Januar y 2021

OCTOBER 2023

Welcome to the Missing Sprue!

This quarterly Gazette is for Coventry and Warwickshire club members to show off recent builds,
share techniques, and inform the club of forthcoming shows etc.

I’m sure you are all looking forward to this year’s shows as some of these have already been
announced, I will try and update the show calendar, in future issues of the gazette.
Looking forward, to the shows we will attend as a club in the next couple of months please see the
show diary in this edition.

Club Meeting Dates

Diary - Coventry & Warwickshire IPMS Model Club (weebly.com)

Articles Required

If you would like to add/write an article, write a review of a Show, Model shop, modelling techniques,
Articles or even submit photos for the next edition of the Missing Sprue,
please contact John via e-mail :

johnsavo1977@hotmail.com

OCTOBER 2023
 SMW 2023

So as arranged the “hot and cold” theme looks to be in full swing, please make sure the list is up to date
and all details are correct. We will be having a dress rehearsal on 20th October, Paul will be there from
18:00, can we please be there for 19:00 so we can get the tables all laid out, arranged and packed away by
20:00, that way we can have our normal meet and show afterwards.

Anyone unable to bring a model to the club night, or not yet complete, can you please send Paul the
dimensions of model, type and whether hot or cold, that way we can save a place. Also please note if you
are an IPMS member entry is free and earlier than on the day entry, so please get your membership asap
as they tend to stop new registrations two or three weeks prior to the show.

If you have any models you would like to put forward for the main show on behalf of the club, please
make the club aware asap, if we have multiple entries, we may have to vote.

NOW HEAR THIS

I have recently invested in some Mig Ammo decal set and fix, similar to Micro set and Micro sol, I
persevered on 2 models and the results were disappointing, I also spoke to another member of the Club
who experienced the same, the bottles however are glass, heavier and have a lovely applicator brush,
similar to the one you get in the Tamiya thin bottle, so for that reason, I emptied out the old ammo liquid,
cleaned and filled with Micro set and sol, it’s now a lot easier to apply the solutions.

I have also had a go at making some sprue glue, I had some old thin contact liquid about, so finely
chopped some old sprues, placed into the bottle, 24 hours later got some gloopy runny plastic, that
adheres really well to the models and is easily worked, well worth a go if you have some bits and bobs lying
around.

The Stoke show will be changing dates for next year and more than likely be the Bank Holiday weekend,
this may collide with another show, so more on this once confirmed. The WMP club show in Birmingham
has lost its venue for next year, they will be looking for another place, however there may not be enough
time for next year, so this may not appear on the 2024 calendar.

OCTOBER 2023
 Stoke On Trent show 27th August 2023

It was a rainy and unsettled morning when I headed out, allowed myself plenty of time to get there and
got there about an hour early, there was no organisation with parking and after finally speaking to a senior
member of the club, I managed to park quite close and still have access for my wheelchair. As it got busier
throughout the morning it appeared that it turned into park wherever you want or can. We had some
great models representing our club and which attracted some attention. Traders were a plenty and some
very nice kits on under table sales. The layout was nice with plenty of room for us to get behind and out if
needed. The show was in one hall and some of the clubs attending, were ones I had not seen before at my
more local meetings. Phone signal was non-existent. Some amazing models on display and I was especially
drawn to the IPMS Warrington display, every model was laid out on its own stand and just looked well
thought out. Attendance was good with a wide range of age groups.

They had a nice tombola, with some good prizes on offer. The actual competition was a small section laid
out in the top corner, this was not very clear as I did not even know that this was the competition table and
unlike other events where time is taken to announce and reward the winners, they did not make this clear.
I did not even know that the judging had taken place!

It rained off and on throughout the day and the onsite catering facility was right up there, £4.95 for a
Bacon and Egg batch, sounds a lot but it was Hot, loaded with many rashers freshly cooked bacon and was
delicious. Depending on when they move the show dates too will mean whether or not I can go next year
as I am away first week in August so I will be keeping my eye on the new dates. Thanks to all who attended
and displayed their beauties.

