volume 12, issue 1 amms brisbane news · above—fox armoured car on the left and f433 abbott spg...

play wargames in the dirt

under the house, up to

those such as the gent in

question, who has raised

what is really a hobby to

an art form, and for that

full recognition and con-

gratulations to him.

I would like to think that

one day I might aspire to

something approaching

his level of excellence, but

given the constraints of

time, skill and physical

flexibility, somehow I

doubt it!

Last but not least, the

photo below, courtesy of

Peter Battle, is of the club

at the December meeting.

The gap is

for our late

great mate

Andy Reid.

RIP

I recently read a post on,

if I recall correctly, Ar-

morama, wherein some-

body was building a Trum-

peter 1/16 King Tiger, and

carrying out just a little (!)

bit of super detailing in the

process.

The amount of detail in-

cluded in this work of art

is astounding. Examples

include:

Real black pigskin for

the leather on the seats

Each periscope has

glass AND mirrored

surfaces so they work

just like the real thing

The gun breech opens

when the handle is

pulled

Each lubricating line

leads to the correct tor-

sion bar

Every pipe, tube, wire,

connection, and clamp

on the engine is includ-

ed

The radio includes all

the correct dials and

labels, and they’re

readable

Full internal wiring har-

ness is included

Two girtsacks for the

hull MG are included,

made out of woven

cloth

The shock absorbers

work

Some would ask why any-

body would go to this ex-

tent (and expense)?

I believe that the answer

is that there are various

levels in our hobby, rang-

ing from those (mostly

kids and we probably did

the same) who slap kits

together so that they can

Editorial (aka Rob’s Rantings)

2 January 2016

Volume 12, Issue 1

AMMS Brisbane News

Inside this issue:

From the Cupola 2-3

Random Images 4-6

AAAM 7-9

Odds & Sods 10

.

AMMS Brisbane News Volume 12, Issue 1

A NEW YEAR, A NEW ERA

Happy New Year to all members and their families and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016.

I am going to use this opportunity to make a few predictions (or whatever you want to call them) for 2016. Just give

me a moment to warm up the ol’ crystal ball. Ready? Okay then here we go!

There will be…….. a bounty of beautiful new kits to stimulate our hobby interests. Seems rather obvious right?

Just look at the announcements from 2015 for example. Things will only get better. That said it would appear that

unfortunately the price of our new kits is going to be much steeper too! Boo!

Here’s one example that I thought I would share, although straying off course a little, I am especially elated that

Dragon have obtained a licence to produce Star Wars model kits with their first announcement a 1:35 Imperial AT-

AT !!!!!! Woo Hoo! Should be an absolute ball-tearer for those with a bent for science fiction models. I just hope

that they actually use the information provided by Lucasfilm and Disney so they don’t produce something like the

recent woeful military items (aka The Black Label series) that they have of late – that would suck enormously.

There will be…….. more models in our model competition this year!

There will be…….. a finished model from me! Okay okay, settle down, you can stop laughing now, seriously. This

might be more of a new year’s resolution rather than a prediction! Well we can only hope yes?

There will be…….. another great display for AMMS at QMHE, with the main focus centred on the continuation of

the commemoration of The Great War focusing on 1916 and the birth of the Tank. As most of you would be aware

mass production and first combat use of the tank occurred in 1916. Little Willie (yes I know 1915 but he would have

looked lonesome last year) makes his first appearance along with British Mk Is, and early production French

Schneiders and St. Chamonds. And a range of figures and equipment, and other vehicles of the day are proudly

displayed too.

There will be…….. a second theme, the picture is a little cloudy, yes I can see it better now, vehicles conceptual-

ised and/or constructed in 1944 or 1945 which either saw limited service or no service during WW2 or service in the

immediate post-war years, ie. Centurion Mk I, JS-3 and Pershing, and paper-panzers. But no sci-fi stuff okay?

Lastly and most importantly,

There will be…….. some pain to achieve gain. Let me explain further. AMMS will embark on a restructuring of its

major revenue stream, which will therefore affect membership arrangements, and more specifically your financial

commitment to the club. Unfortunately this has become necessary for a number of reasons not least of which

should be mentioned, increasing costs as a substantial contributing circumstance.

As a club we have always been casual albeit systematic with the collection of revenues and yet we have always

striven to provide great value and great services for the membership. We have a great venue, we have fantastic

raffle prizes, we provide a canteen, end of year lunch, trophies, QMHE display, website, newsletter, et cetera.


The only way to avoid financial restructuring is to drastically change the way we do

things, and please understand that by adopting the latter path no guarantee exists that

financial restructuring won’t become a necessity in the future anyway. This would mean

no complimentary end of year lunch, raffle prizes of substantially lesser quality, no door

raffle, potentially no trophies for end of year awards, and therefore consequently rather

severe restrictions on the way we have conducted the club since inception in 2002.

Historically AMMS has always required a $5.00 door fee from each person attending the

monthly meetings. This fee predominately covered the cost of hiring the venue with the

remainder trickling to the club coffers. This arrangement is based entirely on a user

pays approach, ie. if you don’t attend a meeting you don’t contribute to the ongoing

costs of running the club for that meeting, and therefore theoretically the overall longevi-

ty of the club. For obvious reasons this approach has become unsustainable. I might

add here that there has been no increase in ANY fees since the club’s inception.

