AN INTERNATIONAL PLASTICMODELERS’ SOCIETY CHARTER

CHAPTER.

Mold LinesMold LinesJUNE 2017

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IN THIS ISSUE…IN THIS ISSUE…

JPL’S EXPLORER 1JPL’S EXPLORER 1

In Tips & Tricks - Dave Brown shows us his Extreme Aircraft Weathering technique.

Club News brings us all the coverage of past and upcoming events from the Sonoran Desert Model Builders.

PLUS…

The Scorpions Gallery - showcases the amazing work of our club members.

We meet at the Northwest corner of Alvernon and 22nd from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M.

1100 South Alvernon Way Tucson, AZ

WHERE CAN I

FIND THEM?

Mold Lines is the officialpublication of the SonoranDesert Model Builders Modelingclub. We publish it on a monthlybasis and it is your source forClub news, interviews, modelreviews, photos or our member’smodeling work as well as articleson modeling techniques andother articles of interest to our

members.

WHO ARE THEY?The Sonoran Desert Model Builders is achartered IPMS model club in Tucson,Arizona dedicated to advancing each othersskills through tip sharing, encouragementand, most importantly, hands-on building.Our members enjoy a deep camaraderie andlevel of respect for each other as well as apassion for model building. We build it all...cars, airplanes, armor, ships, figures, sci-fi...

Our mission is simple… LET’S BUILD!MEETING DATES 2017

JANUARY ……………… 5

FEBRUARY ……………… 2

MARCH ……………… 2

APRIL ……………… 6

MAY ……………… 4

JUNE ……………… 1

JULY ……………… 6

AUGUST ……………… 3

SEPTEMBER ….………… 7

OCTOBER ….….……… 5

NOVEMBER ..…….…… 2

DECEMBER ……..…… 7

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Editor’s Workbench

Hello fellow modelers and dear friends.

Welcome to the new Mold Lines. This monthour newsletter has undergone some changes inthe format. I hope these changes make thepublication more dynamic and more fun with acover page that is simpler but highlights themodels being showcased in detail.

Along with new things, this month I received avery pleasant surprise when our presidentDerek Campbell sent out an email with thenews that our publication had won BestNewsletter at the Region 10 contest on 16-17June. I was totally surprised by the news since Ididn’t even know we had been nominated.Needless to say the award is a tribute to all ourclub members who month after month fill ourpages with their great work and to the

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members that work behind the scenes readproofing and making sure you get the bestnewsletter delivered to your inbox everymonth. A big thank you to all of you, you areawesome!

This month we also have some interestingarticles including a build of the Explorer 1 bynone other than our space lady, AnnetteSostarich. Also the master of weathering, DaveBrown amazes us (again) with a step by step onhow to recreate extreme weathering. Hefocuses on aircraft but the technique could beexpanded and applied to virtually any model. Ihope you enjoy the newsletter and again thankyou for your support.

Until next time.

Model on!!

CLUB NEWS

• Support our Monthlyraffle! Each monthduring our club meetingwe hold a raffle withnew and used kits. Forevery 10 tickets sold onemodel will be givenaway. Tickets are only $1each.

• Make and Take at the Pima Air and Space Museum - This event is designed tointroduce children to the hobby of model building and the math and historicalresearch used to build accurate scale models. It will be held on August 5th , 2017from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM.

RECENT EVENTS

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CLUB NEWS

RECENT EVENTS

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Chuck Sherman’s beautiful1/48 Vought F-8 Crusader

Modelers gather around the display tables during the June meeting.

• Monthly Club Meeting – The SDMB held their monthly meeting on June 1st , 2017 from 6:30pm to 8:30 pm. I apologize ahead of time as I was not able to attend so the description on themodels on display will be brief.

CLUB NEWS

RECENT EVENTS

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See more awesome

model photos from our

meeting at:

www.sdmb.yolasite.comYou may remember Dick Smith’s GR1 Tornado from last month’s newsletter

1/24 US Jeep is by Howard Eldridge

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By: Annette Sostarich

Glencoe 1/6 Explorer 1build review

Stung by the Soviet launches of

Sputnik 1 in October 1957 - a satellite

weighing a whopping 220 pounds - and

Sputnik 2 in November of that year,

weighing over 1,000 pounds and

carrying a dog, the U.S. was

experiencing failure after failure to

launch it's own Earth-orbiting satellite.

Finally, in January 1958, Explorer 1 -

weighing just 31 pounds - was

successfully launched atop a modified

Army Ballistic Missile Agency booster

called Juno 1. Unlike Sputnik 1 (which

did nothing but beep), this satellite did

some real science. It could detect

micrometeorites, measure temperature,

and detect radiation; It's major triumph

was detecting, for the first time, the

radiation belts around Earth, which

would be named after the primary

investigator, James Van Allen.