More Photos on the website at: https://coventryandwarwickipms.weebly.com/stoke-on-trent-model-show-

staffordshire-showground-820327th-aug-2023.html

OCTOBER 2023
For those who were not able to attend the show this year, I would highly recommend it, my advice would
be to get there early as the parking is first come first serve and if it is a bank holiday weekend, there may
be other events on at the venue? This could also influence the parking.

By John Savage

OCTOBER 2023
 It’s a Gundam! – A short history of the Gundam franchise

As I’m sure everyone reading this article is aware, I quite enjoy building Gundam models. A fact that is
clearly demonstrated by the many, many, many Gundam models I’ve brought to club meetings over the
years. Since I have a feeling that not everyone here will be entirely familiar with
the origins of these models or the franchise that originated them, I thought I’d
give everyone a brief overview of it. I hope that it will be of interest to at least
some of you.
These kits I build which come in 1/144, 1/100, 1/60 and 1/48 scales represent
various mecha from the many shows that make up the Gundam franchise. While
it now consists of 50 TV series, films, OVAs (Original Video Animations) as well as
manga, novels, and video games not to mention an ever-expanding line of plastic
model kits - nicknamed "Gunpla” – it has its origins in 1979 where it had been
developed by Yoshiyuki Tomino and his team at Sunrise Studios.
Whilst shows he had previously worked on had predominately alien antagonists;
Mobile Suit Gundam was the first show Tomino worked on to featured only THE CREATOR OF
humans as the villains. With it, he wanted to tell a story about war, not allowing M OBILE SUIT GUNDAM ,
for any alterations to historical events so that those watching would be confronted by YOSHIYUKI TOMINO
the tragic realities of war. An event that he wanted to draw particular attention to be
the aggression of the Japanese in Manchuria in 1939. This harsh and realistic
depiction of war and its impact on everything and everyone that it
touches has become a core part of the Gundam franchise’s DNA
with nearly every show, OVA, Movie, and graphic novel being a
critique and demonstration of just how destructive war can be in
all its many facets.
In 1979, when Mobile Suit Gundam first aired, the mecha genre of
anime was very much focused around the idea of the ‘Super Robot’
style with shows such as Mazinger Z, Gaiking & Getter Robo that
featured machines wielding quasi- magical abilities against
monsters and aliens. The idea that they could be anything else
wasn’t even considered, that is until Mobile Suit Gundam first aired
in April 1979.

This new style of mecha anime, which depicted the robots as

machines mass produced by two opposing factions as tools of war
was completely unheard of at the time. The machines – named
Mobile Suits – were a far cry from their ‘Super Robot’ predecessors
in that they were depicted and treated in a more realistic fashion.
This was the beginning of what become known as the ‘Real Robot’ genre where the robots use mostly
conventional if futuristic weapons and power sources and were often manufactured as tools of war on a
large scale. They would require maintenance and could break down, have limited ammunition, use scaled

OCTOBER 2023
up infantry weapons such as particle beams/lasers, firearms and melee weapons like axes and swords and
would be manufactured by both military and civilian enterprises of various nations. Whilst unfamiliar to
audiences of the 70’s, it has since become the dominant and most accepted way to depict mecha in Japan
today.

This new approach to the depiction of mecha within anime was such a stark contrast to what had come
before it that Mobile Suit Gundam was critically unpopular when it first aired. Such was the drop in
popularity that the show was set to be cancelled after only 39 episodes. This was extended to 43 episodes
after renegotiations with their sponsors were successful.

Despite the initial drop in popularity, enough interest in the show had been garnered that Bandai
approached Tomino and his team at Sunrise to produce a sequel to the first Gundam show. In fact, Tomino
had begun planning for a sequel show in February 1984 and after workshopping and refining the ideas he
had come up with, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was officially announced in November that same year and
aired a year later in 1985. Another sequel followed in 1986 with the airing of the 47-episode Mobile Suit ZZ
Gundam (pronounced Double Zeta Gundam).

