High Plains Modelers
High Plains Gazette
Volume 1, Issue 2
The Christmas Party Was A Blast
The Christmas Party was
fun this year. There was
good food, good conver-
sations, and some good
presents. Of course there
are some who were less
than thrilled with their
selection, but I for the
first time ever received a
present I actually like!
Also announced were the
new officers, for those
Meanwhile back at The Ranch
For those who do not
know we are moving back
to the Ranch for our
monthly meetings. This
will begin with this
months meeting on Tues-
day, January 25, 2011.
Please remember we are
not meeting at Hobby-
town this month. You
might feel a bit embar-
rassed if you are the only
one in the basement, then
December 2010
who missed Novembers
meeting, or did not get
last months newsletter
they are… President
Pablo Bauleo, VP Gary
Moore, Treasurer Randy
Robinson, and Secretary
Jeff Brown. (Yep, that’s
me.)
The winners of the yearly
contest were also an-
nounced: Gary Moore
again some of you might
feel right at home. Larry,
I’m looking in your direc-
tion.
So mark your calendar!
As far as I am aware, and
I will confirm and report
in next month’s newslet-
ter, we are back at The
Ranch for the rest of this
year.
was 1st place, Pablo
Bauleo was 2nd, and Jeff
Brown was 3rd. They will
receive their gift certifi-
cates at the January
meeting.
I for one want to thank
the wives who attended.
Remember they put up
with our hobby so that we
Inside this issue:
don’t frequent the nudie Christmas Party 1
bars instead!
Meetings Moved 1
1/48 Komatsu Build 2
Commiesfest Contest 2
I look forward to seeing
you all this month for the Omaha IPMS Update 2
meeting. It should be a
fun one. Pearl Harbor 3
Remember to bring a IPMS Rules: Aircraft 3
model for show and tell,
the points start all over
with this meeting.
What’s New This
Month:
 The Christmas Party
 Meetings move back to the
Ranch
 Contest in Denver (February)
High Plains Gazette
Tamiya’s 1/48 Komatsu Bulldozer
Inspired by Don
Schaeffer and his bulldoz-
ers build from October, I
started to build Tamiya’s
1/48 scale Komatsu.
This is a very nice kit. It is
based on the bulldozer
the Japanese used to help
build airstrips on their
Tamiya’s island bases.
Komatsu
Tamiya designed this very
well. Having done some
research on the original
Komatsu it looks as
Contest in Golden in February
Pablo sent out an e-mail
about a contest in Febru-
ary called Commiesfest.
Commiesfeston
Saturday The contest is being put
February 19, on by the IPMS Denver
2011 at the Chapter called The Com-
mies.
Jefferson
County The contest is on Satur-
Fairgrounds day, February 19, 2011 at
the Jefferson County
Fairgrounds in Golden.
Omaha IPMS Nationals Update
www.ipmsusa2011.org
194 more days to finish
your build and get it to
Omaha!
The Vendor room is 95
Omaha By The Sea percent full, which is
good news for us, and bad
news for our wallets.
Page 2
though Tamiya got this
kit spot on. The only
drawback is that the
blade does not move. It
would have been nice to
be able to position it up
or down.
Tamiya even created a
special paint (TS-66 Kure
Arsenal) for this kit.
The build itself was fast.
A few small seams to
clean up, no flash, no sink
holes, all in all a very well
They are asking for our
help with judging. I for
one would like to go. It
not only shows good
form, but it also shows
good manners to at least
send some of us so that
they will attend our con-
test as well.
It looks like Gary and
Pablo attended last years
contest from the awards
on the Commies website.
There are vendors for all
of our modeling needs.
It looks like the contest
website has not been up-
dated in months though,
which is a shame since it
would be nice to see the
Category list and have a
final list of the official
thought out kit.
I have not started paint-
ing and weathering yet, I
have half a dozen current
projects on the work
bench so I am a bit be-
hind.
I should have it ready for
our February or March
meeting.
For those who like 1/48
vehicles this is a really
easy and fun build.
Then again Gary Moore
and Pablo Bauleo are
common names in North-
ern Colorado.
Pablo is bringing some
flyers to this months
meeting. For those who
can’t attend our meeting
the Commies have a web-
site. (Note no www.)
http://commiesfest.com
themes so we can start
building something spe-
cial for the contest.

