24 8 August 2015

A Community Group Proudly Supported by the City of Whitehorse

Monkey Business!Tamiya released their first 1:6 motorcycle kit, the Honda CB750, in 1970. It was followed over the years by forty more kits, including a small number of ‘mini-bikes’ such as the Honda Dax (the second kit, in 1971) and its Monkey and Gorilla forebears. Now they’re back, though not in the original form. Above; Honda Monkey ‘40th Anniversary Edition’ and, left, Honda Gorilla ‘Spring Collection’.

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Feb 3 Aug 4Mar 3 Sep 1Apr 7 Oct 6May 5 Nov 2*Jun 2 Dec 1Jul 7 Feb 2 (16)

Jan 27 Jul 28Feb 24 Aug 25Mar 24 Sep 29Apr 28 Oct 27May 26 Nov 24Jun 30 Jan 27 (16)

President:bigspin1@bigpond.net.au

Secretary: Michael Howe 9874-5702essmc@ozemail.com.au

Treasurer: Frank Spinosa 0418 555 324bigspin1@bigpond.net.au

Newsletter: Michael Howe 9874-5702essmc@ozemail.com.au

Frank Spinosa 0418 555 324

Editorialn recent weeks I’ve been contacted by two Iseparate ladies seeking new homes for, in one

case, a model sailing ship built by the woman’s late father and the other, a collection of modelling magazines belonging to the other woman’s late husband. I’m waiting on more information about the ship model which is in Sorrento and I’m going to collect the magazines during the week.

It got me thinking about my own collection and what would happen to it if I were to drop off the perch and Muoi was left to dispose of it.

Some years ago when I was involved in diecast collecting and regularly attended swap meets I met a couple of ‘dealers’ who made a speciality of acquiring and disposing of deceased estates; to call this pair vultures would be an insult to the good name of Accipitridea (by the way, did you know a group of vultures sitting in a tree is called a ‘committee’... Hmmm?). Their technique was to descend on the family while the body was still warm and offer to ‘dispose’ of the the dear departed, on behalf of the . Needless to say the family would receive a fraction of the real value (if anything, last I heard of one of them he was being pursued by family lawyers).

It might be wise to make arrangements while you still can...

Michael

collection of their “good friend”,

bereaved

EVENTS & INFORMATION

*Monday

16th August 2015IPMS Swap & SellAshburton Scout Hall335-339 High St. Ashburton10:00am - 1:00pm (9:30 Sellers entry)Entry $5. Enquiries; 0438 726 176

23rd August 2015ESSMC Pizza & Plastic(Details to be announced)

1st September 2015ESSMC Inhouse SwapmeetCombined with the regular meeting. Bring your unwanted kits and/or money.

27th September 2015Waverley Interclub CompWadham House, 52 Wadham St, Mt. Waverley9:30am - 4:00pmDetails; Ethan Edwards texaroo@bigpond.com

13-14-15th NovemberESSMC Canberra TripIf you’re interested make sure you’ve given your name to Frank!

14th November 2015Bayonet Model Competition & Swap MeetLiberator HangarCnr. Farm Road & Princes Hwy. Werribee9:00am - 4:00pmEntry $5.00. Tables & Details; 0425 860 472

21st-22nd November 2015Southern Model Club Competition and SwapChurch of Christ Hall2-12 Chesterville Road. CheltenhamSat. 10am - 5pm. Sun. 10:30am - 5pm.Swap & Sell Sunday at Pine Street HallEntry $2. Details: Rob; 0432 051 548

20166th March 2016ESSMC Annual Swap & Sell

Events Calendar

he Alfa Romeo T33 was a 1967 all-a l u m i n i u m r o a d - g o i n g T

development of the Tipo 33 racer. Only eighteen were ever built and due to their hand-built nature no two were exactly alike though they fall into four sub-groups; twin headlight

with or without side brake vents. The car was the first to feature so-called butterfly doors opening vertically similar to scissor doors. While described as ‘road-going’ (’stradale’) the ground clearance would not allow daily use and they didn’t even feature door locks.

