This evenings meeting was a D-Day theme and it appears to be
well received by everyone. I haven’t seen so many great kits in a while.
In attendance tonight were: Mike, Steve F., Steve R., Chris,
Gary, Tony, Dave, Andy and myself.
Some of the kits we saw tonight:
Dave: two 35th dios of German troops. One on motorbike
with side car, and another walking the dog(s).
Mike: 48th Spitfire Vb in a diorama. (this one was
awarded People’s Choice at our last show if I remember correctly). Nicely done
Mike.
Tony: 48th Mustang A
Steve F: 72nd scale Sherman tank on LCM, Sherman
Flail tank, DUKW, and 32nd Hawker Typhoon.
Andy: 48th Me 109 and 48th Mustang
P-51D
Chris: Jagdpanther
Gary: MG 48, 1941 Ford
Joe 48th Mustang III, 35th Sherman
III, and Jagdpanther
Rather than talk about the kits, I will let the pictures
speak for themselves. What was most interesting about the evening was the
conversations that usually go on. A lot about D-Day, a lot about how all the
equipment was used, a lot about modeling/painting/weathering techniques…
All this with a backdrop of D-Day movies playing on the
wall. The room we use at the University for our meetings is set up for audio
visual with projector/screen and speakers, so I took my laptop and showed Band
of Brothers episode 2, and then ran Storming Juno (thanks Steve F for bringing in
the DVD). Imagine the listening to the sounds of battle as we pour over
equipment used that day that we modeled and talk about how the real thing
operated.
Dave had an extra surprise for us that really gave it a
special touch. Through contacts from the Canadian War Museum, Dave managed to
get a hold of some reproduction documentation and maps associated with the
battle to round out the mood. There were German war maps, propaganda leaflets,
copies of orders and flight logs, and
other period papers. REALLY special Dave, thank you for that!
Because we are from Canada, and Steve F. has a passion for
Canadian modeling content, he again regaled us with facts and trivia from the
Canadian participation on D-Day. All his models are representing equipment used
by Canadian Units by the way.
Did you know that Canada had its own beach – Juno
– yeah most people do. But did you know that all aspects of Juno were Canadian,
and of the 24,000 Canadians participating, it included the Royal Canadian Navy
with 110 ships and over 13,000 sailors? Steve represents an RCN landing craft
with one of his pieces.
For more quick facts on Canada on D-Day, check this link.
Thank you gentlemen for a thoroughly enjoyable evening and a
successful theme night.
See you next month..
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Visit our website at http://ipmssj.blogspot.caPictures from tonight
