The October 2007 Newsletter
of the Quad-City Modeler Society

The meeting minutes:

We had an interesting meeting Saturday. Fortunately, I showed up early. The doors were all open and there were a ton of Girl Scout age kids running around. The adult ladies were a little testy that I just walked in without reading the signs on the door that said the model club had moved. I pointed out that since they had opened all of the doors, none of the signs were visible. I don’t know who these people are, or what organization they represent, but I can tell it isn’t rocket science. The folks from the Butterworth foundation were very apologetic and helpful. It turns out that the Garage, where the girls were originally scheduled, had started renovation. Since the girls had a larger group, they bumped us, all very fair and logical; they just didn’t tell us till we showed up. Oh well. We have a new point of contact now and hopefully this will not be an issue in the future. We met in the kitchen of the Deere-Wiman mansion. Very cool and a beautiful day. We opened up the windows and had a good time. We had 11 folks show up, not bad for a nice day. We did not have anything special planned for the meeting, which turned out to be a good thing. In October, we will have a guest speaker, SGM Dan Bowman. I encourage you to attend and feel free to bring family members. Bob Horton will be running the meeting in my absence, his note is below, this should be a very good meeting and I’m sorry I will miss it. As I mentioned in the meeting, I will be departing on an extended TDY starting 1 October and not returning till on or about 10 November. Just a reminder, there will be no November meeting at the Carriage House; the November meeting will be at the Butch O’Hare show. If you would like to arrange some car pools, the October meeting would be a great time to plan it. On Sunday, 21 October, there will be a hobby and craft show in Dubuque sponsored by Fagan’s Hobby shop. This is the kind of show that you can bring your wife to as it has lots of crafts stuff as well as models. The proceeds go to charity, and there are usually some great model deals to be had. I hope you guys can make it. The location is the Grand River Center, 500 Bell street, Dubuque, IA. You can mapquest the directions, I hear that it is east to find and the parking is free. The hours are 9:00 am to 4 pm. The model entry fee is $1 per model. Contact Fagan’s at 562-588-0846 for more info. We voted to provide plaques to SGM Bowman and Kris Leinecke for their support of the club. I also presented a proposal to support a Make and Take for the kids in the 113 Cavalry Family Support Group. The club voted to support it. The unit is deployed to Iraq and one the unit members, and also a member of our club, Christopher Broman, asked us if we could do that. I am looking at early next Spring. I made the offer to the support group coordinator, but have not received a response yet. I will keep trying. On a sad note, I heard that Art Gerber passed away unexpectedly. He was the IPMS USA Head Armor judge. I had personally served under him five times and he was a great guy. IPMS will miss him. That’s about it for now; hope to see you guys in December. Don’t forget the $20 challenge. If you entered the challenge with Ed Wahl, make sure you get those projects done for December!

Show and Tell:

Shawn Drovesky gave us a run down of some model shops he hit. Ed’s hobby Warehouse at 11152 Southeast Hwy, Palos Hills, IL 60465 sounds like an interesting spot to hit. The web site is www.edshobbywarehouse.com. He said they have lots of old kits. He also hit M&Models in Chicago, also a great shop. Venture was the final stop., it’s the model mecca for all Chicago hobby shop visits. This led to a discussion of the good old days when every hardware shop or grocery store sold models. There was also some discussion of doing a Quad Cities hobby shop guide for the web site. Any volunteers to start working on it? Shawn also brought in 1/16 scale plans for a Jagdtiger, a Tamiya Samurai General that was very nice. He also talked about the Texas –Israeli war of 1999 book. It’s a great source for “what if” projects.

Brian Clemmons brought in a model of the Egyptian sun god RA – this was very nice, it took six months to build. He just finished painting it. He also brought in the Mummy, it took about a month to build and he used acrylic paints and pigments on it.

Keith Johnson brought in a 2006 Chevy Camaro from the AMT Muscle Car series. The kit was in primer and was looking good.

Ray Norris brought in some paper models that looked very interesting. He had a Space shuttle, B-24D nose section,. He gets them from an internet site were you can download them. You can run a search for paper card models and should get several hits.

