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Seattle Chapter IPMS-USANovember 2000

In This Issue

Pearl Harbor Project 3High Planes Update 4Vancouver Show Report 4October Meeting Photos 6Revell Rafale M 8Sharpening X-Acto Blades 9Bobby Allison’s Monte Carlo

10BAC Lightning Colors 14Golden Age Stars of IPMS 16

Well, I’m finally getting back on track,modeling-wise, since the great unpleasant-ness of September. I felt well enough totravel in October, so Jill and I took a shorttrip to Reno to celebrate our 25 yearstogether and we returned with pocketssomewhat emptier. However, we may goback some day to visit our money. Need-less to say, I won’t be going out any timesoon to the local hobby emporium to buythat new Tamiya RC Tiger tank! I’mfuriously (?) working on the balance of myKorean project aircraft, which should all becomplete for the display at the Museum ofFlight on February 10 and 11 of ’01. I havealso started a few new things, figuresmostly, and have been working on some ofthe “half-builts” that have been floating onthe perimeter of my bench for the lastseveral months such as my Me 410, Bv141, and my Star Wars speeder bikediorama. I’ve made up quite a bit of time, tothe expense of spreading the rest of thebeauty bark in the yard (no lifting - thanksdoc), and I think I’ll make my goal ofcompleting over a dozen models this year.That includes at least one tank (withzimmerit!), one ship, and one auto. Justgotta keep that diversity! Unfortunately,we won’t have the Pentathlon as acategory at the spring meet so I don’t havea goal to meet for my next tank, ship, orauto...

Speaking of the Pentathlon, since only thesame few modelers attempted it, it wasdecided to drop the category as part of ourspring show. I thoroughly enjoyedbuilding for that category as it made me amore well-rounded modeler and I will missit. That said and done, I would like toreplace the Pentathlon with anothercategory, one that perhaps more modelerswould participate in. What I would like topropose is a category similar to what figurepainters have called the painters class,where one subject is selected well inadvance and on show day you havemultiple entries of the same subject, allpainted alike, and judged on the merits ofthe painted figure. Even though the

subject matter is identical, the variousmethods in finishing the model are oftenquite diverse. My suggestion is along thesame lines - for example, the subject couldbe the Tamiya F2A Brewster Buffalo in1/48th scale, built to match the colorscheme on the box top. That’s it. Param-eters can be set such that the model has tobe built box stock, using kit decals, or thatall bets are off - you can do whatever youwant to the model (aftermarket parts, etc),as long as it is finished in the box artmarkings. Subject matter is limited only tothe imagination of our group as a wholewith some sort of vote as to what would beselected for the first year and then thewinner of the first, and subsequentwinners choosing the subject for the nextyear. It’s too late to have something for the’01 spring meet but we can select a subjectand give everyone a whole year to finishfor ’02! Remember, any subject, any scale.Let me know your thoughts.

Another suggestion, although on asomewhat more whimsical level, is “bor-rowing” the modelfying category from theMuseum of Flight contest, which will notbe held this next year. Modelfying wastaking a selected subject, and creating“something” interesting. I know it’s hard

Continued on page 15

SEATTLE CHAPTER CONTACTS

President: Vice President: Treasurer: Editor:Terry Moore Keith Laird Norm Filer Robert Allen3612 - 201st Pl. S.W. 528 South 2nd Ave. 16510 N.E. 99th 12534 NE 128th Way #E3Lynnwood, WA 98036 Kent, WA 98032 Redmond, WA 98052 Kirkland, WA 98034Ph: 425-774-6343 Ph: 253-854-9148 Ph: 425-885-7213 Ph: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

IPMS Seattle Web Site (Webmasters, Jon Fincher & Tracy White): http://www.ipms-seattle.org

Public Disclaimers, Information, and Appeals for Help

This is the official publication of the Seattle Chapter, IPMS-USA. As such, it serves as the voice for our Chapter, and depends largelyupon the generous contributions of our members for articles, comments, club news, and anything else involving plastic scale modeling andassociated subjects. Our meetings are generally held each month, (see below for actual meeting dates), at the Washington National Guard Armory,off 15th Ave. NW, just to the west side of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. See the back page for a map. Our meetings begin at 10:00 AM, and usuallylast for two to three hours. Our meetings are very informal, and are open to any interested plastic modeler, regardless of interests. Modelers areencouraged to bring their models to the meetings. Subscriptions to the newsletter are included with the Chapter dues. Dues are $24 a year, andmay be paid to Norm Filer, our Treasurer. (See address above). We also highly recommend our members join and support IPMS-USA, thenational organization. See below for form. Any of the members listed above will gladly assist you with further information about the Chapter orSociety.

The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual writers, and do not constitute the official position of theChapter or IPMS-USA. You are encouraged to submit any material for this newsletter to the editor. He will gladly work with you and see thatyour material is put into print and included in the newsletter, no matter your level of writing experience or computer expertise. The newsletter iscurrently being edited using a PC, and PageMaker 6.5. Any Word or WordPerfect document for the PC would be suitable for publication. Articlescan also be submitted via e-mail, to the editor’s address above. Deadline for submission of articles is generally twelve days prior to the nextmeeting. Please call me at 425-823-4658 if you have any questions.

If you use or reprint the material contained in the newsletter, we would appreciate attribution both to the author and the sourcedocument. Our newsletter is prepared with one thing in mind; this is information for our members, and all fellow modelers, and is prepared andprinted in the newsletter in order to expand the skills and knowledge of those fellow modelers.

Upcoming Meeting DatesThe IPMS/Seattle 2000/2001 meeting schedule is as follows. To avoid conflicts with previously scheduled IPMS events and NationalGuard activities at the Armory, please note that some of our meeting days fall on the third Saturday of the month, not the traditionalsecond Saturday. We suggest that you keep this information in a readily accessable place. All meetings begin at 10:00 AM.

