On August 3, 1914, Germany declared war on France, intending to use an early form of blitzkreig to force a surrender within roughly 40 days. Moving their forces through then-neutral Belgium, the Schlieffen Plan was to sweep down from the north and quickly take Paris, enveloping the French forces as well.

Things, as they say, did not go as planned. Germany’s violation of Belgian neutrality quickly brought Britain into the war. The combined French and British forces, after retreating some 160 miles, regrouped in the Marne River Valley, some 25 miles from the outskirts of Paris. By then, the Germans were stretched thin, exhausted after the month-long campaign with severe shortages caused by outrunning their own supply lines.

The latest journal of Cross & Cockade International — Winter 2019, features photographs of Sopwith Pups on the front cover, rear cover, and rear inside cover. These pictures all support the John Grech article on 2nd Lt. Patrick Alva O’Brien. The front cover photograph is of POW Lt. S.S. Hume behind a downed Sopwith Pup, A7340, of 66 Squadron that was lost in action on May 27, 1917.

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK-based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI-themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front.

John Walter is among the world's most prolific writers on small arms, and the author of 70 books, translated into more than a dozen languages, and authoritative articles in Guns Digest, Shooter's Bible, and The Armourer. This is John’s first book for Osprey. His next Osprey book in the Weapon series is scheduled for 2020. He lives in East Sussex, UK.

From the publisher’s website:

REFERENCES – a new series of A-4 size volumes. Each consists of 16–24 pages and includes selected archive photos, color painting schemes or 3D renders. Some books would contain scale drawings, too. One can find high-quality decal sheets in 1/48th and 1/72nd scales of one specific painting scheme. If the illustration differs in details from the decal, we will present photos which were used to develop sheets. Series for modelers as a supplement to other publications or compilation of already published materials.

Welcome to Episode 112 of The Modelgeeks Podcast! 

There is the usual banter and what we’re doing in our respective modeling domains to include new things we’ve found of interest.  

And yes, we get off topic quite a lot in this episode.

After Mail Call we discuss what we believe would constitute "the perfect kit".  We try to balance genre/subject, detail, complexity/parts count, and price.  Inspired in part by Jonathan Green’s post in the shack…and the Kotare kits. 

We would like to thank all our listeners out there for the continued support you have given the show. We hope to see you out and about as we hit show circuit. If you happen to see us at a show come on over and say hello, we may even put you in front of the mic!

If you can't make it to the shows then you can still interact with us through social media, Facebook, Instagram, and of course email at:

contact@modelgeekspodcast.com 

Also remember to surf over to the Geeks homepage at https://modelgeekspodcast.com.  While there you can buy some gedunk and subscribe for updates from the Geeks.  Take a look at the Listener Gallery, and if you’d like your work there, send us the photos at:

contact@modelgeekspodcast.com  

Make sure you check out our group / community on Facebook:

The ModelGeeks Model Shack

Get on there and feel free to share your work! We want to see what’s on your bench.

We also want to thank each of our sponsors for their support. We are very lucky to have them. When you have the time, pay a visit to their web sites, and have a look at their fine products.

Sponsors:

• Furball Aero-Design
• Detail & Scale
• Tamiya USA
• SprueBrothers
• LionHeart Hobby
• Bases By Bill
• Hypersonic Models
• Matters of Scale

We are very fortunate to be able to join the scale modeling podcast community and are in the company of several other really GREAT podcasts. Hopefully, someday we’ll earn our wings and be able to keep up with those guys!  Please check them all out at Scale Model Podcasts.

Blogs we like:

• The Kit Box 
• Sprue Pie with Frets 
• Matters of Scale
• Model Airplane Maker 
• Inch High Guy

Support the show via Patreon.

Support the show via PayPal.

Support the show

Model Geeks Podcast

Helion produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year. The 'Africa@War' series covers African military history since 1945.

