SCALEWORLD
By Richard Marmo
Whether your model workspace is the kitchen table, converted bedroom or $40,000 custom built shop, modelers tend to fall into two groups. On one hand you have those whose work areas are so neat, clean and perfect that you'd swear no one ever used it. The "...place for everything and everything in it's place..." approach. The rest of us (and we know who we are) have work areas that would charitably be described as organized chaos. When we do get around to cleaning off our bench, we're not all that surprised to find a full size Sherman tank or F-111 at the bottom of the pile! And lest people think otherwise, we do believe that there's a place for everything...if we could only find it!! This dichotomy extends to every part of our workspace, including airbrushes. Modelers that fall into the first group pull out an airbrush, use it and at the end of the session spend the next twenty or thirty minutes dismantling, cleaning, polishing, shining, soaking and re-assembling that same airbrush before returning it to it's original box. By the time they're finished, you'd swear they'd just brought it home from the hobby shop and had never touched it. On the other hand, we who subscribe to chaos take a somewhat more reasonable (?) approach to our airbrushes. More often than not, the outside of our airbrushes reflects the chaotic condition of our workbench. If we ever attempt to clean the exterior, it's either from desperation to prevent paint from running off the airbrush and down our arm or because so much dried, crusted paint has accumulated on the outside that we have trouble holding the airbrush in the first place! Archaeologists would have a field day because the mere act of slicing thru all that crusted paint would create a record of the various paint colors you've used over the last several months, not dissimilar to the information found in tree rings. BUT...regardless of the catastrophic appearance of such airbrushes, they're clean on the inside, needles are sharp, tips undamaged and they work. For proof of that, you need only look as far as the modeler's most recently completed project. Despite certain opinions to the contrary, those of us who work in such chaotic conditions usually produce excellent, high quality models that more often than not generate a single, predictable response from those who look at the finished model and then see where it was built. "I don't believe it!" Which group do you belong to? Speaking of airbrushes, AZTEK has a new offering that'll get your attention. Particularly if you're one of those who keeps their airbrush in hobby shop condition. Originally marketed several years ago as a "professional airbrush" under the Model Master brand, it broke new ground. Unlike most airbrushes, there was no needle running thru the body. Instead, a replaceable tip lay at the heart of the design. It made for a dandy all around brush and the only 'flaw', if you could call it that, was that you could have trouble hanging onto the little critter on occasion. No more. Now known as the AZTEK A470, the body is a little shorter and has had soft touch ergonomic grips added to improve handling. You still get the same lifetime warranty on the body and the design continues to work as well as ever. Alternatively, you can opt for the A4702 set. While priced lower at $99.95, all you get is the A470 brush, hose, one nozzle, one gravity cup and the video. And if neither one of these is exactly what you're looking for, check out the Aztek web site Prefer traditional airbrush designs? Then take a look at a couple of the latest internal mix, double action designs from BADGER AIRBRUSH. First up is a fascinating and unique design, the Universal Model 360. Advertised as a true universal airbrush that can handle everything from fine arts to models and crafts, it pretty well lives up to it's billing. The reason for calling it the Model 360 is simple enough... the head of the airbrush rotates 360 degrees. Thus you can position the cup anywhere you need it relative to the subject you're working on. By turning the head so that the built-in gravity cup is upside down, a standard siphon cap and jar can be installed. You also won't be changing tips and needles for various fluid consistencies as you normally do with most traditional airbrushes. One tip, one needle, no matter what you push thru it. BADGER then cut away the sides of the handle so that the needle can be adjusted without completely removing the handle. Does it work? Well, I sprayed the black belly of a 1/48 B-29 using both thinned and unthinned MODEL MASTER paint and had no problem at all. And with the paint thinned down, I got a very crisp line with virtually no overspray. I've also been told that during some independent testing, straight exterior latex house paint was forced thru a 360 at 120psi and it worked like a champ. Not that any of us are planning on using latex house paint, but it's nice to know we can get away with it! The 360 comes packed in a molded box with two jars and a siphon cap for $175.00. Those of you with a preference for fat, heavy airbrushes will be drawn to the BADGER Crescendo Model 175. It's a conventional, bottom feed airbrush. Three different tips and needles are available, depending on whether you're spraying light, medium or heavy fluid. It has a