November 11, 2000 December 9, 2000January 13, 2001 February 10, 2001

IPMS Seattle Chapter Newsletter


Pearl Harbor Project

by Terry D. Moore

The year 2001 marks the 60th anniversaryof the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led tothe United States’ entry into WW II. Aswith the current Korean war project thatnumerous members are participating in,this one is to be displayed at the Octobershow in Vancouver, BC, and other venuesduring the year. Subject matter must berelated in some way to the events ofDecember 7, 1941 and there are no limita-tions on scale. We are looking for modelsof any vintage, whether it’s something youbuilt 20 years ago or are starting next week.An important consideration is participationby the members so any model will bewelcome at the level to which you buildmodels. It’s not necessary to finishsomething to a higher level than you areused to. It is supposed to be a fun,relaxing, enjoyable hobby so build howwould normally build for your self-enjoyment. Subject matter is limited only toships, aircraft, personnel, and vehicles thatare representative of the events of the day.

Japanese subjects can include any of thesix carriers, Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu,Zuikaku, Shokaku, or any other vessels ofthe striking force for which there aremodels of; Japanese aircraft including theAichi Type 99 carrier dive bomber,Nakajima B5N high level bomber/torpedobomber, and the Mitsubishi Reisen Type00 carrier fighter (all to be known later bythe Allies as Val, Kate, and Zeke).

On the American side the ships aresomewhat limited to the Arizona and theWard in plastic, but there are some resinkits of other American vessels available.Aircraft are very well represented withGrumman Wildcats, Brewster Buffalos,Douglas Dauntlesses, PBY Catalinas, andothers on the Navy side as well as P-26s,P-36s, P-40s, B-17s and others on the AirCorps side. There were a number of civilaircraft involved (a J-3 Cub, for one) andany civilian vehicle prior to 1941 vintagewill be accepted. Sailors, soldiers andairmen can be represented by any figure

available, and if you have any informationon armored vehicles that were stationed atany of the bases on Oahu that day, theycan also be displayed.

If interest warrants there may be a smallportion of the display devoted to theaircraft used in big screen portrayals of theattack including Tora Tora, Tora, Victoryat Sea, The Final Countdown (F-14s vsZeros!), and the new “Pearl Harbor” movie,among others. It will be a pleasure to haveyour model(s) as part of the display. Foradditional information contact AndrewBirkbeck, 206-522-3539 or Terry Moore,425-774-6343.

Hubris

I apologise for the October newsletterbeing printed in italics. I certainly didn’tplan it that way. Perhaps saying that “Youshouldn’t notice any difference in thismonth’s newsletter” was tempting fate...

You’ll find that this month’s newsletter iscomposed primarily of articles from outsidethe chapter. Remember, this is yournewsletter: any articles submitted by IPMSSeattle members for the December issuewill be gratefully accepted!


High Planes Update

via Keith Laird

New releases from High Planes Models forOctober are:

72033: 1/72nd Hawker Sea Fury F 10 and FB11. Decals for Royal Australian Navy (BlueNW/115); Canadian late scheme (NAVY117); and Royal Navy F.10 (802 Sqn Q /107)in initial scheme. Cost is Aus $26.00 pluspost at 20 percent.

Race 72016: 1/72nd North American A-36AApache NX4E/ 15 from the 1947 Clevelandraces. Overall light grey with red trim and

Terry notes: This is a still from a motion picture film taken during the Pearl Harborattack. Note that the explosion is directed to the right. Almost all of the programs that

show this clip have the explosion directed to the left, which is wrong! The film isbackwards! It’s a small thing but it bugs me whenever I see it.

four-blade propeller. Cost is Aus $26.00plus 20 percent postage.

Next month - 1/48 Bearcat racer Conquest1, then more Mirage IIIC/CJ and E, BearcatAmerican jet (1/72 and 1/48), Sea FuryMiss Merced.

Greg Meggs, High Planes Models.

IPMS Vancouver ShowReport

by Robert Allen

The IPMS Vancouver Fall Model Showwas held on October 7 at the BonsorRecreation Centre in the Vancouver suburbof Burnaby. If this report is a little light onspecifics, please excuse me; I didn’t know Iwas going to be writing it until the showwas over! If I can get a list of IPMS Seattlewinners in time for the next newsletter, I’llprint it then. As it was my first visit to theVancouver show, it was an interestingexperience to contrast it with our Seattlecontest. Being held upstairs in a recreationcenter instead of an armory, there wereswimmers wrapped in towels wanderingthe building, rather than armed troops. Thecenter is directly opposite a mall thatmakes SouthCenter look like a Mom andPop grocery store, which came in quitehandy when looking for a cash machine.Speaking of the vendors’ room, thevendors were located around the perimeterof the main display room rather than intheir own space, which meant that youcould cruise the mountains of kits and lookat the completed models at the same time.The exchange rate made the vendors’tables especially attractive; for example, Ipicked a Matchbox Lightning T.55 for theequivalent of $2.70 US, and am still ruingleaving behind a Fujimi Ki-43 Oscar thatwas available for $6.75 US. Oh, well.

There was a stage at one end of the room,where the awards were presented, andfrom which models were raffled off duringthe day. In addition to the primary room,there was a second room that containedarmor and ship models, which also servedto hold a demonstration of building horror-themed kits – Dracula, Frankenstein, andthat sort of thing.

From the modeling side of things, I’d loveto give you the exact number of entries,but every number I heard was different.Suffice it to say that there were probablymore entries than at this year’s MOF show,

Continued on page 16


Left: The IPMS Seattle Korean War Display

Right: A general view of the primary displayroom. Note the vendors in the background.

Left: The gorgeous 1/48th scale HawkerHurricane that deservedly won BestBattle of Britain subject, and Best

Aircraft.