Krzysztof Dabrowski from Poland has a lifelong interest in the subject of military aviation, and has written dozens of articles on a variety of related subjects for printed magazines and the ACIG.org/ACIG.info, AeroHisto and The Boresight websites. His particular area of interest is the air warfare during the Cold War, the aircraft involved, and the experiences of their crews. This is his first instalment for Helion and he is working on a second title (Dropping the Big Ones: Live Testing of Soviet Nuclear Bombs, 1949-1962) for release in 2021.

These two finished models also represent history being made and a milestone achieved. These two are numbers 999 and 1000 in my small scale vehicle collection. Number 999, Takom 1/72 scale C-911 HET tank transporter: Number 1000, Hasegawa 1/72 scale JGSDF Rosenbauer 6x6 Panther Fire Truck/Crash Tender: And now my journey to 1000 small scale vehicles is complete, and soon I hope to have them all set up to display and shoot pics. That announcement will be made when plans are finalized, please pray I find a place that is willing to let me set up and display for longer than a few days. Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome.

Copper was a physician stationed at American Antarctic research station, U.S. Outpost 31. The character appears in the 1982 film The Thing and was portrayed by the late Richard Dysart. His fate is also briefly touched upon in the 1991 comic series The Thing From Another World. The kit is another addition to The Thing collection of bust kits by Gillman Productions. As with the others, it is in 1/4 scale and the casting is very nice. There is only the slightest seam line across the hair and a bubble on one tooth. The scene depicts just after the Norris Thing's stomach munches off his arms. After the usual prep for resin, it gets a prime and then I start with the skin. And begin with my normal coat of pink. Continuing on when the pink is dry, it's gets it's base coat of flesh. Then a little Citadel Reikland Flesh shade thru the a/b to reinforce the skin shadows. If you try this technique, make sure to leave some of the pink showing... While that was drying I turned my attention to the base. It is basically a big hunk of resin with the Norris Thing's stomach teeth. Wow that was a large description... I've been watching the videos of pro miniaturist Eric Swinson, and in his critique videos, he's often said don't let the painted base rival the figure itself. So I've been trying to make my bases a little plainer. The next items on the agenda are his hair, the shirt, and the ... blood. The hair was fairly easy, as it just a salt and pepper look. Now off the top of my head I pictured more salt, but in looking at the images, I was wrong. So a little more dark colors went into the head. The shirt is a maroon red shirt, with a beige-white undershirt. V's Cavalry Brown suit the bill. I added a little beige to some of it to create a highlight. The blood was next. My feeling in re: to this is that less is more. But this a pretty gruesome scene. So the stumps have to be bloody, but I left enuff flesh where you could still see it, plus a bit of the bone. I also put a little so some of the arm got it, but used a purple wash to indicate bruising (not that bruising would happen that fat. Finally, I mixed a water down blood color and with the a/b created some spatter - a little on the arms some on the shirt - which the red color of that tones down the gore, and then a few dots of it hit his face. A finally spatter on the base and I was done. Thanks for looking.

The Ford Model T, nicknamed the Tin Lizzie, was produced from 1908 to 1927. Over 15,000,000 vehicles were produced in many configurations, including a sedan, roadster, light delivery vehicle, pick-ups, fire trucks, etc. The Tin Lizzie's were known for their affordability, reliability, and durability.

Ukrainian-based ICM has produced several variations of the model T, including a 1913 speedster, a 1913 roadster, a 1917 ambulance, a 1914 firetruck, a 1912 light delivery car, a 1911 touring car, a 1912 commercial roadster, a 1917 LCP WW1 Australian army car and a 1917 utility Australian armor army car, a 1917 model T, a 1917 LCP with Vickers MG, and a RNAS armored car. Many of these kits were subsequently issued with passengers or crew.

MiniArt adds to their Mercedes 170V series with this Kfz.2 German Communications Car Type 170VK in 1/35th scale. We look at the art, CADs, features & real thing in our preview today...Read on... »

First off, my apologies to Jon Vojtech, the generous genius behind the UMM product line. Jon graciously provided the Reviewers Corps with a nice selection of new products at the National Convention in Hampton VA, this year, and I am very late in submitting my review.