Despite its popularity in Japan, and releases of dubbed

versions of the various series and movies overseas,
Gundam as a franchise didn’t gain much traction in the
West until Mobile Suit Gundam Wing aired on Cartoon
Network’s afternoon programming block Toonami in
March 2000. Whilst it didn’t garner as much popularity in
Japan, mostly stemming from its depiction of an alternative
timeline separate from the main Universal Century (U.C)
timeline first established in the original Mobile Suit
Gundam, it was popular enough in the West that properly
allowed both mecha as a genre and Gundam as a franchise
to establish a presence in Western popular culture.
The impact and popularity of the Gundam franchise in
Japan is easily demonstrated. It has appeared on postage
stamps whilst its name used as a codename for a JSDF
project to develop an advanced personal combat system.
Life-sized statues of mecha from the show, including one
that is capable of movement, have been constructed in
Yokohama, Odaiba and Fukuoka. Companies such as Nissan
and Mitsubishi have used the franchise as inspirations for
their vehicle designs and the titular mech, the RX78-2 was
used as part of a firefighting campaign by the Japanese government where it appeared on numerous
posters wielding water spraying equipment in place of its usual weaponry. The impact of Gundam in Japan

OCTOBER 2023
has been compared to the impact of Star Wars in the US and it is considered a cultural icon.
Whilst, as mentioned previously, it took the airing of Wing for the
franchise to get a foothold in the West, it has since steadily
increased with popularity with Firefly star Nathan Fillion and
American band Linkin Park being notable fans of the franchise.
Linkin Park featured Gunpla kits in some of their music videos, did
music for the Gundam Extreme Versus video game and even
designed a custom colour scheme for a model kit that had
accompanying custom artwork on the kit box.

And now, 43 years after its creation, Gunpla has developed into a
worldwide phenomenon with an estimated 700 million units being
sold whilst estimates set the franchise’s total worth to be $26.457
billion. With the franchise’s popularity being as big as it is, those
numbers don’t surprise me at all. I may have only been a fan of the
franchise for around a decade and a builder of the model kits for
less than that, but I am no less enthusiastic a fan as anyone else
and I intend to enjoy the models and the shows for as long as they
continue to exist.

I hope this hasn’t been too ramble/waffly for anyone reading and that everyone here got something from
it. As always, it’s been a pleasure.

By Findlay Cruden

OCTOBER 2023
 A Year with the IPMS Coventry
A Year with the IPMS, Coventry

I fully intend to start work on that Ventura I bought at our show back in June this afternoon, but wanted to
put something in for the Sprue, by way of a thank you more than anything else.
My name’s Gareth, and I appreciate that many of you may remember my name, mostly for being
the bald guy with the enthusiasm for just about everyone’s models but mostly for Findlay’s Mechs, but I
give my name only because with the club membership being as big as it is, hopefully I’m not alone when I
say that whilst I consider you my friends, I honestly do struggle to remember your names; so wanted to
extend the courtesy before pressing on with what I wanted to talk about.
I first came along to a club night in October 2022, after seeing our cabinet in the museum on a trip
there for my birthday. I must admit I was greeted warmly by Paul and the rest of you, and whilst not
certain what I would expect, you all made me feel very welcome and soon realised I wasn’t surrounded by
"rivet counters”. What a relief!
I came along obviously due to my interest in plastic models, predominantly aircraft for the Second
World War. My grandfather who I never met as he died before I was born worked as a civil aviation
engineer at Baginton during that time and I gather that meant he would likely have been involved in the
construction of parts for Lancaster Bombers, as well as down at the Whitley factory which is now of course
owned by JLR.
When I first came down, I had lost my mojo for modelling, having “stalled” a 1/48 Revell Memphis
Belle B17 (not literally, obviously). It was apparent then and still is now that anyone struggling to get their
model looking the way they want it too, only needs to spend a few minutes talking to one of us to get the
advice they need to improve it, if not make it perfect in their own eyes. I’m happy to say that other than
the occasional evening playing Call of Duty or spending time at the gym or with my family; it’s back and has
stayed back.
So, I wanted to say “Thank You” to my friends at IPMS Coventry. Club nights are something to look
forward to, and whilst on occasion I’m sure we all find the minutiae of what our friends talk about when
describing their builds every first and third Friday sometimes a little not to our own taste, what I have
found is there’s always respect and admiration for our efforts. Even if Sam’s biplane was a “f***ing
nuisance”, or John’s B17 in 1/72 scale was a first go round and as we all know at this point, he is able to
produce some outstanding work. (Did someone say “Chinook”? Bless you!)

