(Note: This article is intended to follow the Down The Rabbit Hole: Modeling With Others that appeared on the Scratching Post on April 7, 2013.)

“You will always benefit from putting yourself in a state of distress.”-Branford Marsalis, saxophonist

As a scale modeler, I have been extremely fortunate. Over the past few months, my work has won numerous awards at shows, both local and national. More experienced modelers have shown admiration for my work, and have even started to ask my opinions and advice. But I am not fortunate for these reasons. I am fortunate because I have had regular opportunities over the past two years to work with and observe many great modelers within our community and have made a lot of great friends in the process.

As a kid, I watched my older brother build a few kits, and when I was about 12, my sister’s boyfriend (now my brother-in-law) and I used to build car models together. None of these builds used any paint or any real finishing techniques, but we had a good time spending a couple of hours slapping a kit together. Although the models were poorly done, many great memories came from working on them.

When I got to college, I picked up a few Star Trek kits and progressed to using some rattle cans and a few Testor’s enamels for a little detail work. I was more serious about it, but while I was living in the Jonesboro area, I never ran across anyone that knew much about building models. So, I’d work on a kit for an afternoon or so, and enjoyed building it, although I never had any great results.

By the beginning of 2011, my wife Heather and I were settled into Central Arkansas. All of our friends and families were now 100 miles away, and we did not know many people in the area. We had a lot of time on our hands, and had just bought a house with extra space, so it seemed a good time to track down some hobby stores and pick up some kits.

While browsing the science fiction kits at HobbyTown USA in Little Rock, I met Ron Leker. He told me about CASM and The Fellowship, and invited me to take part in these two groups. I was very excited about the possibility of learning modeling techniques that would get me much better results, so I decided to take Ron up on his offer.

Attending my first CASM meeting was quite an experience. I recall seeing many great models, including Noel Lawson’s Pulaski Hustler, and feeling a bit overwhelmed by how much I had to learn. Aside from the models, what really struck me was how there were so many people of different ages, professions, and backgrounds that had come together to discuss this hobby. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming, and I became a paid member that day.

My first real experience with modeling with others was with the Fellowship. Initially, I was uncomfortable working on a kit in front of experienced modelers, so I observed and asked a lot of questions. Eventually, as I became more comfortable, I began bringing some kits of my own to work on. Along the way, we talked about movies, books, work, and our families, and I learned a lot about these folks. In particular, I realized what a close knit group of people the modeling community really was. Heather came along with me to these meetings, and soon, our excuse to get out of the house became hanging out with good friends.

Shortly after joining these groups, I made a road trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the Wonderfest Hobby Expo with Rusty Nail and Chance Swift. Rusty gave me some advice on buying my first airbrush, and when I later had trouble with it, Ron came to my house to help me get started. During all of this, Rusty and I discovered our mutual love for classic rock music, and Ron enjoyed checking out my Star Trek collection.

In addition to observing demos at CASM meetings, I began going to the model classes at Pulaski Tech organized by Ken Leslie. I met a lot of other great modelers, particularly great car builders like Ken, Dave Branson, and Jon Williams. While I had an interest in car building, these guys really inspired me. Just like in CASM, everyone was very supportive and willing to help, but I still had a long way to go.

From March of 2011 to March of 2012, I experienced a lot of frustration. Though I worked on a few projects, I had difficulty getting my work to a level with which I was satisfied. My results with an airbrush were marginal, and I was still struggling with basic construction techniques. When I discussed my frustration with many of my friends, including Ken Childres and Tom Brown, they all expressed that they had been there, and understood exactly what I was experiencing. They encouraged me to work through it, and keep striving to get the results I wanted. While I have no finished work to show for that year, what I did gain was some much needed practicing of techniques and a lot of friends that I met as a result of building models.

I finished my first actual pieces in April of 2012. At that point, I sought out constructive criticism from my friends, including Tom, Rusty, Ron, Ken Childres, and Josh Swift. I asked for brutal honesty and I got it. I had completely overlooked some basic construction issues. While this is not always fun to hear, it was probably the single most important learning experience I had. I entered two shows in April and May of that year with these pieces, and came home empty handed. But, I still had a lot of fun visiting with so many fantastic modelers, and felt inspired to do more.