A note from Chapter Contact Bob Horton:

Hi group:  I wanted to pass on an early reminder for a heads up about the program for the October meeting, Saturday, October 13.....we are going to have a guest speaker/ video/talk presentation by Sgt. Maj. Dan Bowman,  2nd Battalion 123 Field Artillery, Illinois National Guard. He will discuss his experiences during their groups deployment in Iraq.  I saw this presentation some few months ago and it is really interesting and a real insight into what our folks are doing every day over there.  I want to especially invite our member’s spouses to attend.  We invite them to probably one of the best meetings this organization has had....after the talk we will have an informal cake and pop refreshment session...please mark you calendars now for a " not to miss meeting."  For some of the older members of the Chapter you will remember Dan as being one of the National Guard Non-Coms who worked the snack bar booth when we had our contests at the Armory for several years...he is a really neat guy and I am looking forward to this meeting as I hope all of you will.

The Dates:

October 13: Chapter Meeting. SGM Dan Bowman will be our guest speaker

November 10: Chapter Meeting – at the Butch O’Hare show

November 10: IPMS/”Butch” O’Hare; 25^th Annual Open Model Contest and Swap Meet; Lakeview Junior High School, 701 Plainfield Rd., Darien, IL; contact Marco A. Fernandez at mfchi@sbcglobal.net

December 8: Chapter Meeting. Christmas party and annual “What If? Contest. The $20 challenge will also be held. Bring in the completed kit you bought for $20 from Ed and get your money back.

A word from the front:

Christopher Broman sent this email. I had sent him a video of an Iranian mort tube that exploded causing a really bad day for the insurgent using it: “Speaking of Iranians: A rocket missed the Oasis dining facility here at Camp Victory, you might have heard about this, and actually gave 2 of our cooks concussions. They're fine and no one else from our unit was injured, but when they examined the casing and remains of the 240mm rocket they discovered it was Iranian. Neat huh?”

Christopher has made contact with the Baghdad model club and has started a 1/48^th scale Tamiya Wildcat. He will send some info a little later, we may be able to send some care packages over. I have also asked him for “combat reviews” of kits. He has discovered that Iranian rocket fragments make great nose weights for the Hasegawa 1/48 F-86.

Hello Region Five,

The year has flown by. Our Regional and National Conventions are behind us.

Where has the time gone????

First thing I wish to do is thank your chapter contact(s) for their patience while I switched internet service providers. I was not able to find a quick way to transfer my address book from AOL to Charter which left me to rebuilding it. Since I had to do that, I would create new groups for each chapter and test emailed each contact then the group set up for each chapter. I know it was a pain for you all, but thank you for working with me.

Item 2. We are literally days away from the charter renewal period which runs from Oct 1st to the end of the year. Each chapter will shortly be getting an email from me with the necessary info for the renewal of their respective chapter’s charter renewal. If you have any questions, don’t receive it or have any problems, please contact me!

Item 3 our Region 5 Website. I have updated the chapter and member spotlights. Please check them out and get to know a fellow IPMS member and a really interesting chapter. Also thanks to Ed Wahl and Terry Buschmann who gave me some missing information on who hosted IPMS USA and Region 5 Regional conventions. Those too have been updated. At the request of several folks I spoke with at the Regional, I have added an upcoming events section to the website and will attach it to my updates as well. The upcoming events will feature the IPMS events in Region 5 as well as those in adjoining regions 4 and 6.

Item 4 news on the IPMS USA front. The National Contest Committee (NCC) is addressing a couple of issues. Watch the Journal and the USA website for updates. Some changes to the Out of the Box have been decided and will be announced shortly. The Competition Handbook has been the subject of much debate and a group has been assigned the task of recommending changes. Speaking of the NCC, for those not aware, Art Gerber passed away. He was the Armor Head Judge and will be dearly missed.