OCTOBER 2023
It's always a pleasure to see new faces come along to club nights and even more so when I see everyone
pitching in to set up the tables at the Milton Keynes show (Let’s be really honest here, without our club
there to sort all those tables out, would they have been ready in time?!) or at our own Summer show, I feel
like the club is something good and healthy for all the members. I read a recent article online by an
American Psychology professor who listed building plastic scale models as a great way of maintaining good
Mental Health. It requires concentration, logical thinking and a creative flair and passion for the subject
matter, whilst being relatively easy to pick up. Though looking at sone of Marcus and Richard’s work, you’d
be forgiven perhaps for thinking that you need to be a modern-day Michelangelo to fully appreciate the
hobby.
We all know it’s not like that though and regardless of our skill levels, budgets or Special Interest, a group
of chaps with a few hours to spare on a Friday evening come together in good humour and mutual
appreciation to make the club what it is. I’m proud to wear my shirt at club nights and model shows and
enjoy sharing my hobby with you all. Cheers!

By Gareth Twynham

OCTOBER 2023
 Visit To South Wales Aviation Museum St Athan

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend , I was at Margam Park for a Sealed knot event. On the Saturday
(26th) I had a free day and after the society’s AGM, I decided to find a museum to visit.
The South Wales Aviation Museum was only about 22 miles away, and I headed off to see if I could find it.
On arrival the was a Buccaneer in gulf war “pink” scheme and a Shackleton in part repair.

Alongside these aircraft were a pair of jet provosts and a Victor Nose unit, and other outside exhibits.

OCTOBER 2023
Once inside , there was a small gift shop, where I purchased the obligatory Mug, and entry fee was £10 per
adult, Veterans were £7.50, Kids Under 16 free. The museum is one large hangar in size with lots of
exhibits, such as a Tornado, and a Czech Lynx to name but a few. I thought it was nice that you could get
“up close and personal” with the exhibits- other museums do not allow access beyond the rope.
A decent Café upstairs, had a posh coffee at a reasonable price.
I took quite a few photos before my camera battery failed; these can be found on our website at:
South Wale Aviation Museum St Athan - Coventry & Warwickshire IPMS Model Club (weebly.com)

By Paul Redfern

OCTOBER 2023
 IPMS Avon ‘Scale Model and Wargaming Exhibition’
6th August 2023

The Avon show (Thornbury) is always an extremely popular show, and it also works in conjunction with
wargaming clubs from the local areas. I left my house early as first light was appearing over the horizon
and arrived just after 7 with the sun shining and blues skies above Thornbury leisure centre. Steve Roberts
and I set up the stand and members started to arrive before the 09:30 opening time.
We had a number of members in attendance, not only supporting our table , but also, other Sigs and
groups. We also had visits from Maria , Sorin and Young Uri as well as Tom and his dad.
Maria had won/bought a spitfire Pillow (yes- a pillow) which was left behind, and I am currently looking at
this thing as I am drafting this report.
The club was located in the main hall , with other interspersed between the other two halls.
Our table was well represented , showing the diverse quality and types of models we as a club are known

OCTOBER 2023
for, many nice comments from other clubs and members of the public.