Pearl Harbor:
On December 7th, 1941,
the planes of the Imperial
Japanese Navy attacked
the Pacific Fleet of the
United States at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
2011 is the 70th Anniver-
sary of the day that
launched the US into
World War II. Many con-
tests, including the IPMS
Aircraft: IPMS Competition Handbook
Basic Construction
Flash, mold seams, sink
marks, copyright marks,
ejector-pin marks, and
similar molding flaws
eliminated.
Seams filled if not present
on the actual aircraft.
Contour errors corrected.
Any detailing removed
while correcting errors,
filling seams, etc. restored
to a level consistent with
the rest of the model.
Alignment
Wings/tailplanes: same
dihedral or anhedral on
both sides.
Plan view: wings and sta-
bilizers aligned correctly
with, and identically on
both sides of, centerline.
Multiple fins/rudders: fin
-to-stabilizer angles cor-
rect; aligned with each
other in front and side
views where appropriate.
Engine nacelles/cowlings:
lined up correctly in
front, side, and plan
views.
Landing gear: compo-
Nationals, are planning
on a Pearl Harbor theme
for a special award.
The good news is there
are plenty of models
available to build.
If we hold a contest this
year I would like to see a
special award for a Pearl
Harbor theme.
nents properly aligned
with airframe and with
each other in front, side,
and plan views.
Ordnance items (bombs,
rockets, pylons, etc.)
aligned correctly with
aircraft and with each
other.
Canopies and other clear
areas:
Clear and free of crazing
caused by adhesives or
finishing coats.
Gaps between wind-
screen, canopy, or other
clear parts eliminated
where applicable.
All clear areas scratch-,
blemish-, and paint-free.
Decals must look painted
on if depicting painted
markings (conforming to
surface contours, no sil-
vering or bubbling, no
decal film apparent).
Details
Thick parts should be
thinned to scale or re-
placed; e.g., wing trailing
edges and similar sur-
faces, ordnance fins,
landing gear doors, edges
Volume 1, Issue 2
The good thing about a
Pearl Harbor theme is it
can encompass almost all
genres of models. Planes,
ships, dioramas, and yes
even armor. (There were
army and marine bases
on Hawaii which had
A date which will
tanks and jeeps and live in infamy.
trucks.)
of open panels, etc.
Wheel wells, intakes,
scoops, etc. should be
blocked off to prevent a
"see-through" effect.
Flash, mold
Gun barrels, exhaust
stacks, intakes, vents, and
seams, sink
similar openings should marks,
be opened.
copyright
Details added to the marks,
model should be in scale
or as close to scale as pos- ejector-pin
sible.
marks, and
External stores should be similar
built to the same level of
quality as the model to molding
which they are attached. flaws
Stores/weapons combina-
tions on a model should eliminated.
represent only those com-
binations actually carried
by the real aircraft.
Aftermarket parts (photo-
etched, white metal,
resin, etc.) should inte-
grate well with the basic
model. Photo-etched
parts that require forming
should be precisely
shaped and any surfaces
that require building up
to a thicker cross-section
should be smooth and
uniform.
Page 3
 Our club has plastic modelers from Northern Colo-
High Plains Modelers rado, mainly from the Fort Collins, Loveland, Long-
mont area. We also have a few members from Wyo-
ming.

Meetings are the last Tuesday of the month We build scale and plastic models of armor, airplanes,
at The Ranch in Loveland. They start at 7pm
vehicles, ships and anything else that we feel like is
and end around 9pm.
worth a try.
Editor: Jeffrey Brown
jgdtiger007@yahoo.com
Check out our meeting schedule and feel free to drop
by our next meeting!

Website Check out the website for club information.

www. ipmshpm.org

Next Meeting January 25th,

2011. 7pm at The Ranch.

Aircraft: Continued
Painting and Finishing
The model's surface, once
painted, should show no
signs of the construction
process (glue, file, or sand-
ing marks; fingerprints; ob-
vious discontinuities be-
tween kit plastic and filler
Aircraft, easiest materials; etc.).
in number of
Finish should be even and
steps, hardest
smooth. If irregularities in
to please the the actual aircraft's finish
judges! are being duplicated, docu-
mentation of such irregulari-
ties is required.
No brush marks, lint, brush
hairs, etc.
No "orange-peel" or
"eggshell" effect; no
"powdering" in areas such as
fillets or wing roots.
No random differences in
sheen of finish caused by
misapplication of final clear
coats.
Paint edges that are sup-
posed to be sharp should be
sharp (no ragged edges
caused by poor masking).
Edges that are supposed to
be soft or feathered should
be in scale and without over-
spray.
Framing on clear parts
should have crisp, uniform
edges.
Weathering, if present,
should show concern for
scale (e.g., size of chipped
areas), be in accordance
with the conditions in which
the real aircraft was operat-
ing, and be consistent
throughout the model (a
factory-fresh interior would
be unlikely on a 100-mission
aircraft).
Decals
Aligned properly. (If the real
aircraft had a markings
anomaly; e.g., an inverted
U.S. insignia, the model
builder should provide docu-
mentation to show that he is
deliberately duplicating
someone else's error, not
inadvertently making one of
his own.)
Some modern aircraft use
decals rather than paint for
standard markings. If the
real aircraft suffers from
problems with decal applica-
tion, such anomalies should
be documented if duplicated
on the model.
Colors
Paint colors, even from the
same manufacturer and
mixed to the same specs, can
vary from batch to batch.
Different operating environ-
ments can change colors in
different ways. All paints
fade from the effects of
weather and sunlight, and
viewing distance alone can
change the look of virtually
any color. Poor initial appli-
cation and subsequent
maintenance compound
these problems. Therefore,
aside from gross inaccura-
cies such as a light green
"Red Arrows" aircraft, color
shades should not be used to
determine a model's accu-
racy or lack thereof. Again,
models with unusual colors
should be supported by con-
firming documentation.