Author: Iron Modeler

Howdy, all…

I’ve been reading a lot of back issues of modeling magazines lately—way, way back issues, from the early 1980’s.  I was reading FineScale Modeler, to be precise (and if you are a fan of the magazine and haven’t yet bought their 25 years, 1982-2007  and 10 years, 2008-2018 DVD’s, what are you waiting for?), especially the early issues between the initial Test Issue in 1982 until around 1987 just to look back and remember how it used to be.  Incidentally, a lot of tools and products that modelers today seem to think are “new” actually date back to pre-FSM days.  (I’ll cover the early days of FSM in a later post—I’ve been trying to write it for several weeks now, but always find something lacking.)

When the magazine first came out, I was a 1/48 scale WWII airplane modeler.  If it did not fit that collection, I wasn’t interested.  A few years later, my tastes changed—well, they didn’t change, per se, I just grew my areas of interest.  In the Fall of 1986, I embarked on a 1/48^th F-111 using the Monogram rework of the Aurora F-111A kit.  I had recently discovered the Detail and Scale series, too, and after reading the reviews, looking at the photos, and comparing them to the actual plastic, I saw nothing but a major fight with the kit.  I was at a crossroads.  While at one of the Daytona hobby shops (most likely Sky, Ltd.—HobbyCraft Junction had closed, and Ace RC had only a small selection), I spied the Monogram 1/72 F-105G.  Having been a fan of the Thud since I saw a picture in the family’s Collier’s Encyclopedia (again, this was when most families actually owned an encyclopedia set), and having built the Monogram 1/48^th scale kit in 1983, I was intrigued.  I bought the kit, and quickly liked the idea of jets in 1/72 scale.  (I gave the ‘Vark to a college friend, who finished it respectably, showing that it *could* be done—and if you wanted a 1/48^th scale F-111, this was the only way at the time.)

I reasoned that a 1/48^th F-105 is almost the same length as a 1/48^th B-25, and I realized that doing jets in the smaller scale did two things: saved display space—well, it didn’t really “save” space, since there were now more kits to build, the smaller kits just allowed for more models to be shown in the same space—and opened up a vast variety of subjects to my collection.

Sticking with the 1/72 scale theme, I would buy and build the Monogram EF-111A in the Spring of 1987, a Hasegawa F9F-2 Panther in the Fall of 1987, and a Monogram F-4D in the Spring of 1988, rounding out my years at “The Harvard of the Sky”.  Later, after I graduated and joined the real world, I would build Fujimi’s AH-1J, and ESCI’s F-104C and Mirage F.1.  As I started building for other people, I would build several copies of the Heller C-118, Hasegawa’s F-14, S-3, and F-16A+; Monogram’s F-4J and F-105G; and Revell’s F-89D.  My journey to the “Dark Side” was complete—almost.  I still build WWII fighters in 1/48^th scale.

At about the same time, I also started to shrink my WWII bombers to 1/72 scale, and for the same reasons.  I would find the Italeri B-25’s, Airfix A-26 and B-26, Revell’s A-20, B-24, and PBY, and Hasegawa’s B-17’s while I was in college…

Of course, I had also begun dabbling in ships, cars, armor, and miniatures (“figures”) by then, too…

(I once had a fairly convoluted collection breakdown.  As I’ve progessed in years, I have started to re-think a lot of things, and am slowly going through a “fleet rationalization”.  But that’s another story for another time…)

Anyway, I need to steer us back on track…

In the early to mid-1980’s, Fujimi and Hasegawa were leading the pack in 1/72 scale with a new generation of kits.  Sure, the Italian firms of ESCI and Italeri had a few new goodies, and the Koreans were ramping up some kits of their own, but the folks from Shizuoka were standing head and shoulders above everyone else, including U.S. domestic stalwarts Revell and Monogram.

Fujimi, in particular, began releasing “families” of kits based on a common tool with inserts and optional parts to get as much mileage (read: as many variants of the type) from a mold as possible.  Among this new series of 1/72^nd scale kit families, we had:

• A-4 Skyhawk (from the A4D-1 on, including the TA-4’s and some of the export versions)
• A-6 Intruder (including the KA-6D)
• A-7 Corsair II (all single-seat variants from A-7A to A-7E)
• F-4 Phantom II (eventually the F-4B through the F-4S, including the RF-4B and C and the Spey-powered British Phantoms)
• F-86 Sabre (the F-86F family, including the F-40 and RF-86)
• F7U “Cutlass”
• Ju-87 Stuka (D, G, and R variants)
• D3A “Val”
• B6N “Jill”
• D4Y “Judy”
• B7A “Grace”
• Ki-36 “Ida”
• Ki-15 “Babs”
• F1M “Pete”
• A5M “Claude”
• CH-46 Sea Knight
• H-60 Blackhawk

Later in the 1980’s and into the 1990’s, Fujimi continued with a 1/72 F-14A, F-16 series, MiG-21 series, and F/A-18 series that were on the same level as the contemporary releases of the same subjects from Hasegawa.   In addition, they offered a 1/72^nd scale Ki-43 Oscar series, the J1N1 “Irving”, some late marque Spitfires (they only managed to do the XIVc and FR.19, according to Scalemates), and also got into 1/144 scale with a series of B-29 kits.  Later, they would add Japanese WWII fighters to the 1/144 collection, and after Nitto went bankrupt, they would add some of their military vehicles to the Fujimi catalog.

If you built modern subjects, when you add to these their earlier SH-3 Sea King, E-2 Hawkeye, Kaman Seaspite, Bell UH-1N, Westland Lynx, CH/HH-53, and AH-1J Sea/Sand Cobras, there was a lot to choose from.  And, when you coupled Fujimi’s jets and helicopters to the Hasegawa kits of the day (F-14, F-15, F-16, S-2, S-3, etc.), you could amass quite a collection of modern airplanes.

The WWII guys had a lot to choose from, too, especially stuff that had either not been made before as an injection molded kit, or the only kits available were older, less accurate and less detailed kits, some of which were in odd scales.

Now, I had already purchased and perused (and stashed) the older Fujimi 1/48^th scale Bf-110C/D, late Bf-109G/K,  the Aichi D3A “Val”, the 1/50^th Fw-190D-9; and had actually built their 1/50^th Spitfire Vb in 1983.  The fact that some of their kits were in “odd” scales (1/50 and 1/70) for their earlier kits didn’t really bother me at the time, and by the time I was getting into the smaller scale, the kits that interested me were in the more common scales.  Even the older kits were nicely done from a molding quality standpoint, only the accuracy and detailing needed better execution.  Still, most were the only games in town at the time—for example, the Dora was “it” in anything near 1/48^th scale unless you converted the Monogram kit with Bill Koster’s excellent vac-form conversion.  We had to wait until 1987 for Trimaster to put a state-of-the-art injection molded 1/48^th scale Fw-190D-9 kit on the shelves.

Even in 1/48^th scale, they had a few older kits of modern subjects, including an F-14A, an F-15, the Mitsubishi F-1 and T-2, and a 1/50^th F-5B that also masqueraded as a “White Mosquito” T-38.

But these new tool kits in 1/72 scale were something else.  Petite recessed detail, good fit, fairly decent details, and they were not astronomically priced.  I believe Testors had the U.S. market distributorship agreement back then, which kept the pricing fairly low.  Some of these would also appear in Testors boxes along the way.

And then, they were gone.  It seemed as though Fujimi kits on hobby shop shelves had evaporated overnight.  When you could find them, the prices had soared.  What happened?

Apparently–and I’m going by what I know about the plastic model industry from my days working at hobby shops here, since most Japanese model manufacturers keep a close lid on their internal goings-on–is that when Testors’ importer agreement with Fujimi ended, for whatever reason, no other importer picked them up OR Fujimi decided not to replace Testors as their importer into the U.S.  Or, perhaps things weren’t as rosy as we had hoped—after all, with all these superb kits coming out, it was a virtual license to print money, right?  We couldn’t keep their kits on the shelves for a while.  Did the Testors re-boxings divert money?  Were they not hot sellers elsewhere in the world?  And it wasn’t as if all Fujimi had going for them were these airplane kits—they made cars in 1/24 (Porsches, the Ford GT-40 series, racing Ferraris), waterline series ships in 1/700 scale, military vehicles in 1/72 and 1/76, and recently, they produced some 1/350 scale ship kits, too.