Item 5, it is quiet in Region 5. To quote the movie “Airplane” “too quiet”. I sort of expected more discussions and issues to be brought up. I have not received much in the way of things that you folks through the region want to discuss, change, etc. I am not sure how to take that. Is it the “no news is good news” or “the heck with him, I ain’t talking to that idiot”???? I have only received one chapter bio and one member bio to put on the Region 5 site. Please consider sending me a brief write up about your chapter and even one of your IPMS members. Don’t worry about it not being perfect, I was my chapter’s newsletter editor and if I could make Bob Fisher’s ramblings coherent, I can make anyone’s sound good. Just submit it.

Item 6, chapters who have held shows. I am trying to put together a list of chapters who have hosted shows over the years. If you currently host a show annually or have hosted shows in the past, I would really appreciate it if you would forward the dates of those shows to me along with any titles.

Enough for now, please check the chapter and member spotlight columns.

Mike George

Region 5 Regional Coordinator

http://ipms-gateway.com/Region5coordinator.html

A Final Look. by Brian Casteel.

The 2007 IPMS USA National Convention

Courtesy IPMS Orange County Newsletter

As I arrived at the Marriott on a gorgeous Southern California morning, Wed the 22d of 2007, I knew the show was going to be a success, and that it was. I couldn't shake the dread of paying $20 a day to park but what a small price to pay to see some of the most amazing models built by some of the most talented modelers in the world (seriously, the world). When I walked into the hotel there were already vendors chomping at the bit to get set up, and understandably so, they were ready to start making some money and a few ‘die hards’ that were ready to participate in the 2007 IMPS National Convention. Once the vendor placement map arrived, the vendor room was set up, registration began and the convention had officially started. Despite a few computer hiccups and badges rolling out at their own speed, nothing could keep anyone from enjoying the first day of the IPMS National Convention. One of our biggest challenges was the Anaheim Fire Department. Modelers were not allowed to leave their carry/storage boxes under the tables, this made for a few gripes and moans but mostly everyone was compliant. No ill will towards the AFD, they were just doing there job and made sure everyone was safe.

Overall, the first day was filled with getting in and getting settled, a few raffles and lots of last minute loose ends to tie up. The “fires” that needed putting out were many but small and not life (or convention) threatening. No matter when I popped into the office, Jim Woody, Nat Richards, Lindy Woody, and Mike Bradley were continually working behind the scenes to make the convention run like clockwork. A slew of volunteers continued to give time by working hard on registration badges, accounting and other various behind the scenes tasks. At the close of the third day, there were 713 total registered attendees (not including day passes) and by the time the last model was entered there were 2,172 registered model entries! This IMPS USA National Convention ranks the third highest in regards to model entries and also holds the first place title in the West. If I was a wagering man, I would put money on the fact that there were well over 2,400 individual models on the tables with the various collections and group entries. New to the IPMS USA Convention this year was a paper model category. There were 37 entries in all for this category. Wow, it seemed to be well received! Throughout the convent ion, whenever I perused the paper entries, the most common quote I heard around that table was “That’s paper?!?!”By the end of desert everyone was ready to get the ceremony going so Jim Woody kicked things of with a hearty welcome and various thank you’s and then introduced Jack Kennedy, the IPMS USA President. Mr. Kennedy made some announcements and then Ron Bell announced the recipient of the 2009 Nationals, Columbus, Ohio. I was introduced and i had everyone open with our trademark "How Ya Doin?" had the distinct honor of announcing the “Best Of Awards”. It was decided that this year we would not read all of the individual winners. In doing so, this would allow everyone to get back into the contest room and see their awards and bask in the glory with their fellow modelers. A complete list of winners was mailed out to all entrants. Our most heartfelt thank you goes out to Nat Richards and Jim Woody for all their hard work leading up the 2007 IPMS Nationals. Without their tireless effort, for the last three years, none of this would have been possible. Thank you! Here is a list of IPMS Orange County Members that helped put on this very special and successful show. More thank yous to: Joe Aguilera, Greg Arnold, Tony Avalos, Michael Bare, Michael Bradley, Doug Browning, Ted Browning, Mike Budzeika, Daniel Carlson, Mark Deliduka, Don Drummer, Leigh Eaton, Clement Eng, Sean Fallesen, David Fredrick, Mark Glidden, Cip Hernandez, Pete Hiatt, Terry Huber, Steve Munroe, David O'Barr, David Okamura, Bob Penikas, Nat Richards, Richie Scanapico, Daniel Silverthorn, Jon Silverthorn, Dean Smith, Jason Sutton, Steve Taylor, Salvador Torres, Jim Woody, Lindy Woody, Jaime Zamora. Also thank you to Cip’s wife for the home made Enchiladas she made for all the volunteers!

