FineScale Modeler

new connections amid strange times

In a normal year, the FSM staff would right now be culling through photos from the IPMS/USA National Convention to pick the best to include in a show gallery in the magazine. Extraordinary circumstances curtailed the hobby’s busy summer show schedule this year, a blow to many of us, including me, who look forward to model shows. And like the athletes who prepared for the now postponed 2020 Summer Olympics, many modelers spent years perfecting entries for the show circuit. The good news is those models will keep and there are 12 months to build another! There have been other positives. I think the greatest is that, despite social distancing, modelers have found ways to connect online. Names like Skype, Facetime, and Zoom are now as much a part of many…

off the sprue: what celebrity do people say you look like?

Editor Aaron Skinner askinner@FineScale.com As much as I would like to say James Garner, I have been told I look like Gilligan. As in Gilligan’s Island, which, for the record, is my second least favorite TV show of all time. Editor, Modeling Brand Group Tim Kidwell tkidwell@Kalmbach.com George Lucas. I’ve gotten it a lot over the years, especially when I let my hair grow out. I’m at peace with it. Digital Editor Elizabeth Nash enash@FineScale.com I decidedly do not look like her, but I was once told that I walk like Angelina Jolie as Laura Croft in Tomb Raider. So basically, on the rampage but with a lot of sass. I’ll take it. The character is cooler-headed than me. I may walk the walk, but I definitely don’t talk the talk. Editorial Associate Monica Freitag mfreitag@FineScale.com It’s not that I don’t love her — I…

reader tips

Paint pitted chrome I tried a new (to me) technique to create a pitted chrome finish. My test subject was the front plate of my ⅛ scale Le Rhone rotary engine. You’ll need: • Flat black primer• Chrome paint/wax (opt.)• Chrome polishing powder• Old, flat paintbrush• Cotton swabs• Gloss clear (bottle)• Open-cell sponge -Glenn Cauley Kemptville, Ontario, Canada…

scale talk

Vintage kits worth the time The September 2020 article on building the old Revell Arizona provided a great perspective that is probably common among a lot of older modelers. It would be great to see more articles on people building old kits, many of which are still occasionally produced. In looking at retro modeling it is a very interesting concept to build an old kit as a means of getting a feel for how building a kit may have changed over the years. Building a vintage model can provide a different type of experience when not concerned about the most detail but just producing a quality finished piece from a less than state of the art product. I personally enjoy building some of the old ship kits originally produced by Pyro…

now at www.finescale.com

Download this Background Today Go online to get this computer wallpaper of Italeri’s ¼8 scale F-86E Sabre built by Chuck Davis. Look for a review in an upcoming issue of FSM. Skill Building Videos Want to perfect your modeling techniques? Let master modeler Kenneth Childres walk you through the steps in these free videos. Go to FineScale.com/tags/skill-building Online Reader Gallery Can’t get enough pictures of readermodels? We can’t either! That’s why we have the Online Reader Gallery where you can ogle photos and even submit your own.…

q&a

Caribou needs love, too Q Have model manufacturers given any thought to making a kit of the C-7A Caribou, also known as the De Havilland DHC-4 Caribou. I flew in many of these in the South Pacific Marshal Islands. They were used exclusively in Vietnam for the ability to take off from a short runway. Great aircraft that has been overlooked. Amodel did one years ago, but it wasn’t very good quality. – James De Pietro Woodbury, N.J. A James, the good news is there was a 1/72 scale DHC-4 released by Hobbycraft in 1998. There were two boxings — one for Vietnam service (No. HC1343) and one in RCAF/UN markings (No. HC1344). It’s a decent kit, especially given its age, with OK fits and good exterior detail, according to Paul Boyer’s review in…