January 2026 Ship Club Meeting Recap

Thanks to everyone who attended this month's meeting.  You can view the meeting recording at this LINK.  I hope it works as Zoom again changed everything up with no warning to their subscribers.  😕

We started off with a brief look at color variations when looking at ships from different angles.  This is something I would like to have a discussion on in the future, and get your input and ideas on how to approach this in our hobby. For example this photo of the USS Texas currently being restored and with a fresh coat of paint almost looks like it has different colors on the hull.

Next I identified a BAD VENDOR.  Galaxy Models has been taking artwork from quality manufacturers.  In the discussion from Bullseye model decals, they posted that Galaxy Models stole the artwork from David Roof of Flying Leathernecks, and is selling it under their own name.  

Post from Galaxy Model on Facebook

It was so good they decided to steal it and sell it under their own name.  There was extensive conversation about Trademark infringement, but the point is really missed.  They took Dave's artowork and made it their own.  

Moving on from the angry part of the meeting to the good parts...

From Rob Weilacher is the USS Kitty Hawk.  This was designed by David Angelo and printed by David Waples.  It includes everything except rails, masts, decals, guns, and the aircraft, all which Rob added.  If somebody wants one I can print it for them and the cost is $60.  $25 of that goes to David for his design, and the balance to me for printing costs.  

Rob truly has a one of a kind model.  Thanks for building it so quickly and sharing it with us, Rob!

Rob is also working on his AVP and AGP kits from Corsair Armada, which have not yet been released.  We'll have finished photos of these models at the next meeting.  

David Angelo shared his model of the 1/700 HMS Black Prince of his own design.  David told us he used Infini brass wire for his rigging.  We're going to get a sample to play with.  More on this to come.

David also built the ICM kit he won in the drawing we held to support ICM in Ukraine.  

George Stevens has returned to Colorado and is attending our meetings.  He shared this tribute build to his friend, Lt. JG John gilmore who served on the USS Fortify.  

George built this from the 1/350 L'Arsenal kit.  If you look closely you can see the figure George placed on the bridge to represent his friend.

We then had an excellent presentation from Harvey Low on the Mikasa in Japan.  

I created a new link on our Blog page to capture the presentation slides that Harvey so graciously shared with us.  If you select this link you will find all the slides that Harvey shared with us.  You can also watch his video presentation through the link at the beginning of this posting.

We held the drawing for the ICM 1/350 Markgraf kit.  This was purchased from Squadron to support ICM in Ukraine.  Everyone not at the meeting watching over Zoom probably didn't see us spin the wheel for the drawing.  Stewart Bailey was the big winner!  Sorry I keep messing up your name, Stewart!  

I shared a link to the US Government web site devoted to fleet modernization.  If you're interested in the ships the current Administration wishes to build, this will give you the latest information.

We then took a look at the latest information we've found for kits on the web.  We first looked at Aladin Models who is a marketplace for 3D printed models.  Here are some future releases.

Here is what they currently have listed on their file for sale.  The price is for the file.  You will need a quality 3D printer such as an Elegoo Saturn 3 or 4, or somebody willing to print one for you.  Note that files are not supported.  However they do give some guidance on how to lay out your model for printing.

Squadron Colors also released Mountbatten Pink (SCN-020) as used on the USS Juneau.  Squadron Colors has added a good option for the ship modeling community.

Some good news for fans of Micro Master high quality 3D printed ship parts.  They can once again ship to the US by mail (not UPS/FedEx/DHL).  The tariff rate of 15% is paid up front by Micro Master so it will come directly to you without any additional costs after checkout.

Same for purchasing Black Cat Models kits directly from Ben in France.  You will pay the 15% tariff rate up front, and they can now ship to you by mail at a much lower price that couriers like FedEx/UPS/DHL.

Squadron wasn't sure if or when Russ (Brandon's dad who is the official importer) would be placing an order with Black Cat Models.  I went ahead and ordered one of the 1/700 kits for you to look at.  It arrived today.  I'll share it with you at the next meeting and perhaps there will be some news from Squadron on Black Cat orders.    

These next two kits got a lot of attention.  These are from AJM in Polland.  Their are modified LST's.  

First kit is an FDT (Fighter Direction Tender).

This next kit was the most popular.  This is an LST designed to launch and recover L-4 Grasshoppers.  There was some thought that this used the Brodie System for launching and recovering L-4's.  However on the 906 this wasn't the case.  I sent out a video to everyone showing how the 906 operated... or didn't.  

Coming in February from Pontos is what looks like a new generation of upgrade sets heavily supported with 3D printing.  

This is for the Trumpeter Regia Marina Roma 1943.

This is for the Trumpeter HMS Warspite.

If 1/2000 is your thing here's a new release from ModeLink.  This is the modern JSDF fleet which occupies a very small space, yet is highly detailed.

Coming from Trumpeter is the 1/700 Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier.  Originally I posted that it was available from HLJ.com in Japan for pre-order.  However I would strongly recommend doing so from Squadron if this is on your bucket list.  It's less expensive and you support Brandon as well.