OCTOBER 2023
Dave Carter and Marcus White, our resident photographers, took many photos and these now reside on
the website located at:
AVON Model Show 6th Aug 2023 - Coventry & Warwickshire IPMS Model Club (weebly.com)
There was a small competition for best club/sig and wargaming table I believe that stoke on Trent (Rubicon
table) won best Model table. I wasn’t sure who won the wargaming table.

And our neighbour – Four corners club walked away with best show model with his impressive commando
diorama with two SAS jeeps dashing through the desert.

The organisers did mention that they are looking to have a competition next year, roll-on 2024…
A big thank you to those who helped with the breakdown of the table- much appreciated!!
Overall, a great show, and lots of purchases were made.

By Paul Redfern

OCTOBER 2023
 West Midlands Blue Lamp Show
The day started well, David Thomas kindly invited me to travel down with him to the show, so alarm set to
get up nice and early! For the wrong DAY! So was 15 minutes late getting to David’s. But we made our way
there and got on site nice and early. So busy talking we forgot to get our breakfast from McDonalds, still at
least there is an on-site cafeteria. We got the table set up and it was a great turn out of club members and
we managed to fill the table with all sorts of styles from the smallest of planes to the largest of tanks. The
venue was tightly packed and room behind the tables was limited, Paul purchased some extra wristbands
for some of us without, so thanks Paul. The clubs and traders were set over 3 rooms, but it was clear that it
was going to be a quiet and steady day, there were 5 or 6 kit traders and probably the same amount of
modelling accessory traders, so under table sales was where the bargains were at. Not too sure on how the
process worked I personally did not realise you could pay to have a model put in for judging, so did not
enter any of mine. The WMP representatives were friendly and the atmosphere good. So…….. time to get
some teas and coffees that we missed earlier, so off to the cafeteria with cash in hand, to get myself a tea
and David a much-needed coffee. Sorry its card only! What the %$£*, no cash accepted. David had no card
and Carl was unable to use cash either, luckily Steve leant me his card so I was able to get us 3 a drink and
throw cash his way, the only hot drink for the day! So late start, no hot food or drinks, it was looking bad
for the rest of the day.
But all in all, the place remained busy, lots of questions by members and the public about our models. The
display looked great and in my opinion was up there as one of the top displays. They say it comes in 3’s?
well for me it did, as the day progressed my raffle tickets vanished, members helped me look and it
appeared they had been abducted by aliens! But after about a 30-minute search they turned up in my bag
mixed up with some parts I had bought. Well, I didn’t win, but it was all for charity so no matter. The show
side was well organised, and the different areas of modelling were called out along with the bronze, silver,
and gold in class. Each winner received a trophy, certificate and a good round of applause from all
attending. Overall, the show itself was quiet, cramped and lacking in business, but none the less I had a
great day as did the rest of us, I am sure. It was announced at the end this would be their last show at that
venue and as of yet, they have not secured an alternative, so I wish them all the best and luck in finding
another site and look forward to a return visit.
And of course, a big SHOUT to Dennis. Well Done.

By John Savage

OCTOBER 2023
 Where did it start?

