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.  

 November 2025 Ship Club Meeting

Thanks to everyone who were able to attend the meeting on Saturday.  Here's a LINK to the video recording of the meeting.  

Here's the recap of the meeting....

We started with a follow up on a video I sent out to everyone about a company called Saildrone which makes autonomous sail boats that are used for both civilian and military purposes.  It's a very interesting company.

If you want to learn more about their company, here's a LINK to their web site.  Here's an interesting story  about Iran capturing two of these boats.

ICM kit giveaway

We had the drawing for the ICM kit of the WWI battleship Konig.  This was purchased from Squadron to support ICM who in August had their building severely damaged by a Russian drone.  This was not done with club funds.  The winner was drawn using an electronic selection tool off the internet.  That winner is David Angelo!  Congratulations David!

 

Talk on the USS Cobia from Mark Karolus

We continued the meeting with an excellent presentation from Mark Karolus, a docent with the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.  The USS Cobia, a Gato Class submarine maintained there recently went through a 1.5 million dollar restoration.  The boat is in remarkably good condition and well maintained by the museum.  

Here are all the Manitowoc Gato's built there.

I would highly recommend that you watch the video clip of Mark's presentation.  It was very informative and many of the questions I had about this process, Mark addressed.

I'm not going to put all the slides in this recap but will instead focus on the more interesting ones.  

Here's the Cobia in dry dock, read to have all the crustaceans removed from the hull in preparation for repapinting.

Here the crews working to remove the unwanted visitors.  

What better way to view the restoration than from the comfort of your Amphicar that's both a boat and a car.

Cobia all cleaned and read for paint!  That's Mark in the center with the pink shirt.  The shirts were part of the fund raiser for the project.  The netting over the boat is there to protect the top of the boat and to keep debris removed during the cleaning process contained.

In this shot you can see that the torpedoe tube above the waterline is relatively clean, where the lower two tubes are dirty with unwanted visitors.

Mark validating the challenge coin fund raiser next to the rudder of the Cobia.  Notice that the rudder is rivited.  If you want to help support their work you can still buy these challenge coins online at the museum store.

The boat is primed and ready for her paint.

During the restoration the team discovered a crack in the hull.  The plate welded to the hull seals up water from coming into the boat.  There was some water in the hull they couldn't get out until she went into drydock.  

To get to the spots covered up by keel blocks, the boat has to be refloated and moved so that when she is removed from water the second time they can get to those spots that were covered up from the original painting.  

1800 lbs of paint was required for the project.  The paint is marine grade epoxy.

All painted, pretty, and ready to go back to the museum on display.

There was a lot of press and visitors on hand to see the ole girl come up.

Great view of her tri-color scheme as she's brought back to her mooring.

Mark had a unique idea for keeping track of their fund raising efforts.  He painted a Revell 1/144 Gato class model rust color, then as they met goals he painted her in the finished colors.

If you want to support the project you can still buy challenge coins at the museum store.  Here's a LINK

to the fundraiser coin in the store.

Thanks again Mark for telling us about the Cobia project!

It's Tool Time!

I found these brushes for nail on Amazon.  They're only $10.  They are used for hand painting fingernails.  Enamels and Lacquers are not recommended for these brushes.  I forgot to bring them to the meeting but will next time.  

We did a follow up on using Starbond medium rubber infused CA for filling seams.  I brought in a mule that I had previously sealed a seam line with, along with some sanding sticks and let everyone have a play with it.  Personally I really like this as a filler and it also is good as a normal CA glue.  Would I used it to glue the hull together?  No.  Would I used it to fill a seam after it has been glued together.  Yes!

We also had a follow up on the great Spar debate.  Or Buff debate.  Anyway, I did a test of the Squadron Colors Spar paint on white, gray, and tan primer or base color.  The photo doesn't accurately reflect what my eyes see... it's a camera thing.  In short, when I compare the Squadron Colors Spar over a tan base color, it looks very much like Spar on modern USCG ships.  When I compare the color to the Olympia museum ship it looks very close, depending on the photo you're looking at.  Looking at colorized photos is not a good reference.  The Squadron "Spar" is a good place to start from.  Adjusting the base color, or possibly mixing in some different color can get you where you want to be.

Moving on to what we're working on...

David Angelo is working on this kit of the HMS Warrior 1916.  Looks great, David!  This will be followed by the HMS Black Prince

John Widmar shared his Fujimi 1/700 Argentina Maru with us.  John commented about the difficulties with fit on these kits.

Rob Weilacher shared his Niko 1/700 USS Agusta.  Looks like a great kit!

Rob and David Angelo are working on a USS Kitty Hawk, aircraft transport carrier.  Nope, not an aircraft carrier.  

I (David Waples) shared my deep dive with Oto Gerza of RCSubs.cz and Ron Schneider, former Los Angeles Class submarine crew member.  

We've been working on this 3D printed model design for about four months now.  It can be challenging to work out these design issues over the internet, but we got it done.  I'm looking forward to seeing the finished model prints which I will share with you all.  Flight I and Flight II are in production, and we just finished the Flight III 688I (improved version) and it's being set up for printing.

What's coming to market...

Very Fire is releasing what looks to be a very nice kit of the IJN Atago.  This is a multi media kit.  You can buy directly from Very Fire (watch out for tariffs!!!).

The same class is being released by Border Models as the Takao.  

Starling Models is releasing a set of 1/350 Coastal Patrol Boats.  They are UKL 15 each

Starling Models is also releasing a Type 16 Frigate in 1/700 scale.  This is fully 3D printed with photo etch parts and decals

We talked about this subject last month.  Now a 1/700 HMS Leander also coming from Starling Models

Martin brought up this model last month during the meeting.  This is a "what if" model of the Yamato that survives the war.  Much like the modernization of the Iowa class battleships.  We don't know the story line

line.  

That's it for this month.  I'll have some information shortly for you about our next meeting.  I will also get out a notice for build night.  Take care everyone!