My first breakthrough came in October of 2012, with a bust of Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Rusty had encouraged me to get a larger scale bust on which to practice, and to consult the David Fisher Modelmania DVDs. I had never done a figure like this before, but by this time, I felt more comfortable with an airbrush and with use of transparent paints. I had gotten plenty of advice from Rusty and Tom, and prior to this, Tom had brought a bust he uses for practice, and he and I each painted a side of the face.  So, after these experiences, I went to work. This piece was a competitive success, winning awards at the CASM Spoo-Doo and the Atlanta Figure show.

Next, I finished up a project I had worked on sporadically for a while, the Green Hornet’s Black Beauty. I had painted and repainted this car many times trying to get a good gloss black coat on the body with a flat black coat for the vinyl top. Again, it was frustrating, but a great learning experience. At the Pulaski Tech Classes, Ken Leslie had provided several opportunities to practice car painting techniques, and when I reached a point that I was ready to apply the clear coat in February of 2013, he was kind enough to come to my house to offer some advice. This piece has won awards at the Atlanta Figure Show, the Arkansas Modeler Championship, and the Wonderfest Hobby Expo. Shortly after the Wonderfest awards ceremony, Ken called me to see how the car did, and it was clear that he was happy with my success.

When I was first presented with opportunities to work on a model with other people, I was intimidated to let more experienced modelers see me work. What I learned from the experience was that most of the members of our modeling community want to help each other and see each other succeed. Is that enough of a basis to build solid friendships? In my experience, yes. I have recently worked on car while setting with Ken Leslie at the PTC classes, and had Rusty Nail come by to help me get realistic flesh tones on a figure. These were not only opportunities for learning, but a lot of fun, as well!

As we all strive to create better models, we should consider the best resource we have: each other. The next time the opportunity to work with other modelers arises, consider what can be gained. It has taken me two years and a lot of help to get to this point as a modeler. Winning awards is fun, and I am enjoying the competitive success, but being part of a community of people that you enjoy spending time with is much more important. After making such close friends, Heather and I now feel like central Arkansas is our home. 

The following club members have been nominated for the Member of the Year Award.  They are listed in order of nomination.

Cliff Bullock: Nominated by Tom Brown, Brianna Childres, and Rick Knapp for his work on the contest committee, willingness to volunteer, pursing sponsors for the show, obtaining many items
for the raffle and silent auction, regularly presenting models for Show-n-Tell, participating in group builds, and contributions on the Forum and Scratching Post.

Tony Lee Watt: Nominated by Tom Brown for regularly being part of the club even though he lives in Missouri. He attends meetings via internet streaming, regularly posts and comments on items on the Forum, and is always willing to answers questions from other modelers.

Editor's Note:  Sorry Tony, we do not have a picture of you.  I suppose you can see us but we cannot see you!  Very fitting given your role in the club.

Brianna Childres: Nominated by Cliff Bullock for working behind the scenes, being the Show
Coordinator, Website Coordinator, and for overseeing the web streaming.

Kenneth Childres: Nominated by Rick Knapp and Ron Leker for providing leadership that has brought CASM regional and national recognition and honors.

Tom Brown: Nominated by Ken Childres for his work overseeing the Scratching Post, willing to volunteer for show setup, his work as an officer, and always being willing to help others learn about modeling techniques.

Brent Bristow: Nominated by Ken Childres for regularly representing CASM at the PTC classes,

participating in group builds, making submissions for Scratching Post and the Forum, work as an

officer, making strides in modeling skills, and willing to volunteer.

Voting for Member of the year will occur at the next club meeting.  Votes may also be cast, if you cannot attend the club meeting, by emailing Brent at [email protected] .