Photos From the VancouverShow

Photos taken from IPMS Aces Wild, IPMSVancouver, and our own IPMS Seattle web

sites.


Photos From the October IPMS Seattle Meeting

These photos are just part of an excellentselection of photos from the Octobermeeting that can be seen at the newlyrevamped IPMS Seattle web site atwww.ipms-seattle.org

Unfortunately, I have no idea who was thephotographer!

Above: Two of Carl Kietzke’s NASCARmodels. Number 16 is the TV Guide Ford

of Kevin Lepage in an early seasonscheme. Number 3 is yet another of Dale

Earnhardt’s “one-off” paint jobs.

Top right: A nice overall view of themodel table.

Bottom right: Bill Osborn’s 1/72ndAmodel kit of the Sukhoi Su-26 aerobatic

plane. Note the quarter sitting by themodel, to give it scale! This is one of the

kits that Bill so delicately discussed in hisarticle in last month’s newsletter.


Right: Terry Moore’s 1/48thscale Monogram B-26 Invader,

built for the Korean Wardisplay.

Left: The vacuform 1/48thscale LaGG-3 that Jacob

Russell wrote about in lastmonth’s newsletter. Looks

just fine to me!


Revell 1/48th Scale DassaultRafale M

by Rick Wilkes, IPMS RoscoeTurner Chapter, Indianapolis

The Kit

Not having built anything without apropeller on it for quite some time Ivolunteered to do this review, mostly for achange of pace. The model was completedstraight from the box, with some changesin the construction sequence as outlinedbelow.

This is the U.S. release of the RevellGermany Dassault Rafale M single seatmulti-role fighter. It comes in the new styleflip top box with a section of carrier deckprinted on the bottom for a display base.In the box you will find four trees of oceangray parts, with a separate bag containingthe clear parts and decals. The initialimpression of the kit is that Revell hasnothing to fear from Tamiya and Hasegawaconcerning the quality of their moldings.The panel lines are all finely recessed andthe clear parts are crystal clear and thin.Under wing stores include drop tanks,missiles, and what appears to be a FLIR/RECCE pod that is not mentioned in theinstructions. From the parts lay out, it isclear that a two-seat version cannot be farbehind.

Instructions

The 8-page instruction manual features ashort history of the Rafale, 42 constructionsteps, and painting/decal instructions fortwo versions.

I found the instructions to be vague anduninformative. The paint call outs arecontained in each step by letter, whichrefers back to a list of Revell of Germanycolors on the front of the instructions. Allthe colors are available here exceptAnthracite Gray for which I substitutedPolly Scale Black (RLM 66). I also substi-tuted Zinc Chromate Yellow for the “LightYellow”. No parts are named, and some

rather compli-cated construc-tion steps arerendered withswoopingarrows andpictures oftweezers andwhat the finalassembly issupposed tolook like. I hadto make severaldry runs,especially onthe landing gear,to ensure I knew

what was supposed to go where and howit was going to get there. I deviated fromthe instructions in several places and willcover those in the construction section

Construction

As is typical these days constructionstarted in the cockpit, which is nicelydetailed. The main instrument panel is clearand requires careful painting to keep thevideo screens clear. The seat is a five-partaffair that will benefit from careful painting/dry brushing to bring out the detail. Dryfitting is essential to determine the preciseplacement of the headrest, as it doesn’treally fit like the instructions show. Of allthe parts I think the seat will be a bigaftermarket item just to get the betterdefinition resin provides. I left the seatassembly, the canopy operating rod (part14), and the heads up display screen (part12) off until final assembly. I left thecanards out of step 8 to make cleaning upthe seam on the fuselage easier. I addedthem during final assembly by cutting theconnecting rod at the first joint leaving astump that press fit into the openings inthe fuselage. The model assembles easilyand with careful trimming and dry fittingno filler should be necessary. The fuselageis split horizontally and the wings will hidemost of the seam. The engraved panellines allow you to easily recover detail lostduring sanding.


Otherwise, as best I could tell, all joints areon panel lines and careful gluing will beenough. I found the fit throughout to beexcellent. The landing gear is very detailedand each main gear leg is made up of fiveparts, two of which have to be fitted upinto the wheel well after the main strut isinstalled, then all nested together, with atotal of five different contact points on thethree pieces. As you may have guessedthis was one of the places that theinstructions were of little help, but acouple of dry runs and slow drying superglue finally got things together. All thelights are clear and I left these off untilfinal assembly. In hindsight, I would installthe leading edge lights during step 13,then mask them off, rather than addingthem later. One drawback is that the kitsuffers from the see-through effect.Apparently the intake ducting is classifiedand thus is not provided, so you will needto block the back of the intakes, (stuffingthe interior with a piece of black pantyhosewas recommended to the author) or makeFOD covers to prevent being able to seeout through the main gear wells. Oneoddity, a gear up (in flight) option isoffered, but no pilot figure is provided;must be for the Q-Rafale drone.

Accuracy

I had no dimensions to check against and Idon’t usually do that anyway, but it surelooks like a Rafale to me.

Color Options

Two schemes are given, the RafalePrototype M02 and an operational aircraftfrom Flotille 12F. Your choice of colors isgray, actually Dark Gull Grey FS36231. Thepainting guide indicates a light grayradome and fin tip, but the pictures I foundshowed the Dark Gull Gray overall. Noteven any “ghost” patterns ala the F-16 tospice it up. Gray,..just Gray. Have fun.