The Otaki kit dates from about 1968 and is very hard to find but Fujimi picked it up in 1994 (It was not a new tooling despite being described as such on the Scalemates web listing). The original Otaki was, of course, motorized, but this option was deleted by Fujimi. I’d prefer to get the Otaki but I’ve tracked down a Fujimi that’ll do - in any case you wouldn’t want to build the Otaki. I hope the mirrors are those depicted on the older artwork, Fujimi seem to have ‘modernised’ them in their version. It was in Japan on Friday arvo, Melbourne today (Monday) and should be in my hands on Tuesday.

and single headlight, both

Fujimi (Otaki) 1:16 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale

PresitorialSunday bloody Sunday

This is a social day for club members to let

ow come with age, wisdom doesn't prevail? their hair down and HHere I am on Sunday morning trying to write enjoy with your fellow

the Presitorial when my head feels like a boulder modeler followed by

at the bottom of the ocean. The joy of last night's a n a f t e r n o o n o f

alcohol indulgence doesn't seem to have worn culinary genius by

off! Aghhh, shots, they're beautiful before - not yours truly. I will be

after!!!!!firing up my wood fired oven and making you

Anyhow, this month we have the inaugural “Pizza pizzas (all complainers

and Plastic” day at my house on the 23rd August will be ignored or shot on sight). I will however,

from 10am onwards. This is a day of swapping be open to pizza topping suggestions. Lets hope

techniques, learning how to paint and other for a beautiful day that we all can enjoy.

modelling mysteries. Please bring along models, painting equipment and anything else

All Hail the Model Fuhrer, Zig hail, Zig hail, Zig that might come in handy. I have some paints

hail.and glues - even some model kits if you prefer for

Frankpeople to use.

were given rooms The Last Leg or Postcard a n d a m e a l

from the Seventh Century voucher, and a feed. By then it

n Douglas Adams' brilliant five-part trilogy The was about 2am. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the entry for IEarth is “Harmless”. In my travel guide, the On TV was the

entry for Doha would be “AVOID”. news of MH17, the other big story

At Heathrow an aircraft takes off every minute, was that it was on during the Berlin Airlift it was only half that rate. again in the Gaza Strip. You really have to My flight home via Doha left an hour late; this is wonder what goes on in the Hamas committee nothing unusual for Heathrow. The head bus meetings. “I have a cunning plan” says Abdul. driver said he would put his foot on the gas, but “Let's fire rockets randomly into Israel”. “But that never happened. Qatar Air is an brother Abdul, won't the Israelis massively abbreviation for Quoted Arrival Times Are Really retaliate, just like the last 47 times we tried this?” Approximate In Ramadan. It landed in Doha at “I know” says Abdul, “but I reckon this time they about midnight local time. The flight to will just pack up and go away.” I woke up, had Melbourne was already in the air. So as we came breakfast, went back to bed. Now I know what life up the tunnel there was a Qatar Air sheila in her as a dog is like. Some of the Castaways decided Thunderbirds cap holding a Melbourne sign. to venture forth into 50 degrees and humidity to Shortly there were a dozen of us clustered see the sights, and since it not only Ramadan, but around. We were led to the check in desk, where Friday which is prayer day, there was nothing we were told that we would be carted off to a hotel open. The cafes wouldn't even serve juice during until the next Melbourne flight, twenty-four hours the day, not even to infidels who are all going to after the one we had just missed. T h e r e w e r e t w e l v e v e r y unimpressed Australian travellers who just wanted too get out of this place. It was at that point that one of the gang found out about Malaysian Air MH17 being shot down over Ukraine. This was not the sort of thing that anyone wanted to hear, but our Qatar Air route from Heathrow to Doha had gone d i r e c t l y o v e r B a g h d a d . Commercial aircraft are not difficult targets; I knew that any ratbag down there with a 1960's vintage SAM-2 could have done the same to us.

Despite the options suggested by our party, International Rescue would not budge, mainly because they were not authorized to make decisions. hell anyway. Doha's slogan is We Welcome the Their plan was that we would be off to a hotel until World. It should be We Welcome the World to the 10pm the following night. We don't want to go to a Seventh Century. If you ever found yourself in hotel, unless it is in Melbourne, we said. No dice. Wodonga on a Thursday night in the seventies The next piece of good news was that we wouldn't you will get the idea. For reasons best known to get our bags, especially if anyone was carrying themselves, coffee was on the prohibited alcohol. Obviously one bottle of plonk would narcotics list. A few of the Castaways were going spell the end of society, so we were left with the cold turkey from missing their caffeine fix. clothes we were standing in. At Doha Towers we

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It would be perfectly feasible to build this scene...