Here's one I hadn't heard of before, but others in our group had.  Salv models is producing a resin hull model with 3D printed parts and photo etch.  Interesting modern subject from the JMSDF.  This one is only available at HLJ.com that I'm aware of right now.

3-D Wild is also coming out with some new kits.

Victor was quite excited by these offerings.  These are Regia Marina Giussano-Class pre-war light cruisers in 1/350 scale.  These are designed and produced by Len's friend.  

Also from the same partner at 3D-Wild is a 1/350 HMS Nelson-Class battleship in 1941 configuration.  Check them out at the 3D-Wild's WEB SITE

That's a wrap for this month!  See you in February!

December 2025 Ship Club Meeting

Greetings,
Here's the follow-up from Saturday's meeting.  You can find the recording of the meeting in Zoom at this LINK

Squadron has acquired Iron Shipwrights.  Brandon is going to try and re-master the kits so that the hulls are 3D resin printed.  This would be a welcome improvement.  

One of the first kits Squadron would like to reproduce is the Edmond Fitzgerald in 1/700 and 1/350 scales.  The 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Fitz was November of this year.

We discussed my experience with importing some parts from Hobby Easy in Hong Kong.  It was a good experience.  Note that the current General Tariff rate is 10% and will increase to 34% in November 2026.  Stay tuned as this is being reviewed by the Supreme Court and they were leaning towards tariffs being illegal.  

We discussed the cancellation of the Constelation Class Frigate program.  The US will build the two ships it started, but additional ships are cancelled.

I found an interesting story about the US Submarine, R-14.  It was dispatched to search for an overdue fleet tug, USS Conestoga AT-54.  

Sam gave us an excellent presentation on Mine Warfare.  Review the video presentation to get the most out of his presentation.  

We took a look at in progress and completed models.

We started with Rob Weilacher's build of the USS Mugford 1945/USS Patterson 1944 kit from Kraken Models.  This can be bought as a complete kit with hull, or just the upgrade to the Midship Models Bagley or Gridley class destroyers.  Rob recommended the Kraken kit as it included much better detail

Very nicely done structures that are 3D printed

When ordering you can customize some of the parts you want with your kit

What parts are included with the kit...

Rob also shared his USS Kitty Hawk transport which was designed by David Angelo.  

Roger shared his Italian Torpedo Boat, Palestro class, San Martino 1938.  This was from a kit maker called Delphuys and is in 1/700 scale.  

Roger also shared his model of the German Torpedo Boat, the Jaguar.  This is an HP kit also in 1/700 scale

Roger and his wife Peggy also did something very interesting with his Jaguar model.  They put the model in a scene from one of their pictures.  Using AI they created a look of a ship moving through water.  This looks really great.  Roger wanted to see how the camouflage worked against the background.  We decided it was quite effective!

I've been practicing on this Riich Models 1/350 Los Angeles Class, 688I (Improved) submarine.  It's a fairly decent representation of the boat.  I've added some additional flood holes to the hull to improve its accuracy.  She's sitting on what are called Strongbacks, which I had designed and I've printed.  There will be about 24 of these under the hull when I make the base for it.  This is all in preparation for the Los Angeles class submarines that are currently being designed by RCSubs.cz.  Now all I have to do is figure out how to get them here!

I talked about my experience using Squadron colors.  They spray quite well.  The sub above was painted using Squadron Colors paint.  This slide explains what I've learned so far.  I'm going to suggest to Brandon that they do a deep dive into how to get the best out of this paint.  

I reviewed some essential items that I use for airbrushing.  These can be bought from Model Paint Solutions.  I strongly recommend using the paint cup filters with acrylic paints.  I've found that every paint, no matter how much you shake and mix it, contains small bits or material should be removed.  I also recommend the glass beakers.  They are excellent for mixing paint before you add it to your airbrush.  The glass stays crystal clear and the lettering wont fade, even using lacquer thinner.  The dropper bottles are excellent for mixing up shades of colors so that you have that exact mix throughout your build.  These droppers dispense paint just like the Squadron bottles and also include stainless steel agitators.  John also includes a small funnel.

I gave a demonstration on using UV resin to secure rigging line on ship models.  I have some extra lights that I'm going to bring and see if they can improve the quality of the demo on the screen.  This is my go to method for securing rigging lines, whether it's lycra, stretch sprue, or metal.  It all works.

Finally I demonstrated a new product I found called UV Putty.  There are a couple of companies that sell this, but from what I can tell it's all the same.  The idea is that you apply it where you want, smooth it out and use no more than what you need.  Then hit it with the light for 15 seconds or so and it's dry, cured, and ready to sand and paint.  It will not shrink.  I bought the Phrozen brand directly from them.  Make sure you get yourself a good quality light/torch.

To end the meeting we took a quick look at the upcoming release of the HMHS Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic.  This is made by Trumpeter and it seems clear that they've improved this kit with better photo etch detail than on previous releases.  

That's it for this month.  We ran out of time so we'll cover what we weren't able to at the next meeting.