Research Resources

By Ed Mate, courtesy Will-Cook Newsletter

Modeling Korean War Aces F-86 Sabres – Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of this article to share some information about where to find reference photos, profiles and 1/48 decals (sorry, I only build in 1/48 scale) of your favorite Korean War Ace’s F-86 Sabre. To keep track of what I’m doing, this list is in order of victories tallied and continues from where part 1 ended.

Lt. Harold E. Fischer 39^th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is information on his Sabre:

F-86F-10 s/n 51-12958 Paper Tiger FU-958. Profiles can be found in Mig Alley (p. 41), F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51^st FIW (p. 58), and Korean War Aces (p. 53) and photos in Mig Alley (p. 79), Korean War Aces (p. 32), and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51^st FIW (p. 64 & 65). Decals are on Aeromaster 48-446A and Superscale 48-812.

Col. James K. Johnson 4^th FIW, 10 total victories. Here is information on his Sabre:

F-86F-10 s/n 51-12941 FU-941. A profile can be found in Korean War Aces (p. 44) and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th FIW (p. 41). Photos can be found in Mig Alley (p. 66 & 75), Korean War Aces (p. 75), Frontline Color (p. 82), 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 80, 182, 183 & 188), and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th FIW (p. 72). I have not found decals for his airplane, but Ruddel’s “Mig Mad Mavis” is only 1 digit off and can be found on Superscale 48-52 and Aeromaster 48-447A. The Superscale sheet also contains the squadron badge that is needed.

Capt. Ralph S. Parr 334^th & 335^th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is information on his Sabres:

F-86F-30 s/n 52-4778 Barb FU-778 (334^th FIS). A profile can be found in Korean War Aces (p. 46), and a photo can be found in 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 193). I have not found decals for this airplane.

F-86F-30 s/n 51-12955 Barb FU-955 (335^th FIS). Photos can be found in Mig Alley (p. 54) and 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 189). I have not found decals for this airplane.

F-86F-30 s/n 51-12959 FU-959 (335^th FIS). An illustration of this airplane is on the cover of F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th FIW. This is the airplane in which Parr famously took on 15 Migs single-handedly and scored his first two victories. I have not found decals for this airplane.

Major Frederick C. “Boots” Blesse 334^th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is information on his Sabre:

F-86E-10 s/n 51-12821 FU-821. Profiles can be found in Mig Alley (p. 37) and Korean War Aces (p. 45). Photos can be found in Mig Alley (p. 76) and 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 153). Decals are on Aeromaster 48-448.

Capt. Lonnie R. Moore 335^th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is information on his Sabres:

F-86F-10 s/n 51-12972 Margie/Billie FU-972. Profiles can be found in Mig Alley (p. 45) and Korean War Aces (p. 47). Photos can be found in Mig Alley (p. 73), F-86 Walkaround (p. 19), and 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 181). Decals are on Superscale 48-52.

F-86F-2 GUNVAL s/n 51-12836 Sweet Carol FU-836. A profile can be found in F-86 Walkaround (p. 73). Photos can be found in 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 170 & 172), F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th FIW (p. 69), and F-86 Sabre Walkaround (p. 59). I have not found decals for this airplane, but “Nina” and Clifford Jolley’s “Jolley Roger” are only 1 digit off and can be found on Aeromaster 48-449A and Aeromaster 48-446A respectively.

Major then Lt. Col. Vermont Garrison 335^th FIS, 10 total victories. Here is information on his Sabre:

F-86F-10 s/n 51-12953 FU-953. Profiles can be found in Korean War Aces (p. 46) and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th FIW (p. 42). Photos can be found in Mig Alley (p. 75), Air War Over Korea (p. 47), 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 149 & 186), and F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th FIW (p. 76). I have not found decals for this airplane, but Fischer’s “Paper Tiger” is only 1 digit off and can be found on Aeromaster 48-446A. The squadron badge is available on this sheet as well.