Decals

The decals were packed with the clearparts and were nicely printed and inregister. All decals were applied over agloss finish using Micro-Set and Micro-Sol. Although the decals went on easilyand appeared to settle down tight, somesilvering was noticed after a flat coat wasapplied; I would attribute that to me andnot the decals. One note, if you plan to dothe Flotille 12F aircraft, be ready for at leasttwo days of applying decals. There areover 100 stencils and maintenance

markings to apply and it works best to goin stages. One other comment on theinstructions here, the decal placementguide is less than half of an 8 ½ by 11sheet of paper and, given the number ofdecals, it is very crowded and confusing. Ieventually began to mark out the decalnumbers I had applied to keep track ofwhat I had done, and what was next.

Conclusion and Recommendation

This was the first modern jet I have builtsince returning to the hobby seven yearsago and I must say I enjoyed it. The Rafalewas an easy build for the most part, inspite of the instructions. Not quite in the“beer and pretzel” category, but certainlywithin the capabilities of most modelers.Highly recommended.

I’d like to thank Tom Metzler for donatingthis kit to our chapter for build up review.The finished kit may be seen at Metzler’sHobby Center in Indianapolis.

My Kingdom for a SharpBlade

by George A. Tupper, IPMSCentral New Jersey

For those of you who use about a millionX-Acto blades per year, here is a little tip.If you take the X-Acto blade, while still inthe knife, and scrape it on the edge of theunglazed ring of ceramic found on thebottom of most mugs, the blade willsharpen right up again! The unglazed parton the bottom of the mug is abrasiveenough to resharpen the cutting edge ofthe blade, and the great thing is that youcan find mugs all over the place, unlike adirty old sharpening stone, which seem toget constantly lost. Being the investigativegenius that I am, I was immediately able topiece together the fact that a ceramic floortile’s reverse side was also a great sharp-ener. Clever, huh? The fact is that anythingceramic will work very well. Oh yes…besure to empty your mug before you turn itupside down.


Bobby Allison’s 1972 CokeMonte Carlo

by Les Smirle, IPMS Toronto

Background - NASCAR in the Early 70’s –A State of Transition

The years from 1970 to 1972 were years oftransition on several fronts in NASCAR.1970 was the last year of the big bankrollsfrom the manufacturers, as Ford andChrysler curtailed support, cutting backdramatically on the number of teamschosen as “Factory Teams.” These werethe teams who were bankrolled by the BigThree, and who got the new parts - andengineers “on sabbatical” during the

summer who just happened to be found invarious NASCAR pits.

Gone were Chrysler’s “Winged Wonders”and the big Talledegas and Maraudersfrom the Ford camp. GM had bailed out afew years earlier, around 1968. AMC wasstill a joke; it wasn’t until about 1974 thatRoger Penske, ironically, with Allison asone of his drivers, made them into re-spected competitors.

Reasons given for the factory money’sdisappearance stemmed from frustration atNASCAR, perceived by each manufactureras showing bias to the other (Ford wereupset when their DOHC 427 c.i. monsterwas banned; Chrysler felt their HEMI wasoverly restricted...etc., etc...). As well, thecost of all this support probably had alsogone well past the point of diminishing

returns for the value of the publicity -don’t forget, in 1970, NASCAR was stillprimarily a regional sport.

The construction of the cars themselveswas just finishing a transition as well. Upuntil about 1962, a NASCAR stock car wasmade by taking a showroom vehicle, andadding a rollcage inside, beefier suspen-sion, etc., to make the car safe and durablefor the track. Holman-Moody in 1962began the steps that resulted in the currentpractice where a race-intent tube chassis isbuilt from the ground up, and appropriatesheet-metal hung on it. This process wasjust completing its evolution in the early1970s when the car represented by thismodel was built.

Bobby Allison – Triumphs and Tragedy

The career of Bobby Allison is a poignantblend of personal triumph and winningways, along with stunning personaltragedy, and wrong decisions made. Hecame out of Florida in the late 1950s andsettled in Alabama, to be near theNASCAR scene, after a successful careeron short tracks in his home state. Hebegan racing modifieds around the state,and built up a strong following, but hismove to the big circuit was slow. By 1965he had only entered eight GN races.

Finally, in 1966, he was able to run a fullschedule, and got three wins. Unfortu-nately, Allison got an early reputation forbeing quick to jump from ride to ride thatprevented him from achieving his fullpotential early. One of the biggest ex-

amples of this was his decision to leavethe Junior Johnson team after just oneseason, as he found Junior uncommunica-tive and hard to read. Junior replaced himwith Cale Yarborough, who went on athree-year tear, becoming the superstar ofthe day. Bobby moved around to variousrides over the next few years, oftenbuilding and fielding his own cars. In spiteof all this, he won 84 races in a career thatended in 1988 in a serious crash at Pocono,where he received head injuries thatrequired many months of recovery. He wasnever able to drive competitively again. Hewon one Championship, in 1984.

Further tragedy struck in the early 90s ashis two sons were killed within a year ofeach other, Clifford in BGN practice atMichigan in 1992, and rising superstarDavey in a helicopter accident at Talladegain 1993.

The Coke Machine

During the latter part of 1970, when Bobbywas driving a Charger for Mario Rossi, helanded a sponsorship from Coca-Cola for1971. When he went to Johnson for 1972,Coke went with him, and followed him laterto his own team in 1973.

By 1972, Junior Johnson-built cars werelargely “formula NASCAR” cars beneaththe skin, as most others were also becom-ing. Allison had for years built his owncars, even when driving for someone else.If he thought it suited a particular trackbetter than those Junior was preparing forhim, Allison would haul out the MonteCarlo modeled here. It represents one ofthe Allison-built cars from that era. Being a“home-built”, it still used the Monte Carlochassis, and thus was a bit of a throwback.

One of its most notable wins came in 1972at Trenton, New Jersey, when he chose todrive it, rather than the Johnson-preparedcar, and won the race. This must have beenvery satisfying for him, as he mentioned itspecifically eleven years later, in aninterview in the July ‘83 issue of GrandNational Illustrated. According to theGNI interview, although Allison went onand won the race, Johnson was not happyat the rejection of his cars.