Gary Zimmer

Surf’s up - the view from the Doha Towers Hotel.

The sleep/eat process continued. Every time I After another thirteen hours in a flying cattle truck went into the dining room someone there with legroom that would be adequate for Mini-Me, stamped my voucher. It didn't matter if you had I got to Tulla late on a Saturday, after the last the entire goat's eyes smorgasbord or just a piece Ballarat bus had departed. I eventually got home.

Dog was pleased to see me (Dogs are always pleased to see you - whether you’ve been around the world or around the corner... Ed.).

If you have been following the tales of my travels, perhaps you have found it i n t e r e s t i n g a n d informative. I hope I have inspired some of you to see these sights for yourself. Cattle Class London return was about $3500, a fifteen day Eurail pass was $800 and worth every cent, and while accommodation costs a bit more for less, it was all pretty cheap. The main

of toast, they stamped. By 7pm a bunch of us thing is that Europe is really small, so it doesn't Castaways went to the dining room, and Manuel make sense not to go a few hours down the rails to the waiter said no can do. You have three stamps see something else. Some things worked as on your vouchers. It was my turn to be shop planned, others became a bit of an adventure.steward, and I told Manuel that since we weren't being picked up until 10pm, we were owed dinner, and it was stupid Qatar Air's problem. Having a bunch of pissed off Australians arguing the point wasn't something Manuel had ever expected, so he ran away. Basil the manager appeared, and I explained the situation once more. Basil couldn't make a decision, so he went off to call the airline. After waiting patiently for all of two minutes we all decided to have a feed anyway. What were they going to do about it, pump our stomachs? By 1030 the bus arrived, I plan on doing it again in a few years, with a few and I decided to nick a few chocolate bars from additions. I hope you have enjoyed the journey.my room, Qatar Air could deal with that too.

Gary

Gary Zimmer

This is the artificial island known as The Pearl at Doha. Looks a bit like Stonehenge doesn’t it? Hope they’ve allowed for the sea level rising... Ed.

Don’t forget to pack your skateboard!

Dax kit. The original Softly, Softly... kit is a collectors item now but has been re-

n the early Sixties Honda created a motorsport- released in new Ithemed amusement park which featured versions; the 2000 various ‘rides’ including miniature motorcycles. anniversary model The popularity of these mini-bikes with 50cc (2000 - No.16030) engines and 5" wheels inspired them to develop a n d t h e 4 0 t h the 1966 CZ100M bike, nicknamed ‘monkey’ anniversary Monkey because of the somewhat simian appearance of (2006 - No.16032). the rider on the machine. Through several Alongside these is a iterations this became the Z50J model of 1974, n e w r e l e a s e o f

Tamiya ’s Honda Gorilla as the “Spring Collection” Gorilla (2001 - No.16031). All the kits have new parts, special paint jobs and decals.

Like the re-released Dax, these kits have been manufactured in the Philippines, not Japan, and are simply bagged and boxed without Tamiya’s familiar inner blister presentation cards. All the original sprues are included so it’s possible to produce an old Monkey but why would you want to?

I purchased the 40th Anniversary because it looks the most interesting and I’m shallow; it features chrome Honda tank badges (to be attached with double sided tape) and ‘40th’

the definitive mini-bike officially known as the Monkey. With its suspension, lighting, mirrors etc. this was a fully road-going motorcycle even though it was mainly used for fun. 1971 saw the release of the Dax, a heavily reworked machine with a pressed steel ‘body’ taking the place of the tubular steel frame. In 2000 a limited edition anniversary model was released and in 2006 came the 40th Anniversary

The KitIt seems extraordinary that the first Tamiya 1:6

battery cover badge, two different aftermarket motorcycle model was released forty-five years mufflers, replacement rear shock-absorber ago when you compare the No.16001 Honda assemblies (with yellow springs), special decals CB750 kit with anything released in recent times and a fabulous tartan sticker to decorate the seat. the quality of moulding, finish, precise fit, working The colour scheme is striking, see left. The satin features and variety of materials including rubber, chrome wheels need to be painted red and the vinyl, wire mesh, nuts and bolts etc, etc, set a bright chrome mudguards, black - can’t get away standard few have equalled since.without painting like I did the Dax!