Lt. James F. Low 335^th FIS, 9 total victories. Here is information on his Sabre:

F-86E s/n 51-2870 FU-870. A photo can be found in 4th FIW in the Korean War (p. 141). I have not found decals for his airplane.

Lt. Cecil G. Foster 16^th FIS, 9 total victories. Here is information on his Sabres:

F-86E s/n 51-2868 FU-868. I’ve never seen a photograph of this airplane, but you can read about Foster getting 3 of his kills in this airplane in Mig Alley (p. 49 & 50).

F-86E-10 s/n 51-2738 Three Kings FU-738. A profile can be found in F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51^st FIW (p. 52), and photos can be found in F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51^st FIW (p. 35 & 41) and Mig Alley (p. 51). Decals can be found on Aeromaster 48-448.

F-86E-10 s/n 51-2738 Four Kings and a Queen FU-738. Profiles can be found in Mig Alley (p. 40) and Korean War Aces (p. 50). Decals can be found on Aeromaster 48-446A.

Major James P. Hagerstrom 67th FBS, 18th FBG, 8½ total victories (2 scored with 4^th FIW). Here is information on his 67^th FBS Sabre:

F-86F s/n 52-4341 Mig Poison FU-341. Profiles can be found in Korean War Aces (p. 55), F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th FIW (p. 43) and Mig Alley (p. 45). Photos can be found in Mig Alley (p. 52) and F-86 Walkaround (p. 78). Decals can be found on Aeromaster 48-447A.

Selected References:

F-86 Sabre Walk Around (Walk Around Number 21) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 2000

F-86 Sabre in Action (1033) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1978

F-86 Sabre in Color (6502) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1981

Air War Over Korea (6035) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1982

Mig Alley (6020) by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications 1978

Korean War Aces, Aircraft of the Aces #4 by Robert Dorr, Jon Lake and Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 1995

F-86 Sabre Aces of the 51^st Fighter Wing, Aircraft of the Aces #70 by Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 2006

F-86 Sabre Aces of the 4^th Fighter Wing, Aircraft of the Aces #72 by Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 2006

F-86 Sabres of the 4^th Fighter Interceptor Wing, Osprey Frontline Colour #6 by Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing 2002

The Korean Air War by Robert Dorr and Warren Thompson, Motorbooks International 1994