The model represents the car as it was runin that 1972 race in Trenton, New Jersey.

The Model - Planning the Project

Once the decision is made on what youwant to build, there is a need to determinethe best route to go. Often that is relativelysimple - buy the kit, buy the decals - put itall together. Works real well if you’rebuilding any NASCAR ride since about1983! For anything earlier, the choice ismore difficult, as the field of NASCARracing was only occasionally given a nod,such as the MPC and AMT series of theearly seventies. Where to start on a ‘72Monte Carlo?

Up until recently there were only threechoices if you wished to build this car.Shown in the picture to the right are two ofthem, the Bobby Allison Monte Carlo byAMT, or the Coo Coo Marlin Monte fromMPC. There was a third option, not shown,this being to convert one of the old AMTCraftsman Montes to a stocker. None ofthese options are particularly attractiveunless you have deep pockets! There wasalso a resin body made, but it was not anattractive option, either. You would stillneed something to provide the GM frame.

Around January - February of 1998,however, the “1970 Monte Carlo Lowrider”was introduced by AMT. This provided anopportunity to replicate Bobby’s 1972 rideat a reasonable cost (We auto modelbuilders are notoriously cheap...). Theother reason I used the newer kit, besidescost and availability, was the fact that bothchassis in the older NASCAR versionsbore little resemblance to the original car Iwished to model, and were, in fact,compromises to any then-current buildingpractice. Making a racing chassis from thenew kit’s Monte Carlo frame was more inline with how Allison built the original car.

My strategy then, became to utilize thelowrider body and chassis, and leave theolder kits untouched on my shelf (as partof my “shelf queen” collection...). Therollcage and other chassis bits would comefrom a donor Monogram T-Bird NASCARkit from the mid-eighties. Tires that wouldbe appropriate for the era were resin-cast

items from Nostalgia Racing Miniatures,one of the pioneers in filling NASCARmodeling gaps. I chose to try and build thecar as it appeared at Trenton, New Jersey,in 1972, for reasons the next section willmake clear.

Finding Reference Material

Face it, the only reason I knew this carexisted was from the AMT box art... I knewthat Allison had Coke sponsorship duringhis career, but I associated it more with theChargers of 1970, and the 1973 vintageMonte Carlo and Chevelle (another AMTkit). Finding reference for those is fairly

easy, if you can access older Stock CarRacing issues. The first-generation 1971-72 Monte Carlo, as built and driven byBobby, was what I was trying to model,and is not well-documented in any of myreference sources. I found three black andwhite photos of the car; two in theNovember 1972 issue of Stock CarRacing, and one in a recent commemora-tive story on Bobby in Winston CupScene. I worked from those, plus the AMTbox art. I also learned that this car (or oneof the Johnson-built ones) was used in themovie The Last American Hero, about thelife of Junior Johnson, but I chose not tofollow up on this as a reliable source. Thebad news is references were scarce; thegood news is, who’s gonna question myaccuracy?

Zen and the Art of Model Building

A lot of modeling is state of mind - themore enthusiasm you have for the particu-lar topic, the better it usually turns out,

right? We’ve all gotten into a project thatwe realize too late is not going to meet ourexpectations. Years ago, I picked up a trickfrom a very experienced street rod modelbuilder named Tim Boyd. He always mocksup the finished product from the chosencomponents as a motivator. My simplemock-up temporarily mounted the wheelsin the body shell’s wheel wells, to see howit would look. Very encouraging, so Iproceeded with the building of the chassis,and the body modifications.

Building the Frame

As mentioned earlier, a unique feature ofthis particular car was the factthat it used the GM frame it wasborn with, rather than a fabri-cated one, as was becomingcommon practice by 1972. Thus, Itook the excellent AMT frame,which is a separate piece in thiskit, and boxed the top of the frontmembers with sheet plastic, sothey looked beefier.

I test-fitted the engine block fromthe Monte Carlo, but mated it tothe standard tranny from the T-Bird kit. We’ll all pretend it’s a

Muncie rock-crusher from GM, right? Atleast it’s better for this application than thestock Turbo-Hydramatic that came in thekit!

Building the Chassis

The interior shell for the stock Monte hasthe cowl and rear seat molded in. The sidepieces, which I would not be using, werefortunately separate. The rear seat was cutout, and replaced with sheet plastic, andthe heater/air conditioning unit wasremoved from the firewall. Again, the holewas filled with sheet plastic. The gas tankwas cut out, and replaced with the raceversion from the Monogram T-Bird chassis(fuel cells were in use in NASCAR by thistime). At this point, I began the process ofmodifying the T-Bird rollcage to mount onthe AMT Monte Carlo floor pan/chassis.Since I was fitting the parts from a 1/24thkit into a 1/25th kit, using car bodies thathave different heights and proportions,and different front windshield rakes,several modifications to the rollcage were


needed. This is where another conceptcalled “Eyeball Engineering” came in. Thisone came from a West Coast Street Rodmodel builder (darned innovative, thosestreet rod modelers!) named PryorPassorino. By looking at the top of thecage, I realized that the windshield rakecould be followed if I removed the cage’sA-pillar bars, flipped them upside down,exchanged left for right, and re-installedthem, as they had a kink at the bottom. Ialso slightly chopped the cage, as theMonte had a lower roofline. Along withthis, there was a need to remove someplastic from the base of the cage, so thatthe top sidebars would be below thebottom of the body side windows.

