​CASM was selected by IPMS as Chapter of the Year.  Please click on the link to read President Ken Childres' remarks on behalf of CASM about receiving this award.  Congratulations CASM!

Is becoming a member of anything an idea from the past or an idea for the future?  This is a day and age where people interested in any topic, modeling being one of them, can obtain a lot of information about the topic electronically while never having to identify themselves.  If a person wanted to find out how to mask an aircraft canopy, for example, or have other people see their model and provide comments, for another, then all they have to do is an internet search or post on an electronic forum in cyberspace.  Is their any value to coming together as a group, in person, to do the same thing?  The CASM E-Board addressed these questions several years ago along with a fundamental question:  Are model clubs an idea from the past that has been replaced by current technology?

In the past, there really was no way to exchange ideas with people, in real time, other then to meet with them, face-to-face.  Today, there are many ways to meet with people that are not face-to-face and still “get what you want.”  So, why in the world would anyone want to become a member of a club?

Clubs and organizations have responded over the years to these questions by developing reasons to join.  There are benefits that come to those who join.  Those benefits run a full range, depending on the organization, that primarily includes discounts on services of many kinds.  The basic premise became: the reason to join an organization is because of what you can get by being a member that you otherwise would be unable to get if you were not a member.

Lost in the analysis is a concept from the past.  I can recall a time when people wanted to become a member of something because there was a pride in being associated with a group of people.  The “benefit” of joining was the feeling that came from being identified as a member of a specific group; to be accepted by people who had a similar interest in something.  There came with this idea a sense of “pride” to be known as a person who was part of a specific organization.

A year-and-a-half ago the members of CASM completed a survey where they expressed what they wanted out of being members of the club.  It wasn’t the discounts.  People wanted to come together where they could experience fellowship and friendship with fellow model builders.  Face-to-face contact with other people who build models provides richness in relationship that makes people want to be a member.

The reason to become a member of something is because of the human bond that forms with other people who gather together with a common purpose, not to get a discount.  There is a sense of pride that comes with membership that occurs when we identify ourselves as a member of a body that gathers together.  A club is not about club business, it is about the fellowship that comes when people gather in a place with a common interest. 

Being a member of a club is not an idea that has been lost in the past. Becoming a member is an idea that is necessary for the present and the future as so many communication methods distance us from the direct contact with others.  Being a member of a club provides for us a sense of belonging and being a member of a community that cannot be replaced through electronic means.

P Plastic
T Tech
C Classes

We meet twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Monday nights from 6-8 p.m. at Pulaski Tech Business Center (Roosevelt Road).  We start with some great show and tell, and then, usually an hour of hands-on type instruction.  If you have not been in a while, come back and join us.  If you have never been, you don't know what you are missing.

Editor’s Note:  I have attended these classes and have found them to be beneficial in both learning modeling technique but also with fellowshipping with other modelers.  We are lucky, here in central Arkansas, to have such a resource available for modelers.

​Join Ken Childres as he transforms a Toyota truck into a Zombie Truck.  His reproduction of rust is outstanding.

Mish has provided for us a beautiful rendition of a celebrated B-17G whose claim to glory was many crash landings due to battle damage and repairs from a large number of Variants of the B-17.

​Steve Wilson guides us through a build of a M14 Hellcat and its placement in a diorama that he entered into the CASM Sproo-Doo 2012 contest.

​This beautiful armor piece won "Best Military" and a Gold medal at our recent contest/ show and was submitted by Daris Long. 

A Subtle Shift

CASM held its’ Sproo-Doo show/contest yesterday and there was a turnout of contestants from Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida.  There were many very fine models presented for judging and competition.  Most all of the models were technically well-executed with many details added, clean construction, and awesome paint jobs.  However, I noticed a slight shift in the use of color on many of the award winning models for the “Best of” categories.  Often the selection of “Best of” came down to a choice between two models that stood out from the rest.  Both models would be beautifully constructed with many additional details added or fabricated that enhanced the model.  The color scheme used by both models was accurate for the piece, but the one that often won the category was the one that was more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Several of the category winners spoke with me about this shift to the aesthetic and mentioned that their thinking about painting models had undergone a transformation over the past few years.  The technical methods of painting were generally unchanged but the selection of colors to create contrast and extenuate detail had changed.  The use of black white colors to influence shading had been mostly discarded from their palette of colors used for the model.  These colors were replaced by colors that are darker and complementary to the general paint scheme or lighter and harmonious to the paint scheme.  The color selection was extended to the composition of the base which resulted in a harmonious presentation that was aesthetically pleasing.  Historical accuracy was not lost but harmony of color emphasized other qualities of the piece.

The concepts of complementary and harmonious colors are commonly used in figure painting and are related to the relationship of colors that are often graphically displayed on a color wheel.  Some people have a natural eye for color relationships but others, like me, have to use devices like the color wheel to see color relationships.  Complementary colors are ones that are opposite one another on the color wheel while harmonious colors are next to, analogous, the base colors.  Using these color relationships produces a piece that is not only historically accurate but also draws a viewer’s eye to the piece.

I could tell the pieces that were rendered in this manner by watching spectators at the show.  Invariably, the models where people lingered or could later be heard discussing amongst one another were the models that used a more harmonious color scheme.  A clean paint job and accurate, well-executed, details are pre-requisites for additional consideration at a contest but the modelers who have taken the next step and are using color theory, whether they know it or not, to guide color selection are starting to take the brass ring. 

Looking across the model entrants at the show/contest yesterday the use of the color shift was readily apparent.  Models completed by specific modelers in aircraft, armor, and Sci-Fi stood out amongst the other entries and there were more models completed in this manner represented than when compared to previous years.  There is a subtle shift in the way in which models are rendered and that shift was noticeable yesterday.