The 4^th Fighter Wing in the Korean War by Larry Davis, Schiffer Publishing 2001

Building the 1953 Corvette Carrera Panamericana Racer

Courtesy GTR Auto Modelers Newsletter

By Chuck Hermann

In 1953 Chevy introduced the very first Corvette to fill a need for an American made sports car. There were only 300 made, all were white with red interiors. The first Vettes featured a 235 cubic inch straight six Blue Flame engine with 150 HP and a two speed automatic Powerglide transmission. So while it was a sports car, it took a few years until the performance was enhanced with V-8 engines and manual transmissions, leading to the many famous racing Corvettes over the years continuing thru today. The first example of a racing Vette was a car entered in the 1954 open road race running over roads in Baja Mexico, the famous La Carrera Panamericana. This event was similar to the Millia Miglia and Targa Florio events in Europe, and was held from 1950 to 1954. Today there is a vintage type event held each year over much the same course, but the original races were dangerous, flat out blasts through Mexico. Photo from The first example of a racing Vette was a car entered in the 1954 open road race running over roads in Baja Mexico, the famous La Carrera Panamericana. This event was similar to the Millia Miglia and Targa Florio events in Europe, and was held from 1950 to 1954. Today there is a vintage type event held each year over much the same course, but the original races were dangerous, flat out blasts through Mexico. The Corvette was also sponsored by von Esser, who owned a performance shop in Chicago. The car was basically stock, and with the stanadard powertrain was no match for the factory backed exotic Ferraris and Mercedes than dominated the overall results. The obvious modifications were red wire wheels replacing the steel wheels and hubcaps, the grille and headlights were taped up and of course the racing numbers and graphics. The red and white color scheme always looked neat to me, so I wanted to do a model of this Vette. In 2002 Revell reissued the 1953 Corvette, kit 85-2164 in 1/24 scale. This is an old tool that had been released many times in the past. This time it included some decals for the Carrera car. (Note: there is also a Fred Cady decal sheet for this car). But there were no wire wheels in the kit, just the stock hub caps which do not look like they would belong on a race car. Correct ones are available from the aftermarket, by Curbside Dioramics (RDU-1518) available from R&D Unique. After putting off ordering them I finally did so earlier this year then got to work on the model. This is a full detail kit, with engine and suspension detail. The kit shows its age, lots of mold lines, especially on the chrome bits and there are some fit problems. Most of it I built up box stock, so I will touch on the updates for the race version along with any problem areas. The engine is an eight or nine piece assembly (there is an option for the carb set up). I used Testors sky blue but it looks a little too light, but int built up compartment it is not so bad. One thing missing was any hoses connecting to the radiator, I added some from parts box bits but once the hood is installed this is barely visible. Note that if you wanted to add spark plug wires, on the real thing they are hidden under a cover so they were not visible. There is a full suspension included, but to use the aftermarket white metal wire wheels I had to modify the mountings. The kit wheels slide onto plastic posts, but the wires had a much bigger hole. So I cut some 5/32 brass tube, pushed it onto the posts and glued it onto the wheels. Neither the new wheels nor the kit provide brake details, which really show up on these wire wheels. So I found some old style drum brakes in the parts box and adapted them to fit. I found the rear shock assembly very difficult to fit, ultimately I gave up and did not use it. I painted the wheels red. Note that the instructions with the wheel set say to soak the tires in hot water to soften them up to press onto the wheels: do this! Otherwise it is a very difficult task to squeeze them on. Glue on the knockoffs last or you will break them off adjusting the fit and height. The interior is rather basic, and it should be red with a white dash. I used Testor Flat Red then did a wash to bring out the details. The dash glues onto the body, so be careful fitting it so it lines up when assembled. The top of the dash is actually part of the body, the section behind the windshield. I test fit the windshield frame, marked off the dash part then painted it the same red as the interior. There are no decals for the gauges so I picked out details with paint. The steering wheel features a chrome horn ring. The body is basically one piece, with the hood a separate piece. There were a few mold lines but they are in the usual places and cleaned up easily. I painted it with Tamiya Pure White lacquer from the rattlecan. While it may not be accurate, I sanded off the chrome trim on the sides and the front emblem. There is a decal for the front emblem, and I felt the graphics on the sides looks better without the trim in the way (and I am not that comfortable doing a lot of Bare Metal foiling). I also removed the front wipers; they were molded in with little detail. I still am looking for a nice replacement. The rear exhausts exit thru the body above the bumpers. I thought they looked too small as provided so I drilled out the holes and scratchbuilt some from brass tube. The chrome bumpers have no defined mounting position on the body. So I drilled a hole on the back and glued in a small piece of wire, then drilled out a spot on the body to mount them into. There is no side mirror provided in the kit, and the rear view mirror on the dash has two severe sink marks. So I cannibalized an AMT Snap Fast kit of this car that I had earlier decided not to use for this project. The headlights are chrome buckets that did not fit the holes in the body. They are covered up, but the kit decals provided would never have fit, and did not match the reference photo I had. So instead I cut some white labels to cover more of the lights. The grille used in the race is a screen rather than the stock “teeth”. here is a decal to represent this, but no place to apply it! I put it on a piece of plastic stock cut to fit, but ended up using a piece of screening material from the parts box. The license plates are decals, but again there is no place to put them so plastic stock was used here as well. Speaking of decals, they went on with no problems. That’s it. There were some issues with the kit, and I am not sure the headlight’s poor fit, on my example at least, would have let me build an acceptable stock version. But overall I am satisfied with the results. As I said I always liked the color scheme of this car, and the old style road races, like the Carrerra and Mille Miglia, are fascinating reminders of how racing got its start. Danbury Mint: Danbury Mint makes a finished diecast of this subject. The photos off the web look nice if you don’t want to build one. The AMT snapper I mentioned is also a possible easier alternative, but it is 1/25 and noticeably smaller so the wheels and tires may be a bit too big. And the level of detail is very simplified.