Due to the proportional differences(location of greenhouse relative towheelbase) between the two bodies, I hadto shift the rear wheel wells on the rollcageforward, and extend the sides to match upwith the Monte Carlo firewall. Significantcutting and trial-fitting was needed tomodify the Monte Carlo suspension bits tolower the suspension and provide a slightrake to the profile. During this era carswere typically a couple inches or morehigher in the rear. This was done as ameans to “wedge” the body for betterdown force. This was accomplished on themodel by shortening the springs in smallincrements and test-fitting until the body,sitting on the chassis, “looked right.” Thewheels were modified to accept theMonogram wheel backings, which were inturn modified to attach to the AMTspindles and rear axle. Again, “EyeballEngineering” with lots of patience andtest-fitting is the name of the game.

Modifying the Body

In a process parallel to the building of thechassis, I made the body modificationsthat would turn the street legal body intoone with all the then-allowed changes toproduce the NASCAR GN version. Theside trim, wipers, and insignia were sandedoff, and the inner fenders were cut away. Ahole was made in the left rear quarter panelfor the fuel intake, and the fender openingswere enlarged to match photos. In order toensure the openings remained centeredproperly, I had tack-glued the resin wheels

onto the frame/chassis unit, and didfrequent test-fitting while grinding awaythe fenders, to ensure the material wasremoved from the right place to keep thewheels centered in the openings.

The headlight lenses were glued into thebezels, basically as fillers, then they wereputtied over and sanded smooth. Were I todo this again, I’d likely substitute sheetplastic for the lenses, and donate them to areplica-stock building friend...they werequite nice. A drill whose diameter equaledthat of the hoodpins from the T-Bird donorkit was used to countersink holes in thehood and rear deck to accept thehoodpins. These were not put on until themodel was completely built and polishedout.

The final touch was to add a small spoileron the trunk, made from an appropriatelength of Plastruct L-strip. The final stepwas to apply a coat of primer, to reveal anyrough areas from the sanding, and smooththem, using filler if needed.

Detailing the Chassis

Once I had worked out the rollcage, andgotten a good fit to the floor pan/chassis,everything was painted in grey primer. Ithen began adding other items to thechassis, to complete detailing it out. Theengine, wheels, dashboard, and seat weredetailed out and added, along with variouscomponents inside the rollcage - the rearend cooler, drink cooler, shifter, fire bottle,etc. All these parts, except the seat, camefrom the donor T-Bird kit. The seat is froma mid-eighties Buick Regal NASCAR kit byMonogram, and represents the quality ofseats in use at the time.

The headers and exhaust also came fromthe T-Bird, and were mated up to the big-block engine in the AMT kit, along with ahigh-rise manifold, and T-Bird carburetor,to simulate a NASCAR big block from theera. The oil pan was sectioned to make itshallower - at this point, drysump engineswere not yet part of the NASCAR formula -no external oil pumps or hoses as areprevalent today.

Rollcage padding was made by cutting 14gauge black appliance wire to proper

lengths, then splitting them down themiddle, removing the copper core, andsnapping the insulation over any rollbarsthat might contact the driver in a crash. Anet was made from a small square ofaluminum screening, and strips of maskingtape, painted white after assembly as onthe prototype. A headrest was fabricatedand added to the cage behind the seat.(This would be completely unacceptablefrom a safety standpoint in today’s racingworld, in any pro series!)

Since the fuel tank and trunk interior wouldnot be visible or accessible on the finishedmodel, no effort was made to detail them.(One of the beauties of building NASCARmodels is that there is lots of sheet-metalto hide all the nasty chassis bits you don’tget quite right...)

Painting and Detailing the Body

Next step was to finish the body, bypainting, adding decals, chrome foil, frontand rear glass, and the fuel filler. The fuelfiller was simulated by a small section ofplastic tubing glued to a small piece ofsheet plastic as a backing, which wasglued to the inside of the rear fender, withthe tubing centered in the fuel access hole.

A second coat of primer was applied, andwet-sanded smooth with 1200 grit paper. Iuse automotive touch-up primer, appliedstraight from the aerosol can, heated in hottap water. The addition of heat improvesthe smoothness of the primer coats in twoways. First, the heat causes the viscosityof the material in the can to lower, so itflows better on the surface. As well, theheat raises the spray pressure inside thecan, causing higher atomizing on spraying,and finer droplets. This all contributes to asmooth, orange peel-free finish.

SAFETY CONCERNS: Just don’t overdothe heat as this could burst the can. Aswell, automotive paints contain strongsolvents, and should only be sprayed inwell ventilated areas, away from areas ofnormal household activities. Keep fumesand paint away from children.

Once a good smooth primer coat has beenachieved, I applied the gold metallic that isthe primary color on the horizontals. The


color used was a Canadian Tire goldmetallic touch-up lacquer from an aerosolcan. All the handling concerns and spraytechniques that apply to the primer aboveapply here as well. After a day or so to dry,the gold was masked off using Tamiyamasking tape, which has an excellent sharpedge for clean separation between colors. Iuse it to define the masked areas, then useregular masking tape to fill in the area to bemasked (cost sensitivity again!). Be surethere are no gaps that will let oversprayfrom the second color get under the tapeand onto the first color! I chose the shadeof touch-up lacquer for the areas to be red(the sides) by taking the after market decalsheet to the CTC shop, and finding a goodmatch.

The model was “demasked” after theapplication of the second color. Theseparation line was lightly sanded, tosmooth it, then the whole body was clearcoated with Tamiya TS-13 clear from thewarmed aerosol can (see above). Theentire body was then lightly wet-sandedwith 1200 grit paper, and a second coat ofclear applied. At this point, with a smooth,glossy surface, it was time for decalapplication. Valium please...

The decals used were sourced from anonline NASCAR modeling suppliescompany - BSR Replicas. Their website,http://www.BSRREP.com, is ideal forsearching for NASCAR needs andordering via the ‘net. The body wasremoved from the chassis for decalapplication. When I received the decal set,I was pleasantly surprised to see that

complete markings for the Carlings car ofCanadian NASCAR pioneer Earl Ross werealso on the sheet. No idea why...did hedrive for Junior back then? Obviously, I’llneed to research and build Earl’s car aswell!