Whatever happened, Fujimi is still around.  Their website shows 232 airplane kits in the aircraft line—most of which are marked as “sold out”.   Recently, they offered kits of the F-22A and the F-35B (VTOL version).  As you run through the line, you’ll see just how extensive the Fujimi catalog is.  The fact that there is no U.S. importer means that instead of going to the local shop, you need to go online.  Hobbylink Japan, Hobbylinc, PlazaJapan, and HobbySearch all carry the line.

If you’ve never had the pleasure, get a modern (post-1982) Fujimi kit and build it.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy the ride.  As I promised last time, I’ll document the construction of one of Fujimi’s Sea Kings in the next post.  The Fujimi Sea King kit pre-dates the others by a few years (it appeared in 1980), but it was marketed as a “family”, including the SH-3D/G/H, JSDF HSS-2B, and RAF Sea King HAR.3).  It was a good indication of what was to come from Fujimi Mokei.

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Here in the Greater Upper Midlands Co-Prosperity Sphere, things are going as well as can be expected.  Both model clubs (AMPS and IPMS) have gone to Zoom meetings, since both clubs normally meet in county libraries that have been closed since March.  Zoom meetings work fairly well for those who join them, but some of the folks just don’t have the technical know-how and equipment to participate.  Several people have offered alternative meeting locations, but they aren’t big enough to practice social distancing, so we’ll stick with Zoom for now.  It isn’t a perfect solution, but it works well enough.

Of the model show “casualties” of COVID-19, our June show had been postponed until August, but last week the committee decided to cancel it.  There were many reasons, all of them valid, but the cherry on the sundae was the Governor’s Executive Order than limited the number of people allowed in any government facility to no more than 50.  Since that would barely accommodate the show staff and vendors, we were left with no other choice.

Of course, IPMS/USA cancelled their 2020 National Convention in San Marcos, Texas as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 spiked in that state.  The San Marcos crew was awarded the 2023 convention after IPMS/USA renegotiated the deal with the venue there.  It was the right thing to do, especially when it has come to light that a convention hall close to the venue has been opened as an overflow hospital.

The only show that is still “Go!” (for now, at least) is the rescheduled (from May) and moved (from Harrisburg, PA to Danbury, CT) AMPS International Convention, although given the traveler quarantines in place in the Northeast, I expect it to be cancelled in the upcoming weeks.

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Speaking of AMPS, our Chapter’s long-term project for the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum was moved into place and completed in March.  The museum has an announcement, and the Facebook page we established has now been opened to the public.

We kept things under wraps during construction, but since it is now on full display, here’s a thumbnail:

The 8’X12’X5’ diorama represents Fire Support Base RIPCORD circa mid- to late June, 1970.  RIPCORD was a pivotal battle during Operation TEXAS STAR, yet another attempt to shut down the movement of men and material down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  It was for all intents and purposes under siege from 1 July 1970 until it was “closed” and evacuated on 23 July.  It was the last battle led and fought primarily by U.S. troops.

If you want to know more, check out the RIPCORD Association website.

We built the diorama in 1/72 scale, with a good 95% of it being bespoke—only a relative few items (helicopters, howitzers) were built from kits.  It is located in the atrium between the South Carolina State Museum’s ticket desk and the Relic Room; to view it costs nothing.  It is supposed to remain in place for at least two years.  If you are an AMPS national member, Part One of a three-part article appeared in the latest issue of the AMPS magazine “Boresight”.

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That’s all I have for now.  Thanks for reading.  Stay safe and stay well, and, as always, be good to one another.  I bid you Peace.

“At Warrick Custom Hobbies in Fort Lauderdale, kids who peek in the window of a sidewalk display often will be surprised — the staff inside will turn on the train shown there to amuse them.  ‘We have a lot of regulars who like to come in and have a cup of coffee and chew the rag,’ Warrick manager Bob Fivey says. ‘That’s a very important part of a hobby — it wouldn’t be a hobby if you couldn’t share it with someone.’” — Ft. Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel, 24 January 1987

Howdy, all, and Happy New Year!

The quote above was from a former manager of the hobby shop I would visit most often when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, the shop I would later work for.  I never worked for Bob Fivey–he had retired or moved on by the time I went to work for Peter Warrick (not the football player!)–but I did meet him several times over the years.

I couldn’t have put it any better than Bob did.  As I’ve said time and again, the hobby shop of my youth was more than a place to satisfy my modeling needs—it was a place to meet other hobbyists, talk about what we were working on, and to show off our latest works.  I extend those sentiments to model clubs, too, for the same reasons—they are outlets for the same social aspects of what is otherwise a lone-wolf hobby.

Unfortunately, those days are well behind us now, but I remember my first visits to the local shops in Ft. Lauderdale.  None of them were very large—then again, that was true for almost every hobby shop in the day.  What I do recall:

Warrick Custom Hobbies had an enclosure out front of the store in the middle of the covered sidewalk—that was where the train the story talks about was located.  Inside, it was cramped—and crammed.  If memory serves, the shop was maybe 15’X30’.  As you walked in the door, to the right was the cash register and counter space, and to the left the models were stacked like cordwood—the area was partly next to a stairway up to the mezzanine that served as the office space for the store, but on the wall next to the stairs, there was always product on sale on pegs.  I distinctly recall seeing some 1/48 scale New Hope Designs metal figures among the pegs, but since they were expensive and lacked detail, I never bought any.  Later, I recall my friend Rick calling them “No Hope Designs”, so I’m glad I passed on them…

As you ventured further into the store, the paint racks were next to the models.  Pactra, Testors, Polly-S, Floquil, Scalecoat, Humbrol, and the remnants of an IR paint rack—they were all there.  As you went further still towards the back of the store—past the book and magazine racks–you were firmly in the land of model railroading.  Trains and train accessories took up perhaps a good portion of the store.  As you reached the back of the store, there was the RC counter.  At times, the store actually filled part of the space in the next storefront to the right—the owner would sell car stereos, scooters, or other goods out of the front of the space next door, and the hobby shop would occupy the back half.  This was usually where the items such as doll houses were—in my years going to the store, I rarely ventured past the paint racks, but I do recall how packed that little store was!

My other part-time haunt (although less and less after I discovered Warrick) was Universal Hobbies in Plantation.  Much like Warrick, it was small and packed full of goods.  Universal had a showcase up front where they displayed people’s models, and I still remember seeing the Hawk U-2 in 1/48 scale, resplendent in the PAVE ONYX “Sabre” camouflage scheme, residing there.  Universal seemed to have less of a plastics selection than Warrick, and didn’t have as many paint lines.  But they were still a good stop every now and then, just to see what they might have.

One thing the two stores had in common (and I’ve waxed on about it before) is what I call “the hobby shop smell”.  Old school hobby shops had a peculiar smell, a mix of volatile organic chemicals—mostly paint thinner, glow fuel, dope, and Castor oil–and musty, moldy, mildewy wood and cardboard.  Once you smelled it, you never forgot it.

Over the years, Warrick would move “out West” from Davie Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale to Griffin Road in Davie, and later to University Drive in Plantation.  With each move, the stock would change a bit—it would grow to fit the new (larger) store space, and would change with customers’ (or owner’s) tastes.  Over the years, in addition to model railroading, plastic models, and radio control, the store sold doll houses, cameras, and collectible ceramic villages.  In their final location, they added paintball, too.  The one thing they couldn’t move was the “hobby shop smell”.  Each move would diminish the smell until it was no longer a feature of any visit to the shop.

Universal, too, would see change.  They would eventually add the adjacent store front to their space before changing hands and moving to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea in the mid-1990’s.

