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1Q16

From the Overseas Liaison Officers desk, VP Dave Richardson reports on the twinning. I was pleased to be able to

report on some recent modelling interaction between the three modelling twins – ACTSMS in Canberra, IPMS-

Farnborough in UK and IPMS Ottawa in Canada. This 1/9 scale bust of an ANZAC Roo was the winner of the IPMS

Farnborough 2016 Antipodean trophy awarded to Mr Jay Boyle with a brilliantly finished and presented model.

President’s Report

We have already had a great start to the year, with presentations on weathering, figure painting and the Malayan

Confrontation. We have also been very lucky to receive assistance from the Snowy Rescue service in the form of a

meeting venue for February and March (given the renovations at the Hellenic Club). I would like to thank Len Bowen

for organising the venue and a very interesting helicopter tour.

April also effectively starts the model show circuit – with a show on almost every month between now and

November. If you are thinking of going to a show, consider going as a group with other interested ACTSMS

members. Its lots of fun and you can share the driving.

2016 looks to be a great year for the ACTSMS, with an April blitz build, plenty of technique workshops, guest

speakers, the annual mid-year swap and sell and the ever popular modeller’s feedback discussions. As always, if

you have any ideas for workshops or for the club, don’t keep them to yourself. Let me or anyone on the committee

know – or better yet, nominate yourself for a position on the committee at the August AGM.

I look forward to the rest of 2016

President ACTSMS Ben Frohling

The 1ST quarter 2016 Committee Matters

Although the first quarter of the year is essentially a SCALEACT operational pause, it gives us time to take stock and

work on other issues that need attention. There is a fair bit that has our attention at the moment.

A couple of “major” issues we have been dealing with is defining what it is to be a Life Member of the club, and how

that honour is bestowed on a club member. Noting that there is no written guidance in the Constitution nor the

handbook, this will take time to get it right. We are also in the throes of finalising the committee roles and the

handbook in accordance with the direction given to us at the last AGM.

ScaleACTION President’s Report P1

The 1ST quarter 2016 Committee Matters P1/2

Treasurer’s Report P2

From the Editorial Team P2/3

Defence Community Organisation Open Day P3/4

Modeller of the year results P4/5

ACTSMS Entertainment Calendar P5/6

IPMS Farnborough Antipodean Trophy 2016 P6/7/8

Recent Workshops P8

Weathering with Pastel Chalks P9-12

Scale Modelers P13

Committee Contact Details P13

ACTSMS

The committee has also spent some time looking at alternate venues to hold our monthly meetings in the event that

our current venue is unable to assist us, or as we are currently experiencing, renovations to the venue. We are

continuing to look around and explore our options.

This time of year also gives us an opportunity to scope out ideas for SCALEACT, in particular club themed displays.

This is a work in progress but there is ample opportunity to showcase our skills come SCALEACT this year.

One thing that fell out from previous SCALEACTs was our media presence – or lack of to be more precise. We felt

that we could do better to promote not only SCALEACT, but the club as a whole. So, in January we welcomed Leigh

to the committee, in a committee appointed position, as the chief Public Affairs Officer. So, the good ideas fairy has

visited Leigh, and he is working on a number of strategies to increase our presence on-line and to the general public

both here in Canberra and inter-state, particularly when we are involved in community events and other model

shows.

To help promote ourselves, we are also looking at acquiring club shirts, that everyone can buy, and maybe have

some generic SCALEACT shirts that we can sell to the public (with a suitable logo and slogan – witty ideas

welcome).

Secretary ACTSMS Tony Allocca

Treasurer’s report

Since the last report we’ve had a steady increase in membership with 94 financial members, as per the table below:

As always, new members are more than welcome to join our great society.

The society is in a very healthy position financially and the committee is pursuing some idea’s to benefit the

members including the promotion of our branding and making our history more available from previous editions of

society newsletters.

Life Membership 3

Family Membership 5

Junior Membership 0

Full Members 86

Total 94

Treasurer ACTSMS Paul Dorival

From the Editorial Team

Firstly apologies for the late arrival of this 1Q16 newsletter, so

many things to do, so little time. It has been a very interesting

quarter for the ACTSMS with the change of the monthly meeting

venue to the South Care Helicopter facility, which I believe has

worked out very well.

Many thanks to the volunteers at the south care facility for

looking after us and making us feel at home. Having David Hay

attend our monthly meetings and conduct a series of

demonstrations and workshops has seen lots of interest from

many members. The amount of models on the table has seen a

slight increase in numbers, which is always a good thing. And

lastly our participation in the Defence Community Organisation

(DCO) open day was a great success.