I prefer to clearcoat my decals once theyare well-dried in place. This protects them,and allows me to polish to a better shine.Use airbrush, or heat the aerosol can (ascovered earlier), and apply in thin coats.Do not panic and/or touch the decal if itappears to wrinkle a bit after applying thefirst thin coat of clear. It will usually drysmooth enough to accept 2 - 3 more lightcoats of clear, then after 24 hours minimum,polishing. I usually use Tamiya TSl3 clear

right from the warmed rattle-can. Applyingin very thin coats, with 1- 2 hours ofdrying between, plus some light sandingto remove decal edges, and to improvesmoothness. Final step is to polish theclearcoat, using Turtle brand wax. I wentover the top, and got one of my best everfinishes on the Coke car, far glossier than Isuspect the subject car really ever was! (ifI were a military or railroad modeler, I’dspray on a coat of Grimy Something-or-Other...)

Now windshield and backlight wereepoxied in place. I used those from theAMT kit, trimmed slightly on the interior toclear rollcage components.

Final assembly step was to mate thepainted and detailed body, frame, andchassis, then attach the front and rear

bumper/grille assemblies, and thehoodpins. I reversed the red plastic reartaillights, and glued them into the stocklocation, and painted them silver, tosimulate crude sheet metal filler panels -common practice in the era, when appear-ances were not up to current corporate-imposed standards. Bare Metal Foil wasused for windshield trim, and to cover therear spoiler. Final touch was to fabricate achin spoiler out of printer’s aluminum, andepoxy behind front bumper.

Final Thoughts

And there I had it, a very satisfying modelof a little-known but significant car in thecareer of Bobby Allison. After his forcedretirement from racing, Bobby became a carowner, but struggled to keep sponsorshipsand competitive drivers. By 1997, the teamwas folded, and Bobby was largely out ofthe NASCAR picture, apart from a fewpromotional and consultant opportunities.A sad and unfair end to an illustriouscareer. To see Allison manhandle this carin old footage of Darlington, runnin’ door-to-door with the Factory Boys, such asPearson, Petty and Yarborough, and, forthat matter, his brother Donnie, was to seeNASCAR in its finest hours!

Reference Sources

Grand National Illustrated, July 1983Stock Car Racing, November 1972Winston Cup Scene, March 1998

Materials List

AMT - “Lowrider Monte Carlo” - body/frame/floor panMonogram - “Maxwell House T-Bird” -rollcageNostalgia Race Miniatures - tires/rimsMonogram Buick NASCAR - seat, shifter,coolersBSR Replicas - decalsCanadian Tire - paint, primer, sandpaperTurtle WaxTamiya - TS 13 aerosol clearcoat


BAC Lightning Colors inRAF Service

by Gavin Stratford, IPMS WestGlamorgan, UK

RAF Lightnings wore a range of schemesthrough their careers. Early schemes (up tothe mid 70s) were based around the overallnatural polished metal (NM) finish of theaircraft. This scheme included the colorful56 sqn Firebirds and the 74 sqn TigerSchemes and adorned all marks of theLightning from F.1 through to F.6. A 56 sqnmachine is shown below.

However in the 1970s, camouflagedschemes came into vogue as the need tohide the aircraft on the ground and theswitch to lower level intercept operationsdictated tactics. These schemes werebased on the RAF’s then-current low levelcamouflage palette of Dark Green (DG) andDark Sea Grey (DSG). For example, 92 sqnF.2A aircraft were painted overall DG onthe upper surfaces while other F.3 and F.6squadrons adopted DG and DSG camou-flage patterns on the upper surfaces (seephoto at top of page 15) while the lowersurfaces remained NM for both schemes.

In the early 80’s, both the Phantom andLightning squadrons adopted the thencurrent trend of Low-Viz “Air DefenceGrey” schemes. Lightning colors adaptedcombinations of Light Aircraft Grey (LAG),Medium Sea Grey (MSG), Dark Sea Grey(DSG), and the new Barley Grey (BG).Incidentally, Barley Grey has nothing to dowith cereal crops, rather it is named afterits inventor, Mr. PJ Barley, who devised thecolor at the Farnborough Defence Re-search Establishment.

Lightnings seemed to have used severalvariations of color combinations from theLow-Viz palette and the more commonones are listed here.

Low-Viz no. 1

BG on the fin and fuselage sides for threequarters of the fuselage depth. The lowerfuselage and under surfaces were LAG.The refuelling probe was BG and thisscheme often involved a false canopypainted on the underside of the fuselagebelow the actual cockpit using a silver/NMeffect.

Low-Viz no. 2

Similar to the above scheme but with thefuselage BG color only extending half waydown the fuselage. LAG makes up theremainder of the scheme.

Dark Sea Grey Low-Viz

Similar to the Low-Viz no. 1 scheme butwith DSG replacing BG on the fuselage andfin. The lower fuselage is MSG and BGreplaces LAG for the under surfaces.When used on the F.3 version, the smallF.3 belly tank was left in a aluminum/NMfinish.

Medium Sea Grey Low-Viz

Similar to the Medium Sea Grey Low-Vizbut with MSG replacing DSG on thefuselage, BG replacing MSG on the lowerfuselage and LAG on the under surfaces.

Details

The nose cone was generally dark green,with a hint of brown in it. The HumbrolRAF Dark Green is a good match for thiscolor, especially if a spot of Humbrol 29Earth Brown is added. Towards the end ofits career, some Lightnings were seen withnatural fiberglass (faded tan color)radomes. In all cases, the radomes had apolished metal tip.

The ring around the nose intake and thearea immediately adjacent to the exhaustpipes were polished steel.