The Tamiya Honda Monkey kit was first released Michaelin 1980 as No.16013, quite some time after the

real thing and even nine years after the Honda

version

The Kit Collector

ExpoModel Expo 2015

y the time you read this model expo will be Bdone and dusted.

This year Roger Stone and myself organised our club display with the theme of encouraging kids to have a go at building scale models.

We organised with Model Nerds and Metro Hobbies to get us around sixty model kits to give away! After a fast set up on the Friday night, with the help of several club members, we managed to give away fifty-plus models over the weekend, each one with the open invitation to come along to a club meeting. Hopefully we might get some new junior members...

The swap and sell on Monday was the usual madness with plenty of bargains to be had by all.

I managed to get a 1/12 Matchbox Vincent Black S h a d o w motorbike, a kit I have been after for five years! Congratulations to the members who won trophies i n t h e competition.

Karen

Apologies to Karen for failing to run this item last month! Like our Bronnie I have no excuse. Ed.

Ken tries toexplain moderntechnology to Harry.

©to publication (i.e. committee meeting). Submitted material is accepted in good faith and whilst every effort will be made to ensure accurate reproduction, no responsibility can be accepted for unintentional

errors or omissions. Sources of third-party material should be credited and copyright respected. The Editor may correct, revise, split, hold over or discontinue any item, and/or add, delete, resize, crop or otherwise manipulate any images, without prior consultation. The Editor retains sole discretion on content (subject to committee approval only if deemed prudent) and reserves the right to refuse any material which may reasonably be considered offensive or defamatory to any person or group, or is, in the Editor's opinion, of doubtful taste, value or relevance. Contributors of such items may lodge an appeal with the Committee. The item/s will be held over until after the appeal has been heard and the Committee's decision will be final. Disclaimer. Views and opinions expressed in any submitted material or editorial comment are those of the author or editor only; the publication of an article in SeamLines does not imply or suggest that the committee of ESSMC Inc. holds, promotes or condones such views and opinions.

ESSMC Inc. 2015. SeamLines Editorial Policy. SeamLines is published on the first Tuesday of every month except January. Deadline for inclusion of material in each issue is the Tuesday prior

Inner Sanctum

his month we are privileged to be invited Ti n t o Roge r Trewenack ’s INNER SANCTUM... (echo effect !!).

Roger's interests range from 1/12 F1 cars to various Australian subjects including aircraft and military vehicles, along with just about anything else that takes his fancy....sound familiar? The two display cases house both built kits and

those waiting on the "to do" list. As you can see his work bench is well organised and has just about every modelling tool you could wish for and Rog has a great collection of paints as well. All he needs, by his own admission, is some spare time to build a few things....this too sounds very familiar, hey?

A big thank you Roger for letting us check out your modelling space and an extra thank you to Esmé for the scones....

Ken

SANCTUM...SANCTUM...

The Back Page

them pretty cheap from art supply shops. Now Question Timestart filling the panel lines by doing small dots and letting the capillary action flood the panel lines.t the July meeting Dave Garner submitted a Aquestion about applying gloss clear coats to

You don't have to let the paint dry for long aeroplanes so they can be detailed and sealed. 3before you start cleaning the excess off. Buy a box of Q tips (you will need a lot of these). You I will explain this step by step;can dip them in white spirt or just use them dry. Depending on how dry the paint is now with a After the paint has dried (top coat) put down a rubbing action wipe off the excess paint. Finally 1generous coat of gloss clear (I like to use put down decals and one last coat of gloss clear Vallejo gloss clear with a splash of Vallejo or matt clear for that satin finish.thinner). As a rule I always us the same brand

paints as thinners, I have come unstuck when l Dave also wanted to know how to apply gloss don't.clear coats with just a normal brush so if you have advice on those please talk to him about it. After the gloss clear coat has dried (12-24 2hrs.) thin down some flat black (95%

Tony McGoldrickthinner/5% paint) or try some TAMIYA black panel line accent colour. Now apply the paint with a fine brush. I like to use a china liner brush, you can get