Both would open second stores in the 1980’s, Warrick in Coconut Creek and Universal in Coral Springs.  Neither was particularly long-lived—if memory serves, they opened in 1984 or thereabouts, and by 1987 or 1988 both were closed and everything reverted to the “Mother Ships”.

There were other, smaller shops in Broward County, and when I was in the neighborhood, of course, I would visit them.  East Acre Hobbies (Plantation), Gateway Hobbies (Ft. Lauderdale), and, when it opened, RC Hobbies (Tamarac) would be on the rotation.  There were numerous smaller (if you can believe it) stores, too, whose names are long forgotten.

Of course, once I graduated college and was back in the area on a full time basis, I would visit Orange Blossom Hobbies.  I shared my memories of “OB” a few years ago.

In those days, you could also buy models at Discount Stores and 5-and-10 stores (Woolco, Zayre, Ben Franklin, K-Mart, The Treasury), toy stores (Lionel Playworld, Toys R Us, Toy King in Daytona Beach), arts and crafts stores (Pearl Art and Craft, Zak’s, Michaels), convenience stores (7-11, U-Tote-Em, Little General), and a curious hobby store called The Hobby Box—these stores opened in Florida in the mid-1980’s and pretty much all of them same the Sunrise and Coral Springs locations were closed by 1989.  But none of those places offered the refuge a hobby shop did—they were retail establishments and nothing more.

While I was in Daytona Beach for college, I had a few favorites there, too.  HobbyCraft Junction was an odd little store with an eclectic mix of stuff.  No trains or radio control to speak of; mostly models and crafts.  Ace RC was the radio control headquarters for the area—if Lou didn’t have it, it wasn’t made or you didn’t need it.  Dunn Toy and Hobby was the second floor of Dunn Hardware during my years in Daytona, and they tried to have the latest and greatest in stock.  The last shop, Sky Ltd., opened in ’83 or ’84 and carried a nice assortment of kits.

They’re all gone now.  Whether one sees them as victims of the Internet or of changing tastes, it is a shame.

I face the same issues here in South Carolina.  When I moved here nearly twenty years ago, there were several shops and we used to frequent most of them.  Now, there are really only one or two shops I would consider patronizing out of the shops that are within driving distance.

A few months ago, a few modeling friends and I started to talk about the state of the local shops.  The HobbyTown that I used to work for has gone pretty much entirely to radio control cars and trucks—they share space with an indoor race track, so it follows they would do heavy business in that particular hobby.  However, they have all but ignored the scale modelers, model railroaders, and radio control flyers.  As the discussion progressed, the question was asked—“What would you do if you owned a hobby shop?”

My suggestions:

Start with the employees:

1. If you are the owner, your job is that business.  In other words, you need to be present at the store pretty much all the time.

• • When you aren’t at the store, you need to be doing something to promote the store, whether it means you go to Chamber of Commerce meetings, hobby club events, or trade shows.  You can’t sit at home and wait for the bucks to roll in through the door.

• • I suppose I learned from one of the best.  Pete started several businesses, and he was ALWAYS involved with them.  When he wasn’t at the hobby shop, he was at one of his other businesses, and, rest assured, he knew exactly what was going on at each of them.  He hired the right people, and he expected them to do their jobs.

2. Have a knowledgeable staff. When I went to work for Pete in the mid-1990’s, I was told I needed to know more than just plastic models (and more to the point, I needed to know more than just Monogram airplane kits).  My years of building scale models of all types, and a working knowledge of model railroading helped me get “in the door”.  The other guys in the shop, likewise, could converse in several different areas.

• • When I first went to work at HobbyTown, the owner liked the fact that I knew how to solder, understood batteries and electronics, and was mechanically inclined.  He figured that I could figure out radio control items that would come in for repair.  While I never really enjoyed RC repairs (especially nitro-fueled stuff), I did it because I could.  I’d much rather have been building a model instead of tearing down a near-totaled RC truck.
  • This brings up another point about tribal knowledge—make sure you have more than one person in the store that has similar knowledge.  Hearing, “Well, our only model guy is only here on Saturday” does the customer no good if they come in on Tuesday.
  • Finally, having a staff that knows multiple hobbies saves you from having to send business to your competition.  That’s akin to throwing money out the window.

3. Be friendly and greet everyone who walks into the store.

• • Acknowledge their presence and remind them that you are there to answer questions.

• • The staff should also be paying attention to the customers instead of chatting among themselves, other customers, or constantly scanning their smart phones. This is not to say the staff shouldn’t be involved, but they should have enough foresight to break off their conversation when another customer needs help.

• • A word on the “Hard-Sell”.  Personally, I don’t like it when a salesman follows me around like a puppy, trying to sell me everything that I touch.  Greet me at the door, ask me what I’m looking for, point me to those items, and let me browse.  If I have questions, I will find you.  I have bought more stuff at a hobby shop by simply wandering the aisles without a salesman in tow.  In fact, if I feel that I’m being given the hard-sell, more times than not I will walk out and buy nothing.

4. Be clean and well groomed. Nothing turns customers off more than a smelly and disheveled salesman.

• • Pete went so far as to have a personal appearance standard—he wouldn’t allow men to wear beards, and, truth be told, I think he really didn’t like facial hair at all.

5. Have a dress code.

• • Get shirts for your employees–there are several online shops that can work with you and produce custom shirts at great prices.  Make sure your employees keep them clean and wear them.

• • The standard uniform at Warrick was a store shirt (we had nice button-down oxfords embroidered with the store logo) and slacks (navy, black, or khaki) or clean blue jeans (with a preference for slacks).
  • At HobbyTown, we had polo shirts and were allowed to wear shorts on any day where the daily high temperature was forecast to be above 70 degrees.

6. Your staff needs to be punctual. A good rule of thumb is to arrive 20 minutes prior to opening or start of shift.  In those 20 minutes before opening, the staff needs to go through the store and clean/straighten the merchandise.  This is an ongoing process, and needs to be done several times a day, every day.

   Merchandise in general:

7. Stock as many paint, tool, and finishing product lines as you can, and make sure they remain full.

• • Nothing chases a potential customer away like half-filled paint, Evergreen, and K+S racks.  Likewise, keep the glues and chemicals—glues, dopes, oils, fuels, etc.—stocked.

8. If you cater to model railroaders, have staple items in stock—sectional track, spikes, road bed, ballast, rail joiners, etc. are things all model railroaders will need at one time or another.

• • Stick to the common scales/gauges—HO, N, and O—unless you have a large clientele who are active with G, Z, or S scale/gauge.

9. A landscaping selection is also helpful, and to more than just the railroader. Scale modelers use the same products when they landscape a display base.
10. The RC car and truck guys will want spare parts, wheels, tires, tools, and bodies, at the very least. Having the latest hop-up parts is a plus.
11. If you have a magazine and book rack, keep it organized.

• • Older issues get removed and returned for credit, not put on deep discount because someone “forgot” to fill out the form.
  • Make sure people understand to handle the books carefully—they aren’t cheap, and people generally don’t buy books with creased or torn pages and covers.

12. Other items should be dictated by the local market.

• • If you sell five paint-by-number sets in two days, perhaps you ought to stock more. If, however, you’re sitting on the same pair of gaming dice after a year, sell them at cost and find another line.

Now, for the scale modeling specific items:

12. Keep up with the new kits, at the very least.

• • You don’t need to buy a case of every new kit that comes out, but at least bring one or two into the store.

14. If you know you can move it, keep up with the aftermarket, too.

• • The same caveat listed in point #13 should dictate whether or not you do aftermarket as a regular stock item.

15. If you need to open new accounts with new distributors to get merchandise, DO IT.
16. Keep a good selection on hand of staple items

• • Sherman and Panther/Tiger tanks, P-51 Mustangs, Corvettes, etc.
  • Don’t forget to have some of the simpler kits for newbies (snap and easy assembly kits).
  • Unless it is a particularly odd item with limited appeal or a big bucks item that you’re not comfortable bringing into the store on speculation, refrain from telling your clientele that you are “happy to special order anything they want.” They can already do that from the comfort of their homes.
  • Oddball and high priced items should be paid special order items, but if you’ve paid attention, much of the store inventory should be easy to order when you follow point #21 below.