The interior of the wheel wells and doorsand wheel hubs were aluminum and thecockpit interior was light/medium grey.

Color matches

Light Aircraft Grey = BS.627 = FS.36440 =Humbrol 166

Medium Sea Grey = BS.637 = FS.36270 =Humbrol 165

Dark Sea Grey = BS.638 = FS.36076 =Humbrol 164

Dark Green = BS.641 = FS.34064 = Humbrol163

Barley Grey = BS 18B21 = FS.36314 =Humbrol 167

I have compared Humbrol paints to actualBritish Standard color chips and they are avery good match and are recommended.


Preznotes from page 1

for most modelers to take a P-38 andconvert it into a pair of great white sharks,but it’s been done, it’s fun, and you don’tneed to worry about correct colors ormarkings! Anyway, something else tothink about whilst you’re working on thatumpteenth Me 109...

Last, but not least: READ THIS. IN THELAST ISSUE YOU WERE ALL GIVEN ASCHEDULE FOR OUR MEETINGS FOR2001. EVERYONE SHOULD HAVECLIPPED IT AND PUT IT IN YOURWALLET AS DIRECTED BY THEEDITOR. WELL, TAKE IT OUT OF YOURWALLET AND CHANGE THE AUGUSTDATE FROM THE 11TH TO THE 18TH.ALSO, THE SEPTEMBER DATE IS, ASYET, NOT SET. There, you’ve beenwarned. If you show up on the wrong dateit’s not my fault. So there. And remember,in the immortal words of Stephen Wright,you can’t have everything. Where wouldyou put it?

See you at the meeting,

��

Similarly, I matched the British Standardchops with my Federal Standards fan deckto get as close as match as possible toallow other paint manufacturers systems tobe used.

It is interesting to note that Barley Greywas initially specified as a mix of 20 partsLight Aircraft Grey to 1 part black. Auseful specification if your model paintsupplier doesn’t produce modern RAFcolors!

[Editors’ note: The photos and profileswere gathered from various sources toillustrate Gavin’s article. The two profileson the opposite page are used by permis-sion - basically; he gave me specificpermission to use the Spitfire profile inlast month’s issue, and implied it would beOK to use more in the future, with properattribution - from Rick Kent’s superbcollection of color aircraft drawings atFauconberg Graphics. The web site is athttp://hometown.aol.com/fauconbergand is very highly recommended.]

Above: The Dark Green/Dark Sea Greyscheme, as seen on an F.3.

Below: Two variations of the multi-tonegrey scheme, both on F.6s.


National Guard Armory, Room 1141601 West Armory Way, Seattle

Directions: From North or Southbound I-5, take the 45th St. exit. Drivewest on 45th, crossing under Highway 99 (or Aurora Ave. North) towardN.W. Market Street in Ballard. Continue west on Market St. toward 15thAve N.W. Turn left (south) onto 15th Ave N.W. and drive across theBallard Bridge until you reach Armory Way (just as you see the AnimalShelter.) Watch for signs. Park in the Metro Park & Ride lot.

If coming from the South, take Highway 99 onto the Alaskan Wayviaduct to Western Avenue. Follow Western Ave. north to Elliot Ave.until it turns into 15th Ave N.W., then to Armory Way itself.

Meeting Reminder Saturday, November 1110 AM

but far less than at the IPMS Seattle Marchshow. It was good to see some differentsubjects for a change; Best of Show wentto a magnificent scratchbuilt figure of aNative American on horseback. It was verynice to see something other than anaircraft or tank win the top prize, a trendemphasized when best Junior was won bya model of a dolphin. Best Aircraft went toa stunning 1/48th scale Hurricane, whichwas immaculately detailed, down to thefabric on the gun ports being realisticallytorn. As John Cate commented, I don’tknow how the builder did it. There weretwo fine models of Greg Moore’s CARTReynard, to commemorate the Vancouver-area driver who was tragically killed in thefinal race of 1999. Also worthy of note wasa huge Korean war diorama showing an F-86 base, with a dozen or more Sabres intheir blast pens, many in varying states ofmaintenance.

Somewhere between 10 and 15 IPMSSeattle members made the trip North. Fromour point of view, the highlight was theIPMS Seattle Korean war display, whichwas well received by all. There was onestrange anomaly, or communication glitch.The Korean war display was just that, ondisplay only, while the IPMS Vancouver

club project, an excellent 1/72nd scalediorama of Kenley airfield on August 18,1940, was the only entry in the category inwhich the KW display could have beenentered. As I was one of the judges in thatcategory, it prevented a difficult decision;a straight fight between IPMS Seattle andIPMS Vancouver, with one judge from eachorganization. To be fair, it would have beena difficult decision, for both club projectswere of the highest quality.

The only real glitch was that the judgingtook considerably longer than expected, aproblem that the organizers promised to fixfor next year. Overall, it was a successfulshow, and I quite enjoyed myself.

IPMS Vancouver Show from page 4

Golden Age Stars of IPMS#9

Truth be told, I’ve never been a huge fanof Marilyn Monroe. The ditzy blonderoutine doesn’t do it for me, and hermarriage to Joe Dimaggio has to be themost overanalyzed relationship of the 20th

Century. Still, she had undeniable comedictalent; it’s Monroe, rather than her co-starsin drag, who carries Some Like It Hot, andanyone who contributed to the success ofAll About Eve deserves respect.

Before she became Marilyn, Norma JeanDaugherty worked at Radioplane Co., acompany founded by actor ReginaldDenny, that produced radio-controlledtarget aircraft. In June 1945, a military

photographer was sent to the plant to takephotos of women war workers. He quicklyfound the prettiest girl in the plant – whichis why you see Marilyn holding a modelairplane prop. For what is a radio-con-trolled target but a big model airplane?

Thanks to Will Perry for the photo.

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