good heft to it and a snap fit handle to make needle adjustments easy. Available solo or as part of a couple of sets; prices range from $84.00 to $120.00. For more information, take a look at the BADGER web site Airbrushes are, obviously, useless without an air supply. Since relatively few of us have the luxury of a separate shop where noise level isn't a concern, selecting a compressor is always somewhat of a balancing act. On one hand, you want one quiet enough to keep mothers, spouses and/or significant others from complaining about the noise. On the other, you need one with the muscle to keep your airbrush happy. The AZTEK AC400 compressor that you see here It's a 1/12 hp diaphragm design that will crank out up to 30psi under load and comes complete with a water trap and adjustable pressure gauge. What really gets your attention is how quiet the little booger is, even if you let it walk around on a wood floor. Sit it on a Formica-topped board so that the suction cup feet can get a grip and it's even quieter. How quiet? Quiet enough that a specially designed silent compressor that I used for several years was noisier. While it's strictly a subjective impression, I'd say that the AC400's noise level is very close to a refrigerator compressor. All in all, the AZTEK AC400 is an excellent choice for apartments or circumstances where noise level is crucial. Matter of fact, I've been using it instead of my 1/2 hp tank compressor in order not to disturb my mother (see last month's column for an explanation of that situation). She never hears it, whereas the 1/2 hp can be heard from one end of the house to the other. While the price, at $350.00, will get your attention, keep in mind that it's service life is rated at 10,000 hours. And there’s a two-year guarantee. You'll also find five more compressors of varying designs and capacities at the AZTEK web site. Spend much time building models and you'll become very familiar with the name XURON. XURON manufactures a line of precision tools that are specifically intended for serious hobbyists and crafters. As a result, several recent additions to their line will be particularly interesting to readers of SCALEWORLD. For starters, their 440 PET High Precision Scissor should get the attention of anyone who has even thought about trying photoetch. The design looks so much like their familiar shear cutters (sprue cutters if you prefer) that, at first glance, that's what you think you're looking at. However, closer examination reveals a critical difference. Shear cutter blades meet edge to edge, while the PET Scissor blades overlap...exactly as conventional scissors do, but with far more precision. Now to the important question, do they work? Do they ever! Wherever you position these scissors, and as long as the jaws are parallel to the part in question, they'll give you a cut that's so clean and smooth that you won't be able to find the attachment point. They'll set you back $15.99 and considering that more and more mainline manufacturers are including some photoetch details in their kits, we all would do well to add a pair of these to our tool box. The next two items from XURON may have you wondering why they're in this column. Trust me, they have a place here. Specifically, they are the 488 Round Nose Plier and 489 Combination Tip Plier. Both sell for $14.99 each. Basically jeweler's pliers designed for forming, looping and bending, the superdetailist and/or scratchbuilder would take to these two like a duck to water. The 488 Round Nose starts out with a round tip that then morphs into an elliptical shape over the length of the jaw. What makes the 489 Combination different is that one jaw is round, while the opposing one is flat. Either or both of these pliers are ideal for use with the smaller sizes of music wire, thin strips of sheet brass and sheet plastic up to about .015 thick. Exactly what you do with 'em will depend strictly on your individual level of creativity. Finally from XURON are a couple of superb pairs of tweezers. Just as you can never have too many hobby knives, you can never have too many tweezers. These two deserve your serious consideration. Both the AA-SA and OO-SA Tweezers are listed as general use, straight tip tweezers. In fact, it's hard to tell 'em apart. But there are important differences. The AA-SA is 5" long and needs only a very light touch to grip an object, while the OO-SA is 4 1/2" long, has slightly thicker arms and takes just a leetle bit more pressure to do the job. They're made from acid-resistant stainless steel, will pick up items as small as a cat hair from a Formica surface and sell for $21.95 each. So which one is best for you? Basically, it's a question of which one feels better to you. Or buy 'em both! For those of you who have been waiting (along with silver bullets and a supply of garlic) for that long promised photo of the POLAR LIGHTS
If you're looking to add another airbrush to your collection, or are shopping for your first internal mix double action brush, the A4709 set is a great way to go. For $124.95, you get a mahogany box that contains literally everything you need. The A470 (of course), a wrench, all of the normal tips, four gravity cups, two siphon bottles and a canned air adapter. You also get a 15-foot hose and a very useful instructional video..