17. A good shop can always sell one or two of most anything.  We never gave a second thought to ordering a pair of the latest Tamiya, Academy, or Revell kits into the shop.  We would also get one each of the more expensive Trumpeter, Meng, and Eduard items in the store, unless customer demand dictated we order more.

    Dealing with your clientele:

18. Maintain ties with the local clubs, and cultivate relationships with your regular customers, whether they are club members or not. In order to figure out what to bring in, you need to hear from the people who are most likely to buy those products.

• • If they have a show, sponsor it.

19. Have a soda machine and a coffee pot. Let the customers hang out and, as Bob Fivey put it, “chew the rag”. However, remember point #3 listed above.
20. Offer classes and seminars.

• • In the scale model arena, airbrushing, working with photoetched brass or resin, basic scratch building, all are good subjects.
  • Better still, allow the clubs to have a day in the shop where THEY can offer the classes.  This becomes a win-win—the club or group can use the event as a recruiting session, and the increased traffic should result in increased sales IF you have paid attention to keeping the shelves full.

21. Get to know your customers—find out what they buy and why they buy it.

• • Let them know that their input is appreciated. Ask them if there is anything they’d like to see in the store.
  • Tell them (better yet, show them) how much you appreciate their business.

22. Offer a discount to your regulars. It need not be huge (usually 10%, but I’ve seen some stores offer 15%).

• • Within reason, this should negate the need to price match every item in the store.  Part of that comes with how you buy and price your merchandise, so you need to be vigilant.
  • Most people know that the online retailers also have wholesale operations, and we used to work the pricing so that someone could buy a kit in the store for about the same price as they could online.
  • The benefit of buying in the store is that the customer has the product in their hot little hands and doesn’t have to pay shipping or wait for the item.
  • If you don’t at least try to match online prices, guess what?  They’ll buy online.

23. If you say you will do something, DO IT!
24. People in the know have an additional suggestion.  They’ll say, “Want to make a small fortune in the hobby business?  Start with a large one…”

In other words, it ain’t easy to become a hobby tycoon.  But a conscientious person can make a go of a hobby shop IF they work hard and treat it like any other business venture.

Thanks for reading.  Be good to one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace.

(Note:  I am publishing this more or less simultaneously on the Iron Modeler blog and in the IPMS/Mid-Carolina Newsflash.  The local guys may wonder why I add identifiers to folks they know well—there’s why!)

Howdy, All!

This year’s IPMS/USA National Convention is in the books, and all I can say is that the folks of the Chattanooga crew are to be congratulated on what was a superb event.  From the time I arrived at 1PM on Wednesday until I departed on Saturday around 5PM, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.  The things to see, the people to meet…

If you’ve never been, you simply must go to at least one.  Why?  Well, here’s a recap of my extended weekend…

Wednesday, 7 August:

I arrived a bit after 1PM.  I went inside the huge Chattanooga Convention Center, and walked down to the Pre-Registration room.  Yes, they had a small room to handle the task, which worked a treat, since there were no long lines and crowding in the corridor.  From the time I said “Hello” to Ann Strandberg until I walked back out into the corridor took about 30 seconds.  Seriously.  This was the quickest I was ever in and out of Pre-Registration out of the five IPMS/USA Conventions I have attended.

By the way, Ann is a HUGE asset to these shows—she is a First Class organizer, and I learned from our experience in Columbia that she’s very good at what she does.  She and her husband Bill seem to be omnipresent at these shows.  Bill and I spent more than a few minutes sharing ideas and catching up during the show.  Bill and Ann, it was great seeing both of you!

After that, I went back to the car to retrieve my Display Only models.  I think I’ve told you all before that my competition days are behind me, but when someone offers display only space, I’m on it.  I had a few models that will be covered in their own right in a later installment, and I found a table and set the models out.  I took the containers back to the car, and then ventured back to the model room.  The display tables seemed to be filling up rather quickly—a good sign, to be sure!  IPMS/USA hasn’t been very big on Display Only up until maybe 10 years ago, and interest didn’t seem to be there.  I believe this year may change some minds—if future conventions continue this trend, it will be a good thing, indeed!  Mike Moore and the whole Chattanooga crew are to be commended for making this one of their focus items.

I checked out some of the Display Only tables.  Rich VanZant of Mississippi had four tables full of his 1/48 scale airplanes.  Mark Deliduka of SoCal had some 750 armor pieces on display.  Gil Hodges had several tables full of resin and vacuum-formed models.  Dave Maher, Bob Kerfonta, and the IPMS/Charlotte crew was setting up their Corsair display…

I took a quick sweep through the contest tables, and, as usual, was impressed by the quality of work on the tables.  Several collections caught my eye.  The IPMS/Race City Modelers had a group of 1/48 scale P-51’s built from the available kits, each one perched on a base featuring the box are for the kit from which the model was constructed.  Very nice, and from my standpoint it simply proved to me that “older” doesn’t automatically equal “unbuildable” or “obsolete”.  There was also a group of Afrika Corps armor, a chronology of 20mm weapons, a U-Boat pen in what I can describe as a semi-boxed scene, and more.

Since it was early days and the models were still rolling in, I stepped into the World’s Largest Mobile Hobby Shop, aka the vendor room.  As I walked the aisles, I was amazed by several new products…

Wingnut Wings had several of their 1/32 Lancaster proofs on display.  Wow.  Too big for me, but they have a solution in the works for those looking for a large Lancaster but don’t have the space—they will offer the forward fuselage (from the wing leading edge forward) as a separate kit at some point next year.  If you like Lanc Nose Art, this may be your ticket.  A Fokker Dr.I was being shown along with shots of their upcoming Handley-Page O/400 and O/100—the latter was a bit of a surprise.  They were already doing a brisk business, selling kits…

Tamiya were there with their display kits including the 1/24 Toyota TS-050 Hybrid (gotta get one of these!) and, of course, their new P-38F/G.  One of the benefits of Pre-Registration?  Tamiya provided 300 pre-release copies of the kit to the convention to do with as they wished with the proceeds going to the show.  The organizers decided to include a green ticket in the Goody Bag that worked as a sort of raffle—they would draw numbers throughout the event, and if your number was called, you had the opportunity to purchase one of the kits.

Eduard was at the show with around 400 of their new P-51D-5 “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” kits in 1/48^th scale.  I understand that the lines at the Eduard stand were out the door when the vendor room opened on Wednesday, people were so geeked up to get a copy or two of the kit!  I perused the parts trees, and this one looks to be a winner.  I already have a herd of Mustangs in the stash—Hasegawa, Tamiya, and one of the new Airfix kits—but I will probably buy the Eduard kit, too.  I just didn’t buy one at the show…

Speaking of Airfix, I spoke to the Hornby’s representatives at the Squadron table.  I got to run my hands over the new 1/25 F6F-5 Hellcat kit—rather large for my tastes, but it is a spectacular kit.  We talked a bit on upcoming releases.  I believe if they can tie down their financial woes, Airfix will continue to be a strong player in the hobby.

Thursday, 8 August:

I was up with the chickens, since I was going to present “Model Building 101” at 9 AM.  I went downstairs (I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express a few miles away—best cinnamon rolls around!), grabbed some eats, and headed out.  The seminar went well—I had 17 or 18 people in attendance, and I believe everybody learned something.  It wasn’t as well-attended as the same seminar at our show in Columbia, but it was also early in the show—I wasn’t worried.  I got the right 17 or 18 people—people who wanted to be there.