So, coming into my third year of scale modelling and looking for an interesting piece of trivia to pop in the
latest quarterly gazette, I found myself wondering, where did it all begin and who made the first
commercially available model kit? So, I did a bit of digging and found my answer. My history of model kits
is extremely limited, I know all the main manufacturers of the modern age but how long they have been
running is a mystery? As a kid I can remember Airfix, in the same way people refer to vacuum cleaners as
“hoovers”, which we know is a product name, as kids we used to refer to model kits as Airfix kits. So
naturally I started there, I was close but in fact FROG appear to be the first. Below is an extract from an
article I have found:
FROG, which stands for Flies Right Off the Ground, can be traced back to 1932 when the company &
trademark were first registered by two brothers John and Charles Wilmot and their friend Joe Mansour.
The trio set about developing a small range of ‘Ready to Fly’ 1:32 scale planes with duralin fuselages, paper
wings and a propeller driven by an elastic wound mechanism housed within the end of each box. The first
FROG was a pre-built model of the Interceptor Mk IV in a RAF configuration (later Belgian, Italian, Dutch,
American versions were introduced, together with a model with skis). A marketing & distribution alliance
with Lines Brothers (Tri-ang Ltd.) through their International Model Aircraft Company enabled them to
bring the model to market and ultimately resulted in FROG becoming part of the toy giant.
However, FROG’s ‘eureka’ moment occurred in 1935 when the trio experimented with a new material,
cellulose acetate, which was in the advanced stage of testing by SKYBIRDS. This lightweight and much
stronger material opened up a whole lot of new opportunities to the company and in 1937 FROG launched
their now highly sought after range of factory built and model kit form PENGUIN series models, becoming
the very first plastic kits to be made.
Below are the dates the first kits were produced and not the date the company was founded.
1937 Frog Models, 1953 Airfix, 1953 Revell, 1954 Monogram, 1960 Tamiya, 1962 Italeri? 1972/73
Matchbox
I know there are a lot more companies out there, but I was getting little info on when the first plastic
model kit was actually produced. So, I will leave it there. We can blame our full cupboards, divorces,
empty wallets, eye strain, anger issues etc on a little company named after an amphibian animal.

By John Savage

OCTOBER 2023
 Brampton IPMS - St Ives model show 24th September 2023

Once again, our annual trip to Cambridgeshire the club was invited by Brampton IPMS, the show held at
the Burgess Hall, a large venue for this show.

A little bit chaotic on arrival , I thought we were in the main hall, but failed to realise that the plans
had changed, (my Bad) we were located in the “theatre hall” behind Leicestershire modellers.

Steve Roberts also supported the table, with Richard and Martin helping from the “what if “ table. We
were visited by Maria and Sorin with little Uri, causing chaos as usual (only Joking) , the show was a slightly
quieter show in respect of the traders, which is understandable during these difficult financial times. But
on the whole, a lot of clubs and SIGs spread out throughout the venue.

The table was a little sparse, as we were expecting single depth, but a lot of compliments from the general
Public and Modellers alike, overall, a grand day out.

More photo’s on the website at: https://coventryandwarwickipms.weebly.com/st-ives-model-show-24th-

september-2023.html

By Paul Redfern

OCTOBER 2023
 Who’s Who - Coventry and Warwickshire IPMS

Club Secretary
Paul Redfern
Email: rdfrn_pl@yahoo.co.uk

Club Treasurer
Carl Lewis
Email: carl.l@ntlworld.com

Comms/Webmaster / Event Organiser

Paul Redfern
Email: rdfrn_pl@yahoo.co.uk

Event Organiser 2i/c

Denis Jones
Email: whatdoesthisdo@outlook.com

Gazette Editor
John Savage
Email: johnsavo1977@hotmail.com

Club E-mail Address

Email: cwipms2019@gmail.com

Club website
https://coventryandwarwickipms.weebly.com/

OCTOBER 2023
 Internet and Facebook Links
IPMS UK https://ipmsuk.org/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/154243277932214/

Great War SIG https://sites.google.com/site/greatwarsig/

“What if” SIG http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php

Modern British Armour SIG https://www.facebook.com/groups/modernbritisharmoursig/

Russian/Soviet Military Modelling

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1476745009291224/

IDF SIG https://www.facebook.com/groups/472664806256973/

Bomb Disposal Model interest group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/293347344594784/

Sutton Spartans https://www.facebook.com/groups/103320443753676/

Russian Wheels and tracks https://www.facebook.com/groups/1539132379672734/

MODEL KIT INSTRUCTION SHEETS LIBRARY

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1214026292028249/

The Bundeswehr Sig https://www.facebook.com/groups/337998709864855/

OCTOBER 2023
Please Note:
Definitions

Required- Club Show members required.

Recommended- regular shows attended by the club, with a table(s)

Optional- shows not attended by club, but optional to club members.

OCTOBER 2023