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Last home cruiser "Kerch" and the submarine B-380As probably someone's diorama plot. Last home Big Anti submarine ship "Kerch" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cruiser_Kerch and the submarine B-380 (previously called "Gorky Komsomolets" and "Holy Prince George") https://ru.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Б-380 (From Wikipedia about B-380: "On December 14, 2019, the decommissioned large floating dock PD-16 sank with the B-380 submarine located in it. In the morning, December 15, 2019, the B-380 submarine surfaced on its own and lay down on its port side, resting its cabin against the floating dock in the South Bay of Sevastopol [10].") in Inkerman Bay: Resource: https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/5850686.html B.R. Serge
Demolition Tank- Tamiya JSU 152 (Journey's End GB)
Vaastav posted a topic in Journey's End GBI got this just after I finished the 222 and Horch (Yes, I belong to the breed of modellers who live from kit to kit) because the neighbors were getting rather pesky with their renovations, so I thought why not get a demolition man tank to set them straight After getting it I thought that I might want to join a GB, but, I hadn't the foggiest idea how to, and so I approached the patron god of Israeli tanks and Shermans John (@Bullbasket) who directed me to the GB page, and there I found the Journey's End GB of which this will be a part. I plan to do it in the Berlin scheme with a white stripe running around it. The box top The sprues Apologies for quality of photos, but my phone's camera is acting up so I had to use my old phone.
Kitty Hawk Su-34 Fullback (KH80141) 1:48Su-34 Fullback (KH80141) 1:48 Kitty Hawk The Sukhoi Su-34, known by the NATO reporting name 'Fullback' is an all-weather strike fighter, designed to replace the ageing Su-24 Fencer in Russian service. Despite being based on an existing design (the Su-27), the type endured an extremely protracted development, punctuated by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Eventually, 200 of the type are expected to enter service, replacing approximately 300 Su-24s. There are many differences between the Su-27 and the Su34, principal amongst which is a completely new nose, which accommodates the crew side-by-side, and gives it a duck-billed look that is hard to capture, plus small canards forward of the main planes, all of which has a reduced front radar signature, due to basic stealth shaping. Since September 2015, Su-34s have been involved in the conflict in Syria, dropping BETAB-500 and OFAB-500 bombs. There has already been interest in the type from overseas customers. Algeria has ordered an initial batch of 12 aircraft, while Vietnam is apparently also interested in the type. The Kit This is a complete new tool from Kitty Hawk, following on from another manufacturer's slightly flawed attempt, so a lot of people are hoping it's right. It arrives in a large box, as it is a big aircraft with 12 hardpoints for attaching munitions, of which KH are apt to include many! The boxtop art shows a Fullback climbing out after causing some chaos with some oil storage tanks, and inside the lid it quite a full box – the artwork header has also been updated from the original to a more modern, funky look to catch the eye, as you can see above. Many of these semi-blended designs are moulded with wings integral to the fuselage halves, which reduces the part count and usually means that half the box is taken up with just two parts. Not so here, as the wings are separate, and all the available space is taken up with parts. The fuselage halves still take up the full length of the box, and there is a high parts count due to the generous provision of Russian weapons. Beside the two fuselage halves there are thirteen sprues in pale grey styrene, a sprue of clear parts, four resin (yes, resin!) exhaust cans, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) parts, and three decal sheets of various sizes. The instruction booklet has a glossy cover with fold-out leaves that detail the box contents in front and painting of the weapons at the rear, while the full colour painting and markings guide is found in the centre of the booklet, which will be more use when removed carefully and the staples bent back so your instruction booklet doesn't fall apart, which is exactly what I've just done. First impressions are good, with a little flash around the large complex fuselage mouldings, which isn't entirely surprising, as they are complex shapes. There are slide-moulding seams behind and forward of the cockpit opening that will need a little attention before construction, and just aft of that a few panel lines have been tooled very faintly so they don't catch on the mould as the part is ejected. These would be best deepened with your favourite scribing tool before you get too far into the build. The inboard walls of the rear engine nacelles also suffer from this to a slightly lesser extent, so while you have your scriber out, fix those too. They're not defects, but necessities of production that have been present since injection moulding model kits began. The massive array of weapons provides spans six sprues, and it's best to consider them as a generic set, as there are some that won't be used and more that the Su-34 can carry. It's cheaper for KH to tool one set of weapons for all Soviet/Russian subjects than individual load-outs again and again. Construction begins with the cockp…. Nope, with the engines for a change, which KH have included for good measure, and to which are fair quantity of parts are devoted, only to be hidden away unless you're planning on opening up some panels, which will of course require some surgery to the upper fuselage, but if you flip it over, you'll see that KH have thoughtfully included two panels above each engine that can be cut out from the inside to provide access to the engines, with rivets engraved on the interior so they can be left lying about as if they are being worked on. Sure, they're a bit thick, but this is a much better option than just hiding the detail away, and if you're interested in scale fidelity, you have a shape template to base your work on. Both Saturn AL31FM1s are included, and they are set aside until later on in the build. Whether you paint them fully is entirely up to you and whether you want to cut those panels out, but I'd probably just do the front and rear faces, as they're all that will be seen eventually. Now it's the turn of the cockpit, and the first item is a pair of well-detailed Zvezda K36dm seats, which have PE seatbelts included, and are an improvement on earlier kits. The cockpit floor has the side consoles moulded in, and slots for the