.
qualifies as that happy medium everyone looks for.
Wolfman’s Wagon built up in all it's glory...the wait is over! As you can see from the photos, the little fella is so outrageous that you're bound to get comments from anyone who sees him. The exact comment will depend on the person's sense of humor... or lack of it... but comments you'll get!
   POLAR LIGHTS Wolfman's Wagon. It's not to scale, it's not an aircraft, tank or ship and it's not a serious model. But whatit is is fun...and isn't that what modelbuilding's supposed tobe? |
Built strictly straight from the box, paint was a combination of MODEL MASTER and the old (very old) TESTORS PLA enamels. And while major pieces had their base colors airbrushed at least half the model was done by hand with a conventional sable-hair brush. Whether you normally build this kind of thing or not, it makes for a nice change of pace to toss something together without worrying about references or Fed Standard colors. Try it sometime. If Wolfman's Wagon has left you wanting more of the "odd rod" kits, POLAR LIGHTS has obliged with the fourth in the series, King Kong's Thronester. This one almost defies description but I'll try. Basically, it's a stylized slingshot dragster with a throne backrest. The simplified engine block mounts eight carburetor intake horns. Exhaust pipes feed into huge, elongated, flattened exhaust bells and flames extend back from that. Wheels, if you want to call'em that, have to be seen to not be believed. Then there's the piece de resistance. An oversize King Kong (from the waist up) , wearing a crown on his head, is crammed into the driver's (?) compartment. One hand is on the steering wheel. If you want different, this'll do it. On the off chance that some of you have been vacationing on Mars, ACCURATE MINIATURES has released their Yak-1 series. I've pawed over it enough to tell you that it's as accurate as you would expect an ACCURATE kit to be, the decals are gorgeous and it looks to be a fairly rapid build. I'd also suggest that you take a look at Tom Cleaver's article in last month's Internet Modeler for an in-depth construction review. Then go out an buy a kit! As most of you are aware, ACADEMY kits are now being distributed in the U.S. byMRC The box, which is 9 x 12 inches and 2 inches thick, contains nine separate sprues of parts...including giving the clear parts their own bag. You also get a 6 x 11-inch decal sheet providing markings for two different aircraft and enough stencils to require an extended decalling session. ACADEMY has thoughtfully packaged the decals in a protective bag. Eight pages of instructions and two pages of drawings that show stencil locations finish out the contents. If you're thinking that's a lot of parts for an F-86F, you're right. But that's not all you get. Fuselage halves, while molded full length, allow you to separate the tail section in order to expose the engine. As a result, you also get a very nice basic jet engine (detailists will go nuts here), engine mounts and a dandy workstand that supports the aft fuselage. The basic cockpit tub is molded as an integral part of the upper half of the intake ducting, while the nose gear well receives the same treatment on the ducting lower half. Main gear wells are an integral part of the full span lower wing half and dive brakes are positionable. Both gun bays are detailed and intended to be left open. This is apparent from the fact that if you intend to close them up, be prepared to expend a good bit of patience. The reason for this is that there is only one recessed lip, that being along the bottom edge. That's all you need if you're going to leave the bays open. Close 'em and things get a little dicey when it comes to getting a nice, level fit. Itcan be done, but the addition of a recessed lip along the upper edge would've simplified things considerably. And, wonder of wonders, something seems to be coming back in vogue... figures. Over the last few months or a year, quite a number of modelers have been wondering out loud about the availability of 1/48 figures to go along with their models. Most seem to want them for ground crew or dioramas, but quite a few are interested in adding pilot figures to cockpits. ACADEMY has apparently heard the rumblings because they've included not one, but two figures in their F-86F kit. And they're not your usual semi-human blobs either. One is standing and has a separate left arm that's positionable. The seated figure goes even further, with both arms and the helmeted head being separate. A really good figure painter would itch to get their hands on these two. Though my deadline precluded building this beauty, what