Kit Review: Hasegawa 1/48 Scale Aircraft in Action Series Kit Number
X48-11 (36011); FOLLOW ME Jeep Willys MB; 71 parts (66 in olive drab
styrene, 4 clear styrene, 1 length of brass wire); retail price US
$23.00

By Cookie Sewell

Advantages: provides a nice airfield diorama accessory for 1/48 aircraft or a suitable Jeep for use with 1/48 armored vehicles Disadvantages: vastly overpriced for value received; decals not a great idea for "Follow me" color option, as is having the vehicle molded in olive drab.

Rating: Recommended.

Recommendation: to 1/48 scale aircraft modelers and any armor modeler who REALLY wants a Jeep in this scale now. The ubiquitous Willys MB was probably the most popular US-built vehicle of WWII, nosing out the GMC CCKW series or the Studebaker US6 series trucks with just about everybody. Light, nimble, fast and useful, it found all sorts of applications. The USAAF used them for just about everything as well, from simple transports to air-ground liaison with forward air controllers and even airfield management vehicles, painted in bright colors for safety and generally fitted with large signs saying "FOLLOW ME" to guide aircraft to and from their parking areas. There have been a few kitted over the years in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale, but this one from Hasegawa is a brand-new effort and is designed to compliment their airfield accessory line of figures, vehicles, and modern missiles and ordnance. As it comes, the kit provides a Jeep with an optional canvas top, console with ground-to- air radio set, three figures (two crew and one pilot), and decals and markings for three different vehicles. The primary option is for a red and white "FOLLOW ME" vehicle fitted with the radio set. So far, so good. The Jeep itself is not bad, coming with even a three- piece engine and hood which can be position either open or closed, separate springs and shocks, a complete exhaust system, and all interior controls less foot pedals. The figures have separate arms and two have separate heads, giving some options on posing them. Both of the ground figures have the baseball caps, and the pilot has a WWII helmet and goggles vice soft cap or other headgear. But, the design of the kit appears based on the old Tamiya jeep kit from 1973, which was not bad, but again, 1973. The current kit is much more accurate and better, and as a point of fact will probably be the pantograph stand-in for a promised Tamiya kit. The production values for this kit are not high, with the belly riddled with ejector pin marks (at least Hasegawa put them on the bottom of the body) and "soft" details on the body to include the reflectors and hand holds. No tools are provided, and while the brackets are also missing, at least Hasegawa did not mold them to the body. I checked my copy of TM 11-27, "Radio Communication Equipment" (April 1944) and the radio set seems to look like many of the home-grown mountings placed in jeeps to carry out air-ground coordination or airfield management, and while nothing specific can be identified it looks to have one HF radio set on the left and one VHF set (like either an SCR-522 or SCR-542 set) on the right. The radio antenna looks about right if a bit short. While two of the optional finishes are in olive drab, the primary one of red and white check is a hard one to replicate and in this case the modeler will first have to prime the model, paint it white, and then, as the checks are provided as one bit (63 x 80 mm) sheet of decals, cut them to fit and try to get them to set down over the body details. This will be a very tough job and put any decal setting agent to the test. (The decals are red and white, but most modelers know if you put the average decal over a dark color the white is rarely thick enough to be opaque.) At least Hasegawa, like Tamiya, has first-rate directions. They show the three options for the kit as being a "Follow Me" jeep from Iowa during WWII; 323rd Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, 8th US Air Force, England 1943; and a USAF radio jeep in Korea, 1950. (I personally like the latter given the misery of the red-and-white paint job and will probably do this one posed next to a T-6G "Mosquito" in Korea.) Overall, this kit could have been much better and especially for its very high price. Hasegawa can get away with that for its aircraft, but if aircraft modelers held this kit to the same standard for the price charged it comes up wanting. Had the body of the jeep been prepainted, it could have been worth the price.

Page created October 2, 2007

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