FineScale Modeler

back to a little of everything

Anniversaries come along to help us focus on various stages of our history. This year we’ve already marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day, and last issue we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the miraculous first moon walk and Apollo 11 mission with a collection of real space builds. Ah, but this issue we get back to our usual round robin of modeling. We delve into armor, aircraft, military trucks and figures, plus deliver an absolute explosion of kit reviews. Ron Poniatowski wrote an in-depth how-to on modifying a World War I Renault FT into America’s first tank. The story was so detailed we had to divvy it up into a two-parter. We hope you’ll enjoy part one this issue, and watch for the second part in October. Meanwhile, FSM regular contributor Frank Cuden…

off the sprue: who has been your best teacher? why?

Editor Mark Savage msavage@Kalmbach.com I had a lot, especially in high school in Indy. One of my favorites was Miss Ross, an English teacher who was nearing retirement and would read to us in Middle English and make it sound so beautiful that we couldn’t wait to sink our minds into Shakespeare. Her enthusiasm was contagious. Senior Editor Aaron Skinner askinner@FineScale.com I had several good teachers in high school and at uni, but the one I remember most fondly is Ms. Bennett. She taught English at Indooroopilly High and gave me an appreciation for the written word that has stayed with me. Her classes refocused my career goals from meteorology to journalism. Digital Editor Elizabeth Nash enash@FineScale.com My Taekwondo instructor always encouraged us to push ourselves. The point was never to impress anyone else, but instead to prove to yourself that…

finescale modeler

Editor Mark Savage Art Director Tom Danneman EDITORIAL Senior Editor Aaron Skinner Digital Editor Elizabeth Nash Editorial Associate Monica Freitag ART Senior Graphic Designer Scott Krall Graphic Designer Samantha Primuth Illustrator Kellie Jaeger Photographer William Zuback Production Coordinator Cindy Barder REGULAR CONTRIBUTING MODELERS Paul Boyer, Andy Cooper, Raúl Corral, Chris Cortez, Frank Cuden, Chuck Davis, Jonas Dahlberg, Walt Fink, Tom Foti, Phillip Gore, James Green, Ted Horn, Joe Hudson, Mark Karolus, Rick Lawler, Ulf Lundberg, Chris Oglesby, Bill Plunk, John Plzak, Darren Roberts, Chuck Sawyer, Mike Scharf, Cookie Sewell, Bob Steinbrunn, Karel Sutt, Matthew Walker, Jim Wechsler, Adam Wilder, Jim Zeske KALMBACH MEDIA Chief Executive Officer Dan Hickey Senior Vice President, Finance Christine Metcalf Senior Vice President, Consumer Marketing Nicole McGuire Vice President, Content Stephen C. George Vice President, Operations Brian J. Schmidt Vice President, Human Resources Sarah A. Horner Senior Director, Advertising Sales and Events David T. Sherman Advertising Sales Director…

q&a

Repainting a toy figure Q I recently bought a toy figure to use in a current project. I believe it is made of soft vinyl. I plan to modify and repaint it. Should I remove the paint already on it, and if so what should I use to do that? What primer and type of paint would work best? Some of the figure also needs to be painted with metallics. – Brian Alexander, Chesapeake Va. A Without seeing the figure it’s difficult to give a definitive answer. If it’s possible to remove the existing paint, it’s best to do that. Either way, priming is crucial; not only will it cover the remaining paint, but the plasticizers in soft plastic can prevent paint from sticking. Look for a primer that is designed to…

scale talk

Apollo 11 memories… I enjoyed reading the Apollo 11 memories of the FineScale editorial staff so permit me to share mine. A bunch of us guys were sitting in a dry rice paddy eating a noon meal from green tin cans when my RTO nudged me to say that on the battalion radio net they were reporting NASA had landed men on the moon. Unbelievable, I thought, if they can land a man on the moon why can’t they rocket me out of here. – Dan Kirby Arlington, Va. … sitting on a runway Great FSM! Your editorial question, “What are your Apollo 11 memories?” stirred mine. I was in the runup area for Runway 32 in Omaha, Neb., at the flight engineer’s panel on a 727 — and we didn’t need a…

reader tips

Putty concerns One of your books suggests that Silly Putty can conveniently be used to mask curved areas. I urge caution. I had cut out paper stencils on previous kits, but this time decided to try Silly Putty, as it seemed easier. Because of the relatively large surface area that I needed to mask, I used the putty only to mask the edges, then filled in the middle of each area with masking tape. The method worked easily and provided the desired soft edge. Imagine my surprise, though, when I removed the masking and found that the paint covered by the putty was noticeably different (see photo). Yes, the paint (all Tamiya acrylics) was fully cured before I started this. Thinking the paint might have absorbed something volatile, I left the model overnight…