dryfitting I did indicates that you shouldn't run into too many problems, aside from the aforementioned trouble with the gun bay covers. Regarding markings, straight from the box'll get you two aircraft. One flown by Capt. Charles McSwain of the 39th F.I.S. and the second being the mount of Lt. Harvey L. Brown, 67th F.B.S. McSwain's aircraft carried the Mike's Bird nose art. If your interest lies with the Korean period, don't pass this one up. At long last, WILLIAMS BROS. has released their long awaited kit of the Lockheed 10 Electra. While you can also build it in either Navy or Coast Guard markings, the primary focus of the kit is to produce a replica of the Lockheed 10 as it appeared on Amelia Earhart's last flight. I haven't even had a chance to do any dryfitting, never mind actually build it. However, it appears to be a typical WILLIAMS BROS kit, which is to say an accurate representation of an unusual subject and intended for the experienced modeler. Parts are molded in white on two sprues and there’s also one sprue of clear parts. The clear parts -along with alternative rubber tires and monofilament rigging- are protected in their own bag. While all windows necessary for the transport versions are cut into the fuselage molds, those not needed for the Earhart plane are flashed over. It's a simple matter to open them up if you prefer one of the others. Surface detail correctly and delicately replicates the regular raised rivet pattern that was typical of the Lockheed 10. In fact, they're so delicate that the first time I looked at them, I thought they were recessed lines! It'll definitely be a challenge to eliminate the centerline fuselage seam without destroying the rivets. You'll also find occasional thin flash on smaller parts that'll need to be cleaned up, but that's no surprise to fans of WILLIAMS BROS. Decals are by SCALE-MASTER and the instructions helpfully identify parts that can be eliminated to make construction easier for the less experienced modeler. The WILLIAMS BROS Lockheed 10 is a well-done kit and will undoubtedly sell very well. In spite of all that, the serious modeler -and especially the hard core 1/48 enthusiast- will look at the box and ask one all important question..."Why 1/53 scale?" And I don't have an answer for you. Granted, the wingspan -as I have been told- is only 1/4" short, but then everything else on the model is proportionately smaller as well. When built as a stand-alone model, mounted on a stand, pedestal or other kind of base, you'll never notice. BUT when included in a comprehensive 1/48 constant scale collection, it'll stand out like a black orchid in a field of petunias! 1/53 or not, it's a long needed kit of an aircraft most of us never thought we'd see. To buy or not to buy. It's your choice. Aficionados of 1/32 scale WW-1 biplanes don't have a lot to choose from. For most subjects, it's usually a question of either major conversions or scratchbuilding. It also means being forced to include slight -and not so slight- scale variations in their collections. The line of REVELL-MONOGRAM 1/28 biplanes comes particularly to mind. Once you decide to include 1/28 in your 1/32 collection, the next question is where do you find 1/28 superdetail components to enhance the kits? Fortunately, there’s no need to look any farther than COPPER STATE MODELS, 3245 E. Hillery Drive, Phoenix, Arizona 85032, USA. They offer quite a number of resin castings and nickel silver alloy photo-etch detail sets in 1/28, 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72. Also eight complete WW-I aircraft kits in 1/48. You can find a full list on their web site at COPPER STATE MODELS So what are their products like? Since I happen to have both the old 1/28 kit of the Dr-1 Triplane as well as the newer D-VII, I was attracted to the 1/28 set (#113) German Gauge Film & PE. It sells for $7.99 and is gorgeous under an OptiVISOR. Gauges are printed on clear film. The nickel silver alloy bezels can be sanded, polished, dull coated or whatever to attain the specific appearance you're looking for. PE parts are included to enable you to replicate the fuselage compass mount assembly. Instructions identify each gauge, along with the proper color for both the instrument face and bezel. Also suggestions for duplicating the instrument bodies and two illustrations for those of you who want to try building up a compass to go with the compass mount. If you build WW-I aircraft, COPPER STATE MODELS is a name you can't afford to forget. See y'all.. Not a moment too soon, either, since ACADEMY has added an excellent 1/48 North American F-86F-30 Sabre Jet to their line.
.
All photos by Tony Weddel.