After the seminar, I stashed the laptop and laser pointer, and headed to the vendor room.  I made a few purchases—I had been waiting for the Special Hobby 1/72 scale SAAB Viggen for a while, and I was surprised to see that they not only had the JA-37 kit as a single, but also had a dual kit (Duo-Kit) with the AJ-37 and the SK-37 two-seater along with a reference book.  The single kit cost $30, the Duo cost $64—in effect, I either paid $2 more per kit and got a free book, or I got a great book for $4.  Win-win, either way.

I was also under orders to see the guys at the fündekals table, which I did.  Jonathan Strickland was there with some product, as well as some renderings of the stuff they are working on, and all I can say is you need to check them out if you haven’t yet:  http://www.fundekals.com/

As I wandered, I started to bump into people I know, or had met years ago and hadn’t seen since.  This continued throughout the weekend and I suppose I should thank all of them for saving me money by keeping me away from the vendor tables.  Seriously—by the time you’ve been to a few of these, it happens. 

In the words of Phil Collins and Genesis, “I can show you some of the people in my life”:

Paul Boyer and I first met at the 1999 convention in Orlando.  He was the Senior Editor for FineScale Modeler back then, and I attended a seminar he was leading.  We had corresponded a few times, and I’m a member of the 72^nd U.S. MilAir Yahoo group, but we seldom physically cross paths.  Well, I was under orders—he and my wife are working on a joint project, and when she couldn’t attend I was told I needed to go by and chat with Paul.  Paul, I loved your USN Jets display, and I enjoyed speaking with you.  I hope it isn’t another 10 or so years before we have the chance again.

Bert Kinzey is the face behind Detail and Scale, and I have sent him a few model photos for the D&S Facebook page over the past year or so.  One of the photos I posted piqued his interest, so he told me to stop by the D&S table and see him.  We had a short but enjoyable conversation as he started to photograph the models in the display room.  I left him to conduct his business, and I would bump into Bert and Rock Roszak a few more times during the show.  Bert and Rock, it was a pleasure meeting you both.  I wish I could have met Haagen Klaus (he and I crossed paths in Columbia in 2016, but we were both rather busy at the time) and Chris Sakal as well, but sometimes there are more important things than models.

When I was the Seminars Coordinator for the 2016 Columbia Nationals, my wife asked me if I had approached Tommy Thomason to see if he wanted to present anything.  She’s his SH-3 Subject Matter Expert, so she asked and he agreed to present “Revolt of the Admirals”.  I found him this year in the vendor room with a table full of his Ginter Books titles.  Tommy does a great job with his research on U.S. Navy subjects, and I was glad to see him again.

Gil Hodges is someone who I bump into every now and then, but we never seem to talk for very long.  We have some mutual friends, and in this case it allowed a discussion that ran for longer than a minute or two.  For those who have no idea who Gil is, he used to write for the defunct Scale Modeler back in the day, and has written for FineScale Modeler and the late, lamented Aerospace Modeler Magazine.  Gil often builds large scale resin and vacuum-formed kits, and it seems that he fears naught in his approach to them.  Gil, I’m glad I could see some of your work up close again.

Jerry Wells and I met via a mutual friend in the run-up to the 1999 Convention in Orlando—in fact, we were roomies for that Convention.  He is a great modeler—he had reworked the Revell 1/72 80’ Elco PT Boat into (IIRC) PT-165 for the show.  It was a wee bit dusty and missing a rudder, and before I arrived in Orlando he had secured another kit, robbed the rudder, painted it, attached it, and was in the process of dusting it.  Now, one would seem to think that a dusty, broken model—regardless of the fact that it had been repaired and cleaned—wouldn’t stand a chance.  Even Jerry had misgivings, yet it did indeed win a First Place.  Jerry and I seldom communicate on a regular basis—nothing nefarious or anything, we just travel in different circles—and I enjoy catching up with him when I see him at the various Conventions.  Jerry, enjoy your retirement!  You need to come up to the Columbia show next June…

Bill Bosworth and I became acquaintances in the run-up to the 2016 Columbia show.  Like Tommy, he was a seminar presenter.  But the best thing about Bill is that he doesn’t just talk models.  He had some of his scratchbuilt aircraft on display, but as we were talking about them, he would tell stories from his life as an Ad Man.  Bill, like so many people I’ve met in the hobby, is good people and I enjoy the short time I spent chatting with him at these shows.

Gordon and Brandon Kwan were at the Sprue Brothers Models table.  I had an e-mail coupon to redeem—a spin of the wheel—and I won a Verlinden book on the Hawker Hurricane.  I chatted with Gordon about the Convention, how his business was doing, and basically caught up with what was going on between the Columbia show and now.  Gordon runs a great webstore, and if I have to buy online, his is the first site I check.  If you’ve never heard of them, what rock have you been living under?  Check them out at http://spruebrothers.com/.

Steve and Amanda Nelson and I finally found more than two seconds to chat on Friday.  I first “met” Mandie on the old ARC Forums through the AIM Chat.  We finally met face to face at the 2005 Atlanta Convention—by that time, she and Steve had married, and my wife and I had been together for almost six years.  I always like to spend time with them, because they are simply good people.  Guys, I’m sorry our time was short.  I told the wife that you were asking after her.  She was sad she had to miss the convention, and I think every time I told her, “Oh, by the way, so-and-so says ‘Hey!’”, she got sadder that work got in the way of this one…

Peter Frearson, Jeff East, Butch Bryant, and the whole IPMS/Flight 19 Gang and I bumped into each other several times.  Y’all are my old home boys from back in the SoFla, and I miss those meetings from back in the day.  Jeff, we’ll always be on the Presidents for Life rolls—and thanks for trying to slap me back into reality, but yeah, I’m a Chapter President again.  What can I say?  Talking with the guys, the club is in good hands, and I hope to get down there for your ModelFest one of these years.

Phil Perry and I met maybe 25 years ago, and I immediately learned that he was a great modeler and a fine human being.  We would chat from time to time until I moved to SC and we lost touch for a while.  But I still see him at the Conventions, and we usually chat for a bit at every one.  I feel a wee bit bad because at the NCC meeting Phil and I found ourselves on the opposite sides of an issue.  Phil, I meant no disrespect, and I hope there aren’t any bent feelings.  After all, we all share the common goal of building models, no matter how a group of judges looks at them or how an organization plans the awards…

Danny and Mindy Vazquez bumped into me at the Columbia show, and again in Chattanooga.  I know I’m getting old when I’m told their daughters are 28 and 31, with kids and the whole shebang.  It seems like it was not too long ago that they were wee little girls, talking about Beanie Babies.  Guys, I’m glad I got to spend some time with you.  It is always a pleasure to catch up and to look at Danny’s spectacular models. 

Ed Okun and I crossed paths for about five minutes.  I spied some 1/32 IDF airplane models that looked awful Okun-esque, and indeed they were Ed’s.   Ed, it was fun chatting with you.  Enjoy your retirement and the grandkids, and keep building those impeccable models!

Rick Geisler and I first met back in the early to mid-1980’s at the Twin Oaks location of the now defunct Warrick Custom Hobbies—he was my first Plastic Guru, offering inspiration with each model he would build and bring to the shop.  I saw Rick last at a show in Winston, NC some 10 years or so ago, so it was nice to be able to get together and talk about the “Old Days”, when Flight 19 was a much different group.  Rick, I’m sorry I got called away—but we’ll have to find a mutually agreeable show and meet again soon.  Oh, and I’m glad your phone finally charged!

Mike Idacavage is usually the Contest Coordinator for the conventions whenever it is in this area.  Mike met my wife long before he met me, but he’s been a great friend to both of us.  We couldn’t talk long—he had “convention stuff” to do (and I know that all too well!), but he did complement my Special Hobby ER-2.  Thanks, Mike, I’m glad you liked it.  I hope we will see you in a few weeks at the Atlanta Airliners Collectibles Show!

