Your Favorite FineScale Modeler Articles?

My favorite was the 2 part article on the Hetzer that Karl did a few years back. I believe it was in the Nov-Dec 2008 issues.

Frankly, the list of useless articles is far longer than the useful ones, but I keep subscribing anyway, in hopes they get back to FINE scale modeling...

It's not my favorite article, but it's certainly the one I've gotten the most use out of... Greg Kolasa's September 1991 article, "Detailing a 1966 Shelby GT350H"... While I couldn't care less about car models, two things stuck with me...

In it, he detailed how he built a jig for making seatbelt hardware for the car, and I've used a variation of it for the last 20 years to make my own aircraft seat-harness hardware jigs...

He also detailed how he cast super-detailed parts using a container that used centrifugal force to force the resin into RTV molds'  tiniest nooks & crannies... Basically, spinning it around on a string like a bolo...

Readers Gallery for me. The first pages I go to in the mag. Actual models built by hobbyists rather than 'pros'.

I would have a hard time picking one or two articles. For the most part, I enjoy them all.

I do recall one from the 80's about producing a "take off" effect which included a Bf 163 Komet lifting off. I incorporated the same principle on a Katyusha....   turned out pretty good too.

like them all .

Ron

One article that stands out in my mind is one from the 90s. It was about updating a 1/48 MiG-23 from an early model to a later model variant. It had all the appropriate line drawings for modifications: chaff/flare dispensers; alteration of vertical stabilizer, Infra Red Search Tracker, etc. One day I plan on tackling the MiG-23 that is in my stash using that article as a guide for the modifications. No brass or resin required, just strip and sheet styrene. Although I do plan on replacing the kit's seat with a nice resin one...

I have an old copy of Scale Modeling Tips and Techniques (that book came out nearly 20 years ago; Kalmbach Publications really should get on the ball and publish a new, updated edition!) and in it, I taped a few sheets of blank paper and if I see a really good article, I'll jot down the title and date on the paper.