ACTSMS

The February meeting saw a group

of 20 members look over the pride of

the fleet, a Bell 412

David Hay is hard at work demonstrating the technique of

painting with a wet pallet. This method is used to keep

acrylic paint from drying out during the sometimes lengthy

process of painting a figure.

Look at these three good looking roosters. Three X navy I

believe. Where is Tony Martin when you need him to pull this

motley crew into shape.

Do you tell your mates you “model” on the weekends?

Defence Community Organisation Open Day

This year's DCO event was held on the 5 March at the ADFA gymnasium. The theme for this year was 'explore and interact'. So for the first time in our recent history we decided to do exactly that. We referred to our involvement as a make and take. Using many of the society kids build quality kits sourced from mainly the Doyle collection and a dozen kits donated by Chris Leeman we helped kids build their first model. Not everything went exactly to plan, but boy we had a great time. There were many lessons learnt on the day, i.e. the type and complexity of the model, the time it takes the glue to dry before being test flown, and the range of suitable model kits available on the day. With all that taken on board I definitely think it’s worth doing again next year. Many thanks to the numerous volunteers that helped out on the day including, the Organisers VP Dave Richo and Dave White, Leigh Grgurovic, Michael Russ, Paul D’Orival, President Ben and Phil Martin.

ACTSMS

Editorial Team ACTSMS Matt & Dave

Modeller of the year results

People’s Choice voting results October 2015 – March 2016

The 2015-16 Society year is flying by – it’s hard to believe we’ve already had six People’s Choice votes! The number of models that members are entering into this monthly competition is really encouraging, with the February and March fields particularly strong with 15 models each. We’re also seeing a good mix of models – for example in February we had 10 aircraft, four armour and one boat entries, while March was a complete reversal with nine armour, two car, two science-fiction and two aircraft entries. It would be great if we could keep up this number (and quality) of entries for the remaining three People’s Choice voting rounds for this Society year – in April, May and July, remembering that because of Swap’n’Sell we won’t be voting in June. Remember that the first place winners from each round are in the running for People’s Choice model of the year, which will be voted on at the Annual General Meeting in August this year! First, second and third results for each competition month so far are: October 2015 Michael Nelmes, Airfix 1/72 De Havilland DH.88 diorama Justin Hogg, Hasegawa 1/48 A6M5 Zero Ross Carlyon, 1/35 PAK 43 88mm November 2015 Ray Seppala, scratch-built 1/72 Dassault Falcon 900 Steve Honeyman, Dragon 1/6 2cm Flakvierling 38 Mid-Production Justin Hogg, Hasegawa 1/48 Ki-27 Nate December 2015 Matt Lyons, Revell & Airfix 1/72 Halifax B.III Matt Lyons, Airfix 1/72 Beaufighter Mk.Vic Greg Foord, Tamiya (?) 1/48 Bf 109 E January 2016 Michael Nelmes, RS Models 1/72 XP-38 Lightning Malcolm Street, Airfix 1/72 Blenheim Mk.IVF Malcolm Street, Smer 1/72 Amiot 143M February 2016

ACTSMS

Len Bowen, Airfix 1/72 RAF Air-Sea Rescue Launch Tony Alloca, Zvezda 1/48 Bf 109 F-4 Ross Carlyon, Dragon 1/35 M51 Isherman March 2016 Dave White, Accurate Miniatures 1/48 TBM Avenger Ben Frohling, Moebius Space Clipper from ‘2001’ Ben Frohling, Bandai 1/144 Millenium Falcon Please also remember that the Society’s Exhibitor of the Year and Modeller of the Year competitions continue to run in parallel with the People’s Choice voting. Exhibitor of the Year is awarded to the society member who contributes the most models for assessment in the year (currently held by Tony Alloca for the 2014-15 year). Until this year, Modeller of the Year has been awarded to the society member who accrues the highest point score from all of the models they entered for assessment in the year. (Also currently held by Tony Alloca!) The criteria for determining Modeller of the Year are slightly different this year because we’ve moved away from a points-based judging system; instead the winner will be the modeller who receives the highest number of votes in People’s Choice judging over the course of the year. Please contact me if you have any questions about this change – I’m happy to explain in more detail.