Only one plastic model of this subject has ever been released. An early

Space Program classic, this 1/6 scale kit with a complete interior was first

released in the early 1960s by ITC Model Craft, the injection-molded model

division of the late great Ideal Toy Company.

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Glencoe 1/6 Explorer 1build review

The Explorer 1 model sat atop a

base equipped with a crank that,

when rotated, caused the model to

turn and emit a mechanically

produced "Geiger counter click"

sound. The complete kit was

subsequently re-released by Glencoe

Models in the early 1990s.

Compared to other kits of similar

vintage, the kit is pretty good and

reasonably accurate. It comes with

one decal for the satellite - the Jet

Propulsion Laboratory logo - and two

explanatory decals for the base.

Though the parts are somewhat crude,

they do get the idea across, and the

interior detail looks a lot like the

(very few) photos I was able to find.

There are only a couple of dozen

parts, most of which are for the

interior. There was some flash on the

parts, but not as much as I've seen on

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Glencoe 1/6 Explorer 1build review

other old kits. Fit was adequate, and

since the satellite has a hinged door

to show off the interior, no seams

needed to be puttied. It also comes

with wires for the antennas,

although one was missing from my

kit. I made new antennas from .015"

music wire, curled around a paint

jar.

The base is in two halves, with

gears and the sound generator

inside. The sound is made by a thin

flexible piece of plastic riding on a

wheel with random teeth in it. A

conical appendage on the stand fits

inside the rocket nozzle of the

satellite snugly enough to be stable.

I drilled a hole in the back of the

stand and funneled in a few ounces

of Plaster to give it some weight,

since this is a tall, skinny, and

possibly top-heavy display. I

replaced the kit decals for the stand

with laser-engraved plaques;

otherwise it's straight out of the box.

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Glencoe 1/6 Explorer 1build review

I built, but did not install,

the interior and test fitted it

to verify it could be

installed in the assembled

spacecraft. I was afraid the

interior would make it hard

to close up the model for

exterior painting. The

interior includes the fuel

tank for the attached

"kicker" rocket and two

sub-assemblies representing

the instrument package.

The satellite exterior has

only 7 parts. The moveable

door is trapped by the nose

cone and lower fuselage, so

after painting the interior, I

assembled these parts. The

other 3 parts constitute the

engine nozzle assembly,

which I left off to be

painted separately.

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Glencoe 1/6 Explorer 1build review

To make sure the door stayed closed

during painting, I placed a piece of

double-sided Scotch tape on the

"latch" side and pressed the two

halves firmly together. After base-

coating with white, I painted the

central red band and aluminum band

below that. There is (according to my

reference photos) a narrow silver

band, which I replicated with Bare-

Metal foil. Another red band just

below the nose cone was made with

decal striping.

The main thing that gives Explorer 1it's character is the stripes on theforward section. The kit instructionssay to paint these black, but aftersome reading I found the materialwas actually sandblasted stainlesssteel. Photos show it to be a darkgrayish color. I used a custom color Ihad previously mixed, which I call"cast iron gray," a very dark metallic

gray.

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Glencoe 1/6 Explorer 1build review

The model has molded stripes, so masking the stripes was easy, but does

anybody know how to mask the tip of a nose cone??? I thought of using the

liquid masking I have, but a quick test showed that it sticks WAY too

tightly to paint... I ended up modifying a trick I've used before: Make

masking out of some easily water-soluble substance that can be rinsed off

with water after painting. My masking glop was simply cornstarch in water,

although that is not an optimal solution since it flakes off very easily. Next

time I'll experiment some more. Interesting note: The stripes on this and

many other early spacecraft were for passive temperature control, not

decoration.

Finally, I applied the one decal. Since this kit is old, I took the precaution of

coating the decal with some liquid decal film before applying it. Installing

the antennas completed the model. Conclusion: A great and rare peek into

the early Space Age, and an easy build... if one can figure out how to mask

it!

-Annette

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Tips and TricksJune 2017

By: Dave Brown

EXTREME WEATHERING

The main idea consists of using

Tamiya acrylic thinner to

dissolve Tamiya acrylic paint

applied over a base of Tamiya

lacquer paint, revealing/exposing

the underlying surface (bare

aluminum in this case) to

simulate an extremely worn,

faded, & dissipated paint surface.

The lacquer paint surface resists

degradation by the milder acrylic

thinner. My test model is the

Hasegawa 1/32 Me 109 G6 and the

color 'scheme' is for demonstration

purposes only.

1. The wing is first sprayed with

Tamiya TS-30 Silver Leaf and allowed

to dry thoroughly. The aileron has

been previously painted light blue and

is now masked.

1.