Editor's Note:  The Armor Corner series was written several years ago for the paper version of the the Scratching Post.  This article concludes the series and be replaced by a series entitled "Grist for the Mill" which has also been written by Rick Knapp.  Information in this article may be dated given the evolution of the hobby over the past four years.  However, Rick's opinions and suggestions are as true and helpful today as they were when the article was written.

Tamiya’s release of a 1/35 scale kit of the steel-wheeled version of the famous “Tiger” tank filled a great void in the area of WWII military kits. This kit is light years ahead of Tamiya’s old Tiger I kit, which featured an earlier model of the same vehicle. This late-model Tiger kit is so good, in fact, that just opening the box and looking at the unassembled kit is enough to bring tears to the eyes of even the most jaded armor builder.

As excellent as this kit is, however, there is room for improvement. For this particular armor builder, that is a good thing, because who wants to assemble a kit that leaves no opportunity for doing the what we love to do most, i.e., take what the manufacturer gives us and “make it better?” This kit allows one to build either a “late” or a “final” version of the Tiger I. the only difference in the two is to be found in the smaller muzzle brake of the “final” version, different loader’s hatches, and some other minor detail variations in the turrets.

Proceeding from the top down, the turret needs some minor work to make up for the kit’s deficiencies. First of all, it should be said that the partial interior provided for the turret (gun breech, commander and loader’s seats) is a mere approximation of the real thing. See any of the many fine reference works on the Tiger for what this area should look like.  The “late” version of the kit provides for a binocular gunner’s sight, made by opening a thinned spot in the gun mantlet from the inside to add to the single opening provided for the “final” version. Once this is done, both the gunner’s sight and the opening for the coaxial machine gun should be blanked off from the inside with sheet plastic.

In order to complete the loader’s periscope, a thick piece of sheet styrene should be cut to the correct width and inserted (from the inside) into the opening covered by the periscope guard. This will recreate the periscope glass. Next, the loader’s hatch requires some latch detail. This is a bit of a challenge, requiring some delicate work. All other areas of the kit have some pretty good weld seam detail, but the joint of the turret’s roof with the side plate must have this added to it. The final bit of the work the turret needs is the addition of the lower supports for the spare track links on the turret sides. This is where the spares box came to the rescue for yours truly. There just happened to be some parts from other Tiger kits that can be adapted for this purpose.

The hull and suspension is where this kit really shines. The shape of the hull, finally, is correct, and the sponsons are closed in. there are individual torsion bar arms, which looks really nice, and the correct number of road wheels is provided. The hull machine gun comes complete with an opening for the gun sight. The interiors of the driver’s and radioman’s hatches are well detailed. The exhausts are finely detailed as well, although they do require the addition of pop caps made from kit knock-out tabs. Further detailing required on the hull includes the addition of screens and the frames for them on the engine deck, blanking off the openings of the driver’s visor from the inside, addition of an electrical lead from the headlamp, and some badly needed attention for the tow cables.

The tow cables are the only part of the kit that can really be described as poorly done. These parts are stiff and the brackets that should secure the rear portion of them to the engine deck are not included. The best solution to this problem is to cut off this part of the cables and makes replacements from twisted solder wire. Once the new cables are super-glued in place, gaps can be cut in them to add the missing brackets, which must come from the spares box. Of course, the biggest addition needed for this kit, as with most late-war German armor, is a coating of Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste. This is fairly easily done with green putty.

Overall, kit detail is very good, and assembly is quite straight-forward and problem-free. Decals and the commander figure provided are very nice. There are, however, some design problems of a minor nature. This kit was intended strictly for static display; the suspension, therefore, does not move, making the painting of the road wheels more difficult than need be. Another problem is the appearance of knock-out marks in some very inconvenient spots, such as the insides of the hatches. All of the kit’s 199 individual, injection-molded track links also bear these marks. Couldn’t Tamiya have provided for solid track sections in the flat spots, such as the area where the track meets the ground?

After saying all this, it still should be emphasized that this offering is far superior to previous Tiger kits. Tamiya should be congratulated for finally supplying a kit armor builders have been crying for for a long time. Now how about a mid-production model?