2016 ACTSMS ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR v5 – 7 FEB 16

EVENT

MONTH

1 2 3 4 5 6

20 JAN Hellenic Club

COMMITTEE ADMIN 7:30 – 7:45

WORKSHOP ‘Pastels and Chips’ Tony A & Dave R 7:45 - 8:15

BREAK 8:15 – 8:30

BRING YOUR MODELS - MODELLERS’ FEEDBACK 8:30 – 9:15

PEOPLES’ CHOICE and DRAW RAFFLE 9:15 – 9:30

CLOSE 9:30

10 FEB Snowy Hydr

SET UP, BBQ & C’TEE ADMIN 6:45 – 7:30

Snowy Hydro hangar Tour (20 pers max) 7:30 – 8:00

BREAK 8:00 – 8:15

WORKSHOP David Hay – Figure painting 8:15 – 9:00


CLOSE and CLEAN UP 9:15 - 9:30

9 MAR Snowy Hydr


Snowy Hydro hangar Tour (20 pers max) 7:30 - 8:00

BREAK 8:00 – 8:15

PRESENTATION Len Bowen - modelling Confrontation with Indonesia 1962-66 8:15 – 9:00



13 APR Hellenic Club


GUEST MODELLER Leigh Grgurovic 7:45 – 8:00

BREAK 8:00 – 8:15

GUEST SPEAKER LTCOL Anthony Duus Land 400 project 8:15 – 9:00


CLOSE 9:30

11 MAY Snowy Hydr


WORKSHOP TBC Rusting on cars Mario Marangoni 7:30 - 8:15

BREAK 8:15 – 8:30




8 JUN Hellenic Club

SET UP FOR SWAP & SELL 7:00 – 7:30

SWAP & SELL

7:30 – 9:00

CLOSE 9:00 – 9:30

ACTSMS

13 JUL Hellenic Club


GUEST MODELLER TBD 7:45 – 8:00

BREAK 8:00 – 8:15

GUEST SPEAKER Ley Reynolds - modelling the Spanish Civil War 8:15 – 9:00


CLOSE 9:30

10 AUG Hellenic Club


BREAK SET UP AGM RAFFLE TICKETS 7:45 - 8:00

AGM 8:00 – 8:45

WORKSHOP Brad Fallen – TBC Wood Finishes 8:45 – 9:15


CLOSE 9:30

TBD Possible date or venue change


GUEST MODELLER TBD 7:45 – 8:00

BREAK 8:00 – 8:15

GUEST SPEAKER TBC Centenary of tank warfare (AWM or AHU?) 8:15 – 9:00


CLOSE 9:30

12 OCT Hellenic Club


WORKSHOP TBD 7:45 - 8:15

BREAK 8:15 – 8:30



CLOSE 9:30

9 NOV Hellenic Club


SCALE ACT PREPARATION 7:45 – 8:00

BREAK 8:00 – 8:15

GUEST SPEAKER TBC Focus on the Pacific War? 8:15 – 9:00


CLOSE 9:30

14 DEC Hellenic Club


WORKSHOP TBD 7:45 - 8:15

BREAK 8:15 – 8:30



CLOSE 9:30

Vice President ACTSMS Dave Richardson

THE TWINS AT PLAY - IPMS FARNBOROUGH ANTIPODEAN TROPHY 2016

By Dave Richardson, ACTSMS Overseas Liaison Officer

In ScaleACTION 4Q15 I was pleased to be able to report on some recent

modelling interaction between the three modelling twins – ACTSMS in

Canberra, IPMS-Farnborough in UK and IPMS Ottawa in Canada. This

month I’m delighted to provide another recent example of “The Twins at

Play” following the visit to ACTSMS’ December meeting by Mr Chris McKee

from IPMS Farnborough.

Chris admitted that his planning for his trip to Australia focused around

arriving in Canberra in time for the ACTSMS December meeting; all other

trip arrangements were secondary! Many of you will remember Chris’

entertaining chat about IPMS Farnborough and the special nature of the

twinning relationships initiated by Farnborough with Ottawa and Canberra.

ACTSMS

What many of you will not know is that at the end of the meeting, ACTSMS member Peter Shum offered Chris one of

Runway 13’s most popular airbrush sets as a gift to take back to IPMS Farnborough.

Timing is everything, as they say, and Chris realised that the Runway 13 airbrush would make a most appropriate

and timely prize for the regular Antipodean Trophy run by IPMS Farnborough every February. With Peter’s kind

donation safely in his luggage, Chris emailed back to IPMS Farnborough to let the members know about the special

Aussie prize for the February 2016 Antipodean Trophy.

By way of background to the Antipodean Trophy, during a RAAF posting to the UK from 1991-93 I was fortunate to quickly find out that IPMS Farnborough was not only my nearest model club but also an extremely friendly, welcoming and energetic club of very good modellers. When we departed UK to return to Australia at the end of 1993, I gave IPMS Farnborough a small RAAF plaque as a token of my gratitude for their friendship during my time in UK. To my pleasant surprise, Farnborough decided to use the plaque for an annual competition called the Antipodean Trophy; models can be anything having an association with Australia or New Zealand.