My favorite aspect of model building is painting and,

especially, weathering. Creating a sense of history, the

passage of time, and the subsequent effects of exposure

and entropy is particularly engaging to me. The

following technique is meant to simulate a condition of

extreme weathering, the kind one might see on very old,

derelict aircraft exposed to the elements for an extended

period of time. It can also be applied to other vehicles in a similar context.

The technique can also be adjusted by degrees to show less, or more

specific, weathering.

Tips and TricksJUNE 2017

2. Thinned with Tamiya

X-20A (for acrylic) XF-

67 NATO Green is

applied, more heavily

along panel lines and

recessed areas. It is

ready for the next step as

soon as it dries.

2.

3. Using X-20A thinner, with cotton swabs and small rags, the green paint is

gently swiped away, very carefully and deliberately leaving remnants along

panel lines, etc.

3.

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Tips and TricksJUNE 2017

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4. Remove more from the center of panels to simulate how paint wears

off more completely on a bare surface. A delicate touch is necessary or

one might remove more paint than desired.

5. Another color is very

selectively added over

the previous green, this

being XF-51 Khaki

Drab to which was

added X-22 Clear & X-

19 Smoke. The mixture

is very thin and it

sprayed mainly onto

rivet lines. Using a

variety of colors helps

to create the illusion of

severe paint aging and

discoloration.

MODELING TIP:

Adding the clear & smoke makes the

resultant paint "gummier" and

slightly more resistant to easy removal

by the X-20A thinner.

4.

5.

Tips and TricksJUNE 2017

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Depending on how much

thinner is imbibed by the

swab, more or less of the

paint can be removed and

smeared around, resulting

in a naturalistic

appearance of randomly

worn paint.

5.

6. In this photo,

the masking has

been removed

from the aileron

and certain

access plates

have been

painted simply

for color accent.6.

TAKE NOTE!

Pointed swabs are used

for more controlled

manipulation.

Tips and TricksJUNE 2017

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7. The next step is to further

the appearance of age by

adding enamel (or oil)

washes. The enamel thinner

won't affect either the

acrylic layer or the lacquer

layer.

A light buff color wash wasadded to simulate dustydirt.

7.

The end result.

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Scorpion’s Gallery

This beautiful 1/35 scaleSoviet BTR-60 in NorthVietnamese service wasbuilt by Clara Triem.

Clara accentuated thesimple OD Green colorscheme by weathering theinterior to appear usedMig’s Vietnam Earthweathering pigments tocreate the red dirt hues soassociated with theVietnam war

North Vietnamese

BTR-60

The BTR-6 is the first in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armored personnel carries (APCs). It wasdeveloped during the late 1950’s to replace theprevious WWII era troop transports.

It had all wheel drive, was fully amphibious andhad offered protection against small arms andshrapnel. It entered production in 1960 with morethan 4,000 vehicles produced by 1990. It servedunder the Soviet banner and over 50 othercountries since it was first produced.

Over the past 4 decades the International Plastic

Model Society has become a 5,000 member, all-

volunteer organization dedicated to promoting the

modeling hobby while providing a venue for modelers

to share their skills in a social setting, along with

friendly but spirited competition in the form of local,

regional, and national contests and conventions.

As a long time member, I highly recommend joining

the IPMS. There is no better environment to learn and

share our passion for the small world. Other benefits

include six issues of the IPMS Journal per year and

being able to participate in the IPMS National Contest.

Go check out their webpage at WWW.IPMSUSA.ORG!

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SDMB Club Officers

& Contacts

HOW CAN I JOIN THE SDMB?

Test the water before you join!

Here's how: Drop by and say "hello" at one of our monthly meetings (see our Next Meeting pagefor date and location details). If you like what you see and hear then drop by again the next month

and be sure to bring your questions and we'll help you get started! The first two meetings arefree so drop on by! After your second meeting we would appreciate you joining our club. Our club dues

pay for various things such as community programs and sponsorships of trophies in contests. We arehappy to have visitors but even happier when you join our club of award winning modelers.

Damon Blair ec130crewchief@yahoo.com (VICE PRESIDENT)

Kent Weeks newt27@cox.net(TREASURER)

Derek Campbell 4nagato1@gmail.com(PRESIDENT)

Mike Bilcik mbilcik1@cox.net(CLUB IPMS POINT OF CONTACT)

Dave Diaz EDITOR_SDMB@Yahoo.com(NEWSLETTER EDITOR)

Steve Barlow redsteve921@gmail.com(CLUB WEBMASTER)

Visit our website at www.sdmb.yolasite.comYou can also find us on Facebook.

SDMB is an affiliated club of the InternationalPlastic Modeler’s Societywww.IPMSUSA.org

Mike Scotto quickfixer@yahoo.com (SECRETARY)