
completed the earlier G50
series I in Finn AF markings, this kit build concerns the more recent release Series II, which is
made in Reggia Aeronautica markings. The kit is
molded in light gray plastic just like the earlier Series I and there are resin
and brass etch detail parts.
Basically it is a similar kit
to the series I but with additions to the kit so that an
accurate Series II-IV can
be made. The windscreen
is vacform in clear acetate.
Construction
The first stage was assembling the cockpit area. The
sidewall detail structure is molded into the fuselage halves
while the cockpit floor, rear bulkhead and seat are in creamcolored resin. The three-piece instrument panel is in brass,
as also are the trim wheel, throttle and rudder pedals. These
items are all carefully painted up making the cockpit look
very close to what it should be in this scale. Once the assembly is inserted in the fuselage there will not be much visible.
I found it best to assemble the fuselage halves together, the
bulkhead is fitted to the fuselage top part and the assembled
cockpit is inserted in place from the mid fuselage bottom
opening.
The 2-part radial engine is injected in rows of cylinders,
which made the required cleaning from excess fining an
easy task. The exhaust stubs are drilled before affixing them
to the cowling. Two spinner types are provided to suite the
variant selected. Propeller blade shape is accurate but required cleaning of each blade at their periphery. The kit also
has alternative tail fin and rudder units depending if one
makes the Italian or Finn version. Two measured hollow
metal tubes were cut and fixed to the nose deck.
Tail planes have a pair of dowels to slot inside the fuselage. The holes needed to be chased with a 2mm drill. I like
the fabric texture on the elevators and care was made to preserve it. The main planes come in three pieces, a one piece
lower and two upper halves. Ejector pin stubs on the inner
THE CORSAIR
PAGE 11
face have to be removed first as these interfere with fixing
the wing parts together. The leading edges of the wings are
also on the thick side, which required a little scraping with a
flat X-acto blade to improve the overall thickness in this
area. Wheel wells lacked detail and it is left to one‟s research and reference to enhance this area. Merging the wing
to the fuselage is not a straightforward job and some adjustment was needed followed by careful fairing with a little
filler.
DECEMBER 2010
after fixing the white cross in place first. The white rudder
cross is by no means standard in shape and size. This had an
arm extended to reach the leading edge of the fin. The decals are printed by Propagteam and are thin and register is
excellent. AML certainly did a great job by including a wide
selection of decals with this kit. Besides the Italian scheme
there are six Finnish Air Force G50s wearing different camouflage patterns with respective registrations, Finn roundels
and other details included such as markings on prop blades.
Decals were sealed with a coat of Klear and finally an overall semi matt coat of varnish was airbrushed once all masking was removed.
Conclusion
This was my fourth G50 built, two of which are AML
kits and the others an earlier release by Airfix that are now
showing their age. Overall the AML G50 is a most reasonable kit with a marked improvement attained when compared with earlier releases. I look forward to a possible release of a G50 bis which will continue to fill my Italian
WWII aircraft dispersal shelf.
Painting and decals
I elected to do the Italian scheme for the G50. Markings
are those of 320 Squadriglia. The aircraft is ochre with
verde and terracotta mottle on upper surfaces and grigio
azzurro undersurfaces while the codes 352-13 are black. The
cowling is yellow. This I gave a white undercoat and then
airbrushed the yellow over it. After masking the cowling
and the front of engine and the open cockpit, I applied the
Italian yellowish brown to all upper surfaces then added
mottle in red brown and olive green in all cases using Humbrol brand. The undersurfaces were light blue gray and the
upper camouflage overlapped slightly like the full scale
G50. The fin insignia of 51 Stormo depicting a black cat
trapping three mice superimposed on a white background
disc, are a separate decal item which is attached to the fin
THE CORSAIR
PAGE 12
DECEMBER 2010
For Sale: Entire collection of FineScale Modeler magazine. I have not counted every one,
but every issue from #1 is nicely boxed up as a collection. Asking $100 or best
offer. Contact Mike Mackowski, [email protected] or 480-926-4765.
Upcoming Monthly Contests
December - “Monogram‟s Golden Age” Any Monogram kit from 1945 through 1980.
January 2011 - To be announced at the December meeting.
UPCOMING EVENTS
JANUARY 2011

Tuesday 4th, 7pm - Craig Hewitt Chapter meeting at American Legion Post #1. CONTEST: TBD.

Sunday 16th, 9am - 1pm - Plastic Model Swap Meet at the Tucson FOP Lodge #1, 3445 N. Dodge Blvd., Tucson, AZ. Admission $1. For more info call Derek at 520-425-0209.

Saturday 23rd, 8am - 4pm - AMPS Model Contest at the Papago Military Vehicle Show, Arizona National
Guard, 1335 N. 52nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85008. Parking $5. Admission FREE. Model registration: $5. Model registration from 9am - Noon. For more info contact Keith at 480-994-2263.

Sunday 23rd, 9am - 2pm - Spring Model-Fest Swap Meet and Show hosted by the Central Arizona Modelers.
Holiday Inn, 777 N. Pinal Ave., Casa Grande, AZ 85122. For more info contact Don Baker at 520-316-0007.
FEBRUARY 2011

Tuesday 1st, 7pm - Craig Hewitt Chapter meeting at American Legion Post #1. Contest: TBD.

Monday 14th, All day - Valentine’s Day. Just a reminder for those of you with significant others.
Aircraft Detection
Before Radar
Part 3