So, with the potential to win a Runway 13 airbrush set, it seems the members of IPMS Farnborough increased their efforts to enter the 2016 Antipodean Trophy. However, having brought back the prize, Chris felt he could not enter this year. From an excellent set of entries, the winner was Mr Jay Boyle with a brilliantly finished and presented bust of an ANZAC Roo (see photos). This 1/9 scale bust from 1879 Miniatures in the UK (www.1879miniatures.co.uk) was released in the centenary year of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli, as a dedication to all brave ANZACs from all conflicts. Jay takes up the story of how he built and finished the model.

“This bust came in

10 resin parts; the

casting was of a high

quality and I had

little flash to clean

off. There is scope to

add whiskers, ear

hair and ostrich

feathers.

I gave the whole

figure, once glued

and filled, a coat of

primer and then

started to paint the

fur with Windsor &

Newton Oils. This

took about 5 days to

complete and fully

dry, before moving

onto painting the

uniform using AK Interactive Paint Set WW1 British Uniforms.

I sealed all the paint using Testors clear lacquer spray to give all the paint a uniform flat finish. The eyes were

painted with acrylic paints and given two coats of gloss to bring them to life. I also dabbed gloss on his nose to draw

the eye to the face when looking at the bust.

I then finished all the leather work with W&N Oils and left them to dry to give the finished look of worn leather.

I built and painted this bust while watching the Nine Network, 1985 TV series ANZACs staring Paul Hogan and

Andrew Clarke which proved the perfect accompaniment to my ANZAC Roo. I now aim to enter my ANZAC Roo into

this year IPMS Scale Model World Competition in November at Telford”.

If you would like to read and see more about this year’s Antipodean Trophy, just go to the IPMS Farnborough

website at:

http://www.1879miniatures.co.uk/

ACTSMS

http://www.ipms-farnborough.co.uk/gallery/v/competitions/competitions_in_2016/antipodean_trophy/

The pictures show a great set of eight models entered for 2016 including military and civilian subjects from Australia

and New Zealand. It looks like the competition was tough and all credit goes to Jay for his excellent choice of

subject and his craftsmanship in finishing the model. My warmest thanks too to Peter Shum for his generous

donation of the airbrush set, an act which has certainly done much to further strengthen the bond between the

twinned clubs.

The twinning arrangement between these three clubs certainly provides opportunity for innovative and interesting

modelling projects. I’m keen to showcase the twins’ relationship with a club display or special categories for

ScaleACT’17. Please do let me know how best we in ACTSMS can celebrate the special relationship between

Canberra, Farnborough and Ottawa.

Members passing through the UK please do make the time to visit our twins at IPMS Farnborough where you will be

made most welcome.

ACTSMS Overseas Liaison Officer Dave Richardson

Recent Workshops

At our monthly meeting in January Dave Richardson and Tony Allocca conducted a workshop on weathering with

Pastels and chipping. The workshop idea always draws a good crowd, and this month was no exception.

http://www.ipms-farnborough.co.uk/gallery/v/competitions/competitions_in_2016/antipodean_trophy/

ACTSMS

Weathering with Pastel Chalks – a budget approach.

Weathering with pastel chalks is an easy process that will take a little experimentation, but when you get it right, you

can achieve effects ranging from the subtle to harsh. I have achieved everything from engine exhausts, gun stains,

oil stains, panel shading, and mud effects to mottles of Luftwaffe aircraft. So, this is a budget alternative to those

weathering dusts that are sprinkling the market.

First the tools of the trade.

Pastel Chalks. Sets of earth tone pastel chalks are

available everywhere from $2 shops to art shops. You

need to make sure that you don’t buy oil pastels. Very

different. This is my set that I purchased some 10-12

years ago. As you can see, they last a long time.

Art stores also have a range of single colour chalks. These

have a different consistency, but do work.

Brushes: This is where experimentation is essential. Over time, I have played with different brushes and have settled

on a range of soft flats. That will give me a range of applications ranging from narrow lines to broader ones. Soft

brushes are best. I have also taken to chopping up some older round brushes to achieve different effects. I have

found that stiff bristle brushes haven’t worked as well. Again, experiment. There is no need to go out and spend big

dollars, my dusting brushes are from a $2 shop.

ACTSMS

Technique

I tend to not pre shade that much. I will

deepen control surfaces and the like to make

them stand out from other panel lines. I’ll

then splash black acrylic paint into those

deepened lines and wipe away almost

immediately – in the direction of the airflow.