Patrick Cook, like Mike Idacavage, is another good friend in the Atlanta area.  Patrick was wandering the vendor room when we first bumped into each other, but we had a chance to chat for a while taking a load off in the comfy chairs in the hallway.  The same wish for Mike holds for you, Patrick—I hope you’ll be at the Museum in October…

Jim Kiker, aka Yoda, is from up the road in Charlotte, he’s a great model builder, and has probably the best outlook on the hobby f all my model building friends (I mean, he’s nicknamed Yoda for a reason).  Jim, we missed seeing you this year in Columbia, but we’re doing it again in June next year.  Head on down and have some fun with us!

My friends Trevor Edwards and Mike Roof arrived on Thursday afternoon—Mike was giving a seminar on Friday, so we wandered the model room, vendor room, and throughout the afternoon I continued to bump into people…

I made a few more purchases—I got a few Liveries Unlimited decal sheets from fündekals that my wife was looking for, along with their 1/48 scale Spitfire Part 2 sheet– and later we got together with Tony Abbot and Rebecca Hettmansperger (they of HQ72 Resin Products) and had some supper upstairs at the Table South attached to the Marriott.  I don’t know about them, but my feet were sore, my friend Arthur Itis was showing himself, and I was tired…

Friday, 9 August:

Mike, Trevor, and I met downstairs for breakfast in the hotel (cinnamon rolls…mmmm), and then headed out to the Convention.  We spent the morning doing the convention thing.  We wandered the model room; we perused the vendor tables: and basically enjoyed the show.  I sat in on Dana Bell’s Cruiser and Battleship aviation units seminar, and then went to see Bob Steinbrunn’s talk on the Bluejacket PT boat.  Both of these guys have provided numerous hours of inspiration and guidance through their books and articles throughout the years, and I was grateful to see Dana again (he graciously presented a seminar for us in 2016), and to meet Bob.

I snuck into Mike’s Photoetch seminar that was by now in progress (what can I say—I really wanted to meet Bob and hear him speak on his PT Boat model), and the room was full.  I’ve seen this presentation a few times, so I spent my time gauging the folks who were seeing it live and in person for the first time.    It was interesting—every time Mike changed slides, the smart phones all went up in the air and everyone snapped a photo, almost in unison.  Mike has a certain analytical method to things, and I think once he can lay out the procedures for any task, the light bulb goes on with many people. 

Incidentally, Trevor is in his early 20’s, and is a great model builder in his own right—all that I said about Mike?  Yeah, Trevor is a student, and his quality has improved markedly under the tutelage of Mike and a few of the other local IPMS and AMPS members.  With Mike as one of your teachers, you are steps ahead.

Friday afternoon was when, if you have been at the show since it opened, you tend to start wandering on autopilot.  I had to check some raffle tickets, both my own and from a friend who had to leave early—I won a Tamiya 1/24 Mercedes AMG on Wednesday afternoon, but nothing else all weekend.  I then remembered I had a Green Ticket in my pocket.  What the hell—let’s go check…hey, there’s the number!  I go across the corridor to the table, present the ticket, and after handing over Fifty Dollars American, I am the proud owner of a pre-release Tamiya 1/48 P-38F/G kit!  After giving it a quick once over—I had already seen the sprues on Hyperscale, at the Tamiya table, and at the Sprue Brothers Models table—I believe this one may have to get bumped to the head of the line…

We all met again for supper, and packed it in for the night.

Saturday, 10 August:

We met at the hotel for breakfast—yep, more cinnamon rolls!  Mike’s and Trevor’s fun meters were pegged, so they left for home.  I wanted to hang around, since Rick would be getting there early in the day.  So, I made a sweep of the model room—judging took place the night before, and this was the earliest I could get a look at all the great work that was on the tables, both contest and display only.  Every time I come to a National Convention, I am awed by the models I see.  Lots and lots of great work was out for folks to marvel at this year.  I believe the count was over 2,500 contest models and a further 1,750 on the Display Only tables.

Then I made a final sweep of the vendor room.  One more check of the raffle tickets—skunked again!  Then Squadron started calling their raffle—you guessed it.  Nada.  But it was fun, and I finally nailed down Squadron’s Chief Modeler, Jef Verswyvel, and exchanged pleasantries.  Jef doesn’t recall that we met years ago, when he and Willy Peeters initially set up Kendall Model Corporation (KMC) back in the early 1990’s…

As I strolled by the Rare Plane Detective table, a few kits caught my eye—Revell’s 1974 and 1976 issues of their 1/72 F-15A and (as determined later) FSD F-16.  They take me back to one summer, probably 1977 or so, when my brother and I would ride our bicycles to the local SupeRx Drugs and buy model kits.  On one visit, we got these kits—I cannot remember who got what, but for some reason I think I got the F-16.  I recall the F-16 kit as being the epitome of cool, with all that ordnance, the engine dolly, and the tug included.  Of course, they cost a wee bit more than the buck and a half or so that we paid back then—but I bought them.  At some point, I will build them, too…

The rest of the day was eaten up by the NCC meeting I was asked to attend.  I was initially going to depart at noon or 1PM, but I decided to stick around.  About a half hour before the meeting, I retrieved my containers from the car and loaded up my models.  I returned them to the car—a covered parking garage is a great thing, coupled with a rather mild day in Chattanooga, so I wasn’t worried they would get damaged.  I found a cool drink, and walked to the meeting rooms.  Since it was an IPMS Committee meeting, I cannot comment on it other than it was a three and a half hour long meeting …

After the meeting, I made final rounds—everyone was packing up in the vendor room, and the Display Only folks were likewise packing their models.  Everyone was either leaving or getting ready for the dessert reception before the awards ceremony.

I found Rick sitting in one of the comfy chairs—his phone charger wasn’t working on his trip, so he borrowed mine, and needed a wall outlet.  We chatted for a few more minutes, and, since each of us had a five hour drive to look forward to, we headed to the exits. 

With that, another IPMS/USA Convention was over for me.

Now, I’m a bit biased—I think the Columbia convention, regardless of the numbers, was the best show ever.  But I gotta tell you, Chattanooga put on an awesome show!  Was it better than ours?  I dunno—by numbers, yes, I think it was.  The intangibles—Columbia was our show, so that sense of ownership will always color my feelings—might favor the Chattanooga crew, too.  Does it matter?

In the end, no, it doesn’t matter.  It was an awesome show.  I got to meet some super people, I got to catch up with other great people who I hadn’t seen in one, or three, or five, or ten years.  I got to look at a room full of spectacular models.  I got to talk with people from around the world who shared my hobby.  I shared ideas and information.  I had fun. 

I had a chance to turn a lone wolf hobby into a social event.  That, right there, makes it worth the trip.

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We took a vote last month, and yes, Virginia, there will be a 3rd Annual South Carolina Scale Model Mega Show.  Watch the show's website for details.

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With that, I'm done for this installment.  Thanks for reading.  As always, be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

Howdy, everyone!

Have you ever seen the Clint Eastwood flick “Magnum Force”?  You know, the second of the “Dirty Harry” movies, where a band of rookie cops goes out and kills the hoods that have proven difficult to bring to justice using “the system”?  Their leader (and Harry Callahan’s superior), Lt. Briggs, plays the role as the cop who is calm and collected, and when he reminds Harry that his weapon has never been out of its holster, Callahan tells him “You’re a good man, Briggs.  A good man always knows his limitations…”

Why do I bring this up?  No, we’re not playing Movie Trivia.  I would hazard a guess that most of us who build models seem to forget the fact that we do, no matter how much we say we don’t, have a limitation.  Or two…

The limitations that seem to always catch me are (in no particular order) time, skill, money, and desire.  Let’s examine, shall we?

Let’s start with skill.  I’ve been at the game quite a while, and during that trip I’ve developed my skills into what I think is a pretty formidable tool box.  There are things I can do easily and quite well.  On the other side of the coin, there are things I cannot do as well as someone with my experience should, for no other reason that I either have not attempted them or have limited experience doing. 

For instance, to me photoetched parts are “the Debbil”!  Why?  I don’t use them often.  I find a lot of things that photoetch is supposed to “make better” actually don’t.  When I really paid attention to such things, I was always curious why Airwaves and Eduard would etch a brass replacement—a flat brass replacement—for an item like a door actuator or control stick that had depth and dimension (these days, Eduard does these in their “Brassin” lines). 