Another example of a casual arrangement is our end of year complimentary lunch for

club members. AMMS had transitioned away from a non-compulsory annual member-

ship fee of $10.00 due mid-year to a scheme where “members” paid their dues in De-

cember and were therefore entitled to enjoy the complimentary end of year lunch. This

fee more or less pays for the “complimentary” end of year lunch and nothing more, so it

can scarcely be said that it provided any actual revenue to the club.

Another contributing factor is that attendance numbers on average have declined some-

what over the past few years due to various reasons. Again this obviously affects the

clubs ability to collect revenue. We need to transition from a predominately user pays

system to a member pays system whereby our primary source of income is paid annual-

ly by the membership and is predetermined. No longer can a greater percentage of the

revenue be generated from some individuals while other individuals contribute a smaller

percentage of the revenue through a purely user pays system. Over time this system

becomes less sustainable primarily due to external factors and this is the case now.

AMMS Brisbane, as a viable entity, now requires unconditional support from its mem-

bers rather than occasional support by attendees. I understand that this restructuring

may seem harsh in some eyes but it is a necessary pain to achieve a necessary gain.

Full details will be disclosed when finalised however it is fully anticipated that a fixed

membership fee will be levied from each member at the commencement of the new fi-

nancial year in July 2016.

Please please please don’t make any hasty assumptions or decisions until you have

given yourself time to think about your personal situation, the club’s situation, and how it

will actually affect you personally. Weigh up your current AMMS commitment both phys-

ically and monetarily as it stands today and in the past and then compare it to the future.

Make an informed decision not an emotional one and ask yourself this question. Do you

want to support AMMS so that AMMS can continue to be a part of your hobby?

Until next time, happy modelling!

Regards,

From the Cupola (Cont’d from Page 2)

Random Images (thanks Wayne Nelson)

Volume 12, Issue 1 AMMS Brisbane News

Stalingrad

An interesting colour

photo, apparently at Sta-

lingrad.

Note the black, grey and

white markings on top of

the T-34 turret.

The colour of the soil is

interesting.

Abrams turret weatheringThis is an excellent image illustrating so many aspects of an

armoured vehicle in terrific detail. Note the used batteries scattered about (what are

they from???)

Iraq 2015

Can only find conflict-

ing details on this

image. Apparently it's

Iraq somewhere,

would make an inter-

esting build.

Random Images (Cont’d from Page 4)


Hungary Budapest

1956

Just an interesting col-

our photo of knocked

out JS 3's (and is that a

T-34/85 or an IS-2 at

the end of the road?)

that aren't Middle East.

WTF Italy 1944

Don't know if this

image is real?

Ed note—nice spot

of tea while we

wait for the

REME?

Random Images (Cont’d from Page 5)


Finnish-stug

Good colour image illustrating how the under coat turns very red/pink with oxidisation.

Interesting

Something different to build.

Australian Armour & Artillery Museum (Thanks Terry Jeisman)


How to get there: in Cairns take a number 123 Bus from the Lake Street Bus Terminal, bus stops at the Skyrail terminus which is next door but one to the museum. Be aware, that since this bus service runs to the James Cook University there is not service on Sat-urday or Sunday. By car proceed north from Cairns on Sheridan Street/ James Cook Highway for about 12 kilometres, take the Skyrail turn off and proceed 100 metres down Kamerunga Road, the museum is on the right.

Admission is $25.00 or $18.00 for seniors and students.

Open from 0930 to 1630 daily.

Above—FV 107 Scimitar on the left and F434 Armoured Fitter’s Vehicle on the right.

Above—Ferret Scout Car on t he left and M52 self propelled howitzer on the right

Right—anybody who

doesn’t know that this is

an Australian Centurion

may leave now.

It’s number 169052, by the

way.

Australian Armour & Artillery Museum (Cont’d from Page 7)


Above—T55 MBT (the world’s most produced tank ever)

Above—Fox armoured car on the left and F433 Abbott SPG on the right

Above—T72 MBT on the left and Chieftan MBT on the right.

Australian Armour & Artillery Museum (Cont’d from Page 8)


Above—M110 155mm SPG on the left and Churchill AVRE on the right.

Above—Churchill Mk VII on the left and M3 halftrack on the right

Right—Australian

M113 Fire Support

Vehicle with Saladin

turret.

Meets first Saturday of every month at

Loganlea Community Centre, Timms Street,

Loganlea, between 11:30am and 4:00pm

Contributions to the newsletter are always

welcome. Please email contributions to the

editor at [email protected]

A M M S B R I S B A N E

Life of a Modeller (Thanks Airfix Jones)

AMMS Brisbane is on

the Web at

www.ammsbrisbane.co

.

Right and below—for those unable to

attend Andy’s funeral, some memen-

toes.

volume 12, issue 1 amms brisbane news · above—fox armoured car on the left and f433 abbott spg...

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