This will leave some residue that will give a

very subtle difference. Once the model has

been sprayed the control surface line will

stand out.

Once painting and decaling is complete, you need a very matt surface to work from. The more matt the surface, the

more the dust will grab when you apply it. For me, I find that Testors Dull Coat gives me the texture I desire.

Next you need to understand your subject. Airflow over control surfaces will stain, through slats they will stain, dirt

and mud will be thrown around under the aircraft, gun panels will bleed powder smoke, maintainers will have dirty

feet and hands. Also have an idea of how engine exhausts behave around the airframe.

First thing I do is to look at those control

surface lines and if needed I will use a

HB 0.5mm clutch pencil sharpened with

an edge and run that along the panel line.

Then with a brush, just work it to softened

the edge. More towards the airflow

direction.

You can, if you wish grind some pastel

chalk into containers to pick up with your

brush. I tend to just run the brush over

the chalk and build up the effect

gradually. This is where I just go nuts.

Using a combination of colours to build

an effect into and around panel lines,

engines, engine covers etc. It doesn’t

matter that there is too much or it looks

over done at this stage.

A word about panel lines. Have a look at an aircraft subject from 100 feet away. 200 feet away even. What panels

can you see? Sweet bugger all. I concede that there will always be exceptions to that rule. Have a look at current

Russian aircraft in Syria, or even some of those NATO countries that don’t spend much time husbanding the

airframes. However, a close look will show that the panels that stand out do so for a reason. Engine access panels

for example. So, if you upscale some of these models with the trendy panel lines you will see that the effect can be

ACTSMS

exaggerated and unrealistic, and as a former aircrew, I will be filling out an EE580 to u/s the aircraft. It is artificial and

make subjects look like jigsaw puzzles. So subtlety is the key; overall panel line washes are not IMHO. So, be

judicious about pastels as well. If you want to give individual panels a bit of personality or fading effects, use lighter

colours. This is where I use my next tool, My fingers. I’ll pick up the dust with a finger and work it into where I need it.

Always heeding the fact that aircraft will fade at different rates. Along the top of the wing and fuselage, an aircraft

may fade quicker than along the sides of the airframe due to sun exposure. But check your subject. Similarly, you

can darken panels in the same way.

You’ll note that I said that it won’t matter if you might have

over done the pastel weathering. After you have applied

the chalk dust, you will need to seal it all in. Again a matt

coat is needed. What will happen is that excess dust will

be blown away by your airbrush and the matt coat will

absorb the dust. This leaves you with a more restrained

effect.

I tend to apply at least two dusting of chalk dust. Usually

with the second coat, I’ll concentrate more on engine

exhausts but also give the other areas a refresh as

needed. Then seal it in again, and continue the process

until you achieve the desire result.

Some may remember this model. I found that with this desert scheme Bf110, I over did the effect first time around.

So later I went back with lighter colours and the finger method to tone down the weathering. I applied 5 or 6 coats of

lighter colours. Still no- where near perfect, but shows what you can achieve. The lesson here is like everything else,

dark colours will take time to overcome if there is too much initially.

Pastels are pretty versatile. I have applied them around engines and propellers, then with a wet finger drawn the dust

along the airframe. With practice, you can achieve oil leaks and the like. I have even used a wet paint brush to draw

the pastel chalk the same way, probably achieving a better looking oil stain. I have even used the wet brush effect to

get a filter effect. I just applied the dust, then with a damp to wet brush swish it around a little, and with a tissue wipe

off the water in the airflow direction. Again, experiment.

ACTSMS

Mottles are

pretty easy. I

bought some art

store chalks that

were close

approximations

of Luftwaffe

colours. Then

with a stub of a

brush, I worked

that dust into

mottle shapes.

And I have even

used pastels to

tidy up soft

demarcation

lines.

And like the more commercial products I have weathered AFVs as well.

So, there you have it, budget weathering using pastel chalks, some cheap paint brushes, some fingers, a couple of

old brushes and an HB pencil.

Tony Allocca

ACTSMS

Committee Contact Details President Ben Frohling [email protected]

Vice - President Dave Richardson

[email protected]

Secretary Tony Allocca [email protected]

Treasurer Paul D’Orival [email protected]

Editors Matt Jorgensen and Dave White

[email protected] [email protected]

Events Coordinator Len Partridge [email protected]

Chief Judge Brad Fallen [email protected]

E Coordinator Jerry Cashman [email protected]

Post Box ACTSMS PO Box 600 Woden, ACT 2606

E: [email protected] W: www.actsms.asn.au

mailto:[email protected]










http://www.actsms.asn.au/

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