So, by and large, I’ve avoided photoetch—until now.  I’m starting to gain interest again in ship models, which, quite honestly, require a modicum of photoetch to be “handsome”.  Without the PE parts, they look almost naked.  What this means is that I will become better acquainted with railings and other bits and pieces as I build ships.

The skills that are holding me back right now concern armor models.  My poor little StuG IV is more or less complete, but for two things: weathering and completing the base.  Now, neither skill is completely foreign to me—I’ve weathered armored vehicles before, using “Old School” methods like washes and drybrushing.  I’m still learning some of the techniques that have been developed over the time since I last built an armor piece, and I’m confident that I can get the job done—once I start.  The same goes for the base—I just need to knock some rust off and get to the job at hand.  I’m close, really close…but somehow, I haven’t been motivated for whatever reason.  More on that later…

Time can be a real issue.  It was when I was working 14-hours a day, 6 days a week.  It isn’t as big a crunch these days, but for some reason I don’t seem to be getting any further on projects that I have up until this point.  Hmmm…

When you don’t have time to model, it kills your momentum on any project or projects that you may be in the middle of.  That’s largely the case for all of the half-built models I have on the workbench.

Money.  It can be the equalizer of everything.  Fortunately, I have such a large stash that I probably have any kit I’d want to build close to hand (the only new kits I would like to buy are the Takom 1/35 Merkava 2 and the Eduard 1/72 MiG-21MF).  See my earlier comments on aftermarket—most of the time, I don’t see the need.  My decal stash is kept in two copy paper boxes, so I think I might be set there, too.  No, at this point money isn’t really an issue.  Don’t get me wrong—I still need income, but as far as buying new models?  Nah, I’m set.  Really.  Most of my hobby shop trips these days are to look more than anything else.  If I do buy something, it is either a consumable (paint, etc.) or a reference book.  Money—or lack thereof—isn’t what is slowing my production these days…

So, that leaves what?  Ah, yes—desire.  Another way to put it is motivation, or lack of laziness.  Bingo.  I admit, lately I have been a bit of a slug.  Why?  Well, I had some heavy lifting to do when I was elected President of the IPMS Chapter, stuff that (in my mind) needed to be done.  Add to that an upcoming model show that wasn’t really being moved along, so now I’m busy running the Chapter and doing all those little things that need to be done for a model show..  In the space of three months, I managed to craft a Constitution and By-Laws for the club, design and have medals made for the show, manage the club website to include show updates, fine-tune my meeting agendas, and write something for the newsletter. 

Once the show was over, I was hammered by an upper respiratory ailment that took a while to kick.  I was not feeling much like riding the bike, so I’d plant my fourth point of contact firmly on the couch and vegetate to whatever was on the TV.  I’ve told you about my periodic funks, and this is perhaps the largest one I’ve encountered in quite some time.

Now that I’m on the far side of everything, I’ve had some time to think—which is something a man should not do.  One of the items on the list is the ever-bulging stash.  I actually wrote a short piece on stash management for the club newsletter, but the gist of it is that I really need to do a SIDNA sale.  Since I was part of the Show Committee in June, I really couldn’t tie myself to a vendor table, so I’ve had to think of other ways to reduce the number of unbuilt kits upstairs.  While it doesn’t all have to go NOW—I don’t need the dough to pay for a kidney transplant or anything like that—the sooner I can move it, the better.

For those who ask, “Why would selling off model kits help your production rate?”  For me, the answer is easy—I go upstairs to work on one project, it gets stalled (for whatever reason), and I have hundreds of other potential projects staring me in the face.  In a word, it is a distraction.  Second, I believe it would help me get back on point with some of the collections I’ve outlined over the years.  And, finally, it will give me more room to work.  My workbench becomes cave-like at times…

Were there other things that lit a bit of a fire under me?  Since you asked, sure.  First, our June show—model shows are real good places to draw some inspiration.  When you have a chance to look at everything up close during judging sure helps feed the brain.  Next, a few weeks ago, we had a display at the State Museum, where we simply put models out for people to look at.  I managed to bring several, including the Corsairs, the ER-2, and the F-111F.  And, finally, I took a few Works In Progress to the IPMS meeting last week.  As I looked at all three, I noted that none of them was beyond hope (I took the StuG, the Macchi C.200, and the 1/72 F-101B), and that if I’d only get up and actually work on them, I’d probably have them completed before too long.

Stay tuned.

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Last time we met, I regaled you with stories of Stuff We Used To Have.  We covered paint, filler, and the like.  This time, let’s look at model companies that are no longer with us…

I recall the first model magazine article I read that didn’t feature a kit from the American Big Three of my day (Monogram, Revell, Aurora)—it was the article on the then-new 1/48 scale ESCI kit of the IDF/AF Kfir C2, showcased in the March 1978 issue of “Scale Modeler”, the same issue that featured Shep Paine’s Marauder diorama (and my first taste of a modeling magazine)…

Now, I was familiar with the Mirage series of aircraft, having built the Revell 1/72 Mirage III kit a few years earlier.  I knew the Israelis flew them.  I had read a few short encyclopedia articles on the Mirage 5 and how the Israeli order was embargoed, and how Israel worked to develop an in-house replacement, but had never seen a picture of a Kfir.  Here, in color, was a superbly built model kit, right there in the pages of my newly discovered magazine!  But the article only raised questions…

ESCI?  What the heck was ESCI?  How do you say that?  ESS-kee?  E-sky?  (For the record, it is an acronym for Ente Scambi Coloniali Internazionali, “International Organization for Colonial Trade”; most people pronounce it ESH-he).  All I knew is that the kit got high marks, and I saw ads for others, including their only 1/48 WWII aircraft kits of the Hs.123 and Hs.129. 

ESCI initially would design tooling, ship them to other firms (usually Italeri) to have them molded, then box and market them.  In the course of their existence, the produced a series of 1/72 scale aircraft and armor that, for the most part, were excellent kits.  They had a huge 1/72 scale armor selection by the time they folded, most of it exquisite.  Their 1/72 WWI aircraft series, likewise, couldn’t be beat.  In short, if the box said “ESCI” and “1/72 scale”, you could be pretty sure what you got was a winner…

Their 1/48 scale line wasn’t as extensive, and certainly not as finely done, but for the most part they were viable (several exceptions exist: their 1/48 scale F-100D and A-10A were the big stinkers of the bunch—interesting, too, since their 1/72 F-100D is still one of the finest examples of that aircraft in that scale). 

ESCI also produced a line of automobile kits—European road racers, mostly—in 1/25 scale, and some motorcycles in 1/9 scale.  Perhaps their most interesting kits were their 1/12 F-16 and F-104 cockpits.

ESCI kits had several things going for them, but first and foremost was that they were affordable.  Their 1/72 scale kits were usually a few bucks each, and when Squadron would have a sale you could find them for as little as One American Dollar each!   

Their fortunes waned in the mid- to late-1980’s, and by the mid 1990s the company had been sold to the ERTL Group.  They were gone by the turn of the Century.  AMT, also under the ERTL umbrella, took the F-100D and produced an F-100F kit, and produced an F-104G based on the ESCI F-104C.