If you need to make extremely fine cuts in a part – plastic, soft metal, 3D resin, or cast resin material – this tool will do the trick. The blade itself is razor thin (sorry…), coming in at 0.1mm or about 0.004”. Using a blade this thin means applying gentle pressure, letting the very fine teeth do the work – push too hard and you’re likely to bend or snap the blade.

The handle is 3D printed filament, and incorporates a recess for the included Allen wrench that’s used to change blades. And speaking of that, the handle will accommodate a number of blades including the UBT12 Medium Rough Razor Saw.

Nice things often come in simple packages. The Squadron Tool Decal Positioner is an example of this, measuring in at 10 cm (slightly less than 4 inches). A small contoured rod with a rubbery tip used to position decals is the simple solution to this old modeler’s “fat finger” problem.

I came back into the hobby after a long hiatus. I was used to thick decals that I could slide around with my fingers. I quickly learned that the current aftermarket decals were much thinner, and folded in on themselves or tore very easily. To solve this dilemma, I then started using a pencil, toothpicks, and other items to try and slide the decals into position. Sometimes it worked, other times it did not.

For that reason, I jumped at the chance to review the Squadron Tool Decal Positioner.

First off, my apologies to Jon Vojtech, the generous genius behind the UMM product line. Jon graciously provided the Reviewers Corps with a nice selection of new products at the National Convention in Hampton VA, this year, and I am very late in submitting my review.

If you need to make extremely fine cuts in a part – plastic, soft metal, 3D resin, or cast resin material – this tool will do the trick. The blade itself is razor thin (sorry…), coming in at 0.1mm or about 0.004”. Using a blade this thin means applying gentle pressure, letting the very fine teeth do the work – push too hard and you’re likely to bend or snap the blade.

The handle is resin, and incorporates a recess for the included Allen wrench that’s used to change blades. And speaking of that, the handle will accommodate a number of blades including the UBT12 Medium Rough Razor Saw.

Nice things often come in simple packages. The Squadron Tool Decal Positioner is an example of this, measuring in at 10 cm (slightly less than 4 inches). A small contoured rod with a rubbery tip used to position decals is the simple solution to this old modeler’s “fat finger” problem.

I came back into the hobby after a long hiatus. I was used to thick decals that I could slide around with my fingers. I quickly learned that the current aftermarket decals were much thinner, and folded in on themselves or tore very easily. To solve this dilemma, I then started using a pencil, toothpicks, and other items to try and slide the decals into position. Sometimes it worked, other times it did not.

For that reason, I jumped at the chance to review the Squadron Tool Decal Positioner.

The Revell Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Cabriolet is a beautiful model kit issued in 2024 by Revell Germany.

Contained in the box is a bag containing a small sample of Revell model glue and the following Revell colors: 02, 04, 99, 302, 331 and 378. Also sealed in bags are one clear sprue, white sprues B, MD, Q, F, and P, along with silver sprues A and J. The parts are mostly free from flash. There is one set of very nicely molded rubber tiresand a full-mold upper body (N).

Now on their website, we can show you AK Interactive's new Trabant 601 S & Citroën HY van in 35th scale. We look at the CADs, decals & original vehicles in our preview...Read on... »

Meng releases information on their forthcoming ZTZ100 Main Battle Tank in 72nd scale. We have art, CADs & the real thing in our preview...Read on... »

Here at the end of October, I managed to launch six ships and an LCAC from my shipyards for delivery to their respective Navies. In no particular order, here they are: The Trumpeter 1/72 scale LCAC: The 1/700 scale Pitroad/Skywave USS John C Butler DE-339: The 1/700 scale Pitroad/Skywave USS Doyle C Barnes DE-353: The 1/700 scale Pitroad/Skywave USS Fletcher (late) DD-445: The 1/700 scale Pitroad/Skywave USS McCord DD-534: The Trumpeter 1/700 scale USS Mount Whitney: And finally, the Trumpeter 1/700 scale DKM Peter Strasser aircraft carrier: Thank you all for looking in, comments are welcome...

A brand new book in the Airframe Detail series focusing on the Fairey Battle is on the way from Valiant Wings. We have contents & details on how to get the book at a reduced price for a short time in our preview...Read on... »