Some of their kits are still available in other companies’ boxes–for a while in the early 2000s, you could find them in Revell GmbH boxes, and some are seeing new life in Italeri boxes.  That’s a bit of a win for the better kits—as I said, I prefer their 1/72 F-100D to all other comers.  Their F-104 series was also quite nice—now superseded by Hasegawa’s efforts, they’re a great “budget” choice when/if you can find them.  Their 1/72 scale kits of the Sea Harrier, F-4C/J, F-4E, and F-15 still hold their own, too…

Otaki was a Japanese brand who was into a lot of things—airliners, aircraft, cars, even model railroad.  My interest in Otaki came from their line of 1/48 scale WWII airplanes.  The group included the P-40E Warhawk, P-47D Razorback, P-51D Mustang, F4U-1A Corsair, F6F-3 Hellcat, Ki-43, Ki-44, Ki-61, Ki-84, Ki-100, A6M, J2M, J1N1, K5W, Bf-109G, Fw-190A, and Spitfire Mk. VIII.  These kits were quite well done, and for the most part quite accurate to boot.  They, too, were affordable.  Sure, they cost a little bit more than the usual Monogram kits, but they were less than contemporary Hasegawa and Tamiya kits in the same scale.  They also had an interesting line of 1/144 scale kits, notably a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and C-5A Galaxy, and an Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde, each of them superb.  To wit, Airfix’s Concorde wasn’t as nice, Airfix’s and Revell’s attempts at a TriStar were lacking, and nobody attempted a C-5 until the Roden kit earlier this year…

By the time I discovered Otaki, they were on the verge of bankruptcy.  I noticed that by the late 1980’s the boxes said “ARII” and no longer featured multiple color schemes and the color plate was missing.  The plastic was still the same, though, so I was not really concerned at the time.  Arii continued the line for several years, even sending kits to AMT, Airfix, and Matchbox to be packaged and sold in those boxes, too.  In some circles, they still exist, now in Micro Ace boxes that still bear the Arii logos, so they’re not really gone, but to me, without the color plates and multiple decal options, they may as well be.

The interesting part of the Otaki saga is to this day shrouded in mystery and whispered rumor: before they went bankrupt, some disgruntled employees loaded some of the tooling on a boat and dumped it in Tokyo Bay!  The kits usually associated with this heinous act are the two 1/144 scale kits, the TriStar and Galaxy.  And, since we have yet to see these kits in anyone’s boxes for quite some time (Revell AG, Testors, and Doyusha all re-boxed the Galaxy while Otaki was still solvent), it stands to reason that there is some truth to the story.  I wasn’t there, I can’t say one way or the other, but…

The last company I’ll talk about tonight is Monogram.  Yep, *that* Monogram, before their marriage with Revell, before ProModeler, before the bankruptcy…

I discovered Monogram kits by chance.  The first “look at the model I built all by myself!” kit I built was the Monogram Snap-Tite L’il Red Baron, the caricature version of the Tom Daniel classic.  A year or so later, as I started down the path to being a “serious” modeler, I discovered their U. S. Navy aircraft—the SBD, TBF, SB2C, Hellcat, Wildcat, Corsair, and TBD.  Of course, I just had to build them all and add them to the collection.  As I would acquire and build each, I took notice of their other kits of WWII airplanes.  As I was to learn, some were great, some were good, and some were, well, in interests of being fair, products of their time.  And I built all of them, ignoring the things people cringe about today…

As I started to build jets, I was impressed by the quality of Monogram’s 1/48 kits.  The cockpits were excellent, and the kits themselves would build up with no major issues—nothing I couldn’t handle, for sure.  I built their F-100D, F-105G, F-84F, and a couple others while I was in college—the F-84F crashed and burned for whatever reason I can’t recall, but I built the same kit again and featured it earlier on this blog.  Each of them was a treat to build…

Not long after I graduated from the Harvard of the Sky, I switched scales to 1/72 and discovered Monogram’s F-105G, F-4D, and EF-111A.  I was just as impressed.  The cockpits were veritable jewels, the completed models were lovely to behold in the display case, and, in case you forgot, they were affordable and, they were made right here in the good, old USA.

What made Monogram kits special?  They had the right balance of detail and ease of assembly.  They went together quickly.  They didn’t need a lot of extra stuff, even after extra stuff became a requirement for some modelers.  In short, they were just good, straightforward, well detailed model kits.  Sure, they had the dreaded “raised panel line” disease, and some of them exhibited less-than-stellar fit (anyone who has even built their A-10A in 1/48 scale knows what I’m talking about), but for the price, they packed a lot of fun into those boxes. 

After the mergers between Monogram and Revell in the mid-1990s, a lot of the kits began to appear in Revell boxes—the united company had decided to use the Revell name for business and financial reasons—and the plastic changed from that nice, hard, shiny non-brittle styrene that was a stock in trade from Morton Grove to the soft-ish, prone to warp, high vinyl/regrind content plastic that came from overseas.  I still like a lot of their kits, but when I do build them I try to use an original Monogram boxing to get that nice plastic…

The new holding company who bought Revell GmbH and Revell USA now owns all the history and heritage that traces its lineage back to the old Morton Grove, Illinois location.  That is good.  It tells me that perhaps we will see these kits yet again.  Hint, guys in Germany:  Have your kits molded where the quality of styrene is better, you will make modelers world-wide happy.

There are other model companies who have come and gone, and I've talked a bit about some of them on this blog:  Lindberg, AMT, MPC, HAWK, Accurate Miniatures, Hobbycraft Canada, and others.  Fortunately, Round2 Models rescued AMT, MPC, HAWK, and Lindberg several years ago, while the Accurate Minuatures tooling seems to be in the hands of the folks at Academy (or at least the mold shops in Korea, whether it be Idea or ACE) and make regular appearances in Academy, Italeri, and (before the bankrupty) Revell GmbH boxes, as do some of the Hobbycraft Canada kits.

STOP THE PRESSES!

I originally had this post ready to post on Wednesday, 29 August, but as I usually do, I let it marinate overnight so I could proofread it the next morning.  Well, as Ferris Buehler said, “Sometimes life moves really fast…”

The news was broken by the website cultvman.com yesterday:  Atlantis Models, a company started in 2009, has announced that they have acquired some of the old Revell (and this would include Monogram, Aurora, and Renwal) tooling in storage at a warehouse in Oak Grove, IL.  What exactly they got is still a bit of a mystery—the new Revell (Blitz Partners) owns most of the tooling that was being used at the time of the Hobbico bankruptcy. 

From their Press Release: 

 Peter Vetri, President of Atlantis, states, “It’s a lifelong dream to own this historic tooling and archive material related to these molds; to be able to preserve the tooling is a real honor. We look forward to reissuing many classics that have not been available in quite some time. All of the model kits will be made here in the USA and all the tooling and the Archive have been moved from Elk Grove to our facilities in Deer Park, NY.

Atlantis Models has, in the past, re-issued or retooled several classic kits from the Revell and Aurora lines, so these kits should fit right into their lineup.  I wish them well, and look forward to seeing which classics they have acquired.

You can read about Atlantis here.  

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Salvinos J R Models, a new American model company specializing in NASCAR Stock Car model kits, announced today on their Facebook page that they, in a deal reached with Atlantis Models, are the new owners of the Monogram NASCAR kits from the 1980’s and 1990’s:

VERY BIG NEWS!

You may have read some very big news from Atlantis Model Co. that they have purchased a considerable portion of the molds for Revell, Monogram, and some of the other Hobbico owned companies from Revell Germany that were stored in Revell’s Elk Grove, IL warehouse. Well we were fortunate enough to work out arrangements with Pete and Rick of Atlantis Model Co. and Salvinos J R Models are now the proud owners and guardians of the entire catalog of Revell and Monogram’s American made stock car molds from 1980 through the 1990s! In the very near future we will be adding these kits into our catalog with new drivers, new decals and some updated bodies to go on these platforms.

——————–

So, there you are sports fans.  I read about the Hobbico bankruptcy (I was still employed at the hobby shop when it all started to go pear-shaped for Hobbico), and I read about the Blitz Partners purchase, and I read all the doom and gloom about how “They’re gone!  All those kits are gone!”  Well, anyone who has been around the hobby for a while knows that old kits never die.  They just get produced by different companies.  As noted, ESCI kits are now found in a variety of boxes from Revell GmbH to Italeri, Otaki’s stuff can be found in Micro Ace/ARII and Doyusha boxes, and Monogram kits are going to be in Revell, Atlantis, and Salvinos J R Models boxes.  Life is still good.

That’s all I have for now.  Be good to one another, and, until we meet again, I Bid you Peace.