ejection ladders, plus control columns and decals for all panels, which are printed on a small decal sheet that has an almost photographic look to it. The rear bulkhead and access door fit to the back, and the instrument panel to the front to finish off, then this too is set aside while the gear bays and cannon bay are built up. The former are well-detailed with individual panels and additional parts to give a busy look, while the cannon bay is somewhat simpler with only a few parts in addition to the breech. The nose gear bay is more complex, and has the hatch for crew access moulded in, with a ladder built into the nose gear bay later on. This explains why you should never see a Fullback with its cockpit open, unless the crew are about to disappear on their ejection seats. Finally, the fuselage is ready to close up, after the aforementioned fettling and the removal of the residual sprue gates that can be found on the mating surfaces in places, which is an effort to avoid marring surface detail and IMHO is a great idea that is slowly creeping into kits from various manufacturers. The gear bays, two engine supports, the engines themselves and the cockpit are all added to the lower half, with the upper fuselage dropped on and glued along with the canards, which pivot on a pin, so you can set them to whatever pitch seems appropriate after checking your references. The forward facing radar is fitted to the blunt end of the fuselage, and the nose cone is popped over it, covering it up unless you do some scratching and pose it opened. The pilot's HUD is a sizeable part, and has a trough in the cockpit coaming, a PE glass support, and two part glazing, plus a horizontal lens on the clear sprue. A few probes and the refuelling probe are added, although I'd leave those until later on in case I broke them off. The twin vertical stabilisers are next, with a single thickness that is bolstered at the root, and with separate rudder, antennae and clear formation light. These are also set aside (the theme of this build!) while the exhausts and stinger are made up. You may have noticed that the exhaust cans are resin, and you can choose open or closed positions to suit your intended situation, with the tabs at the rear locking it in place on the two-part exhaust trunks. Careful painting whilst paying attention to your references will result in a good finish to this area. The Stinger is the fairing between the engines, and contains the rear radar, as well as various other equipment, and the chaff and flare dispensers that are fired to confuse and thwart incoming missiles. The body of the stinger is two part, with a recess in the top for the PE dispensers, and holes in the rear that accommodate three PE exhaust vents, which will need rolling to fit the contours of the surrounding area. These assemblies are all fitted to the rear along with some more small parts, and the tail fins attach to the sides of the fuselage with two locating pins each. Before the engine nacelles are installed, additional parts are added inside the main wheel bays that will mate with the corresponding cut-outs in the nacelles later on. Each nacelle is built up in the same manner, with a main outer skin, small PE auxiliary intakes on the sides, plus a pair of blow-in doors further back. The intake ramp attaches to the eventual roof of the intake, and a two-part trunk changes the interior profile to match the cylindrical shape of the engine front. A small elliptical insert is added to the outside of each one before they are fitted to the fuselage, along with a few more small parts hither and thither. It still needs wings, which is next and begins with the elevators, which have fairings added at their base, and when they are attached to the fuselage, another part is added, which connects them to a hinge-point in the fuselage rear. The main wings are each two parts, with slats and flaps front and rear respectively, along with a small wing fence toward the tip, and a choice of straight or curved fairing where the leading edge meets the tip rails, which you'll need to check your references to select the correct one for your airframe, as all the decal profiles show curved fairings. They fit into the fuselage on two tabs with a good mating surface, and should blend with the upper surface with a little care and test-fitting. Landing is tricky without wheels, and Russian fighters invariably have tough gear for rough field operation, and twin rear wheels on bogies are the norm. The Fullback has sturdy struts reminiscent of the Mig-31, but with both wheels on the outer face of the bogie. The legs have separate scissor-links and additional actuators, with a pair of two-part wheels each, which have decent hub and tyre detail. There should be some circumferential tread, which is absent due to moulding limitation, but as these aircraft are often seen with threadbare tyres, painting them to resemble well-used examples gets round needing to replicate this. Either that or you could treat yourself to a set of wheels from Eduard that will doubtless fit this newer tooling. The nose gear is also pretty substantial and has a high parts count, which includes a pair of clear landing lights. The crew ladder is in two parts and fits to the rear of the leg, above the mudguard that nestles behind the tyres to reduce FOD intrusion into the airframe on rough airstrip movements. The wheels are each two parts, and again there is no tread, despite it being shown on the diagrams. Happily, each gear leg can be added to a completed airframe, which is good news as it saves them from damage during handling. There are scrap diagrams of each main gear bay showing how things should look once you have installed them and the small surrounding panel at the rear of the bays. The front gear bay doors are single parts, while the rear bay doors all have additions before they can be inserted, with actuators adding a bit of realism. More scrap diagrams show their orientation after they are added, so there's little chance of making a slip-up here. Before you can load up your Fullback, you need pylons, which are all fitted with PE shackles or styrene sway-braces before they are added to the model alongside the wingtip rail. A twin rail fits between the nacelles, and either three underwing pylons, or two and a double are attached to each wing, plus the wingtip pods already mentioned. Additional single rails fit to the underside of the nacelles level with the gear legs. As already mentioned, there is a ton of weapons on those six sprues, with ten pages devoted to building them up. This is what's selected to be carried by the Su-34: 2 x FAB-500-M54 general purpose bomb 2 x BETAB-500 bunker buster 2 x OFAB-250-SZN bomb 2 x SPPU-22 gun pod 2 x U-6 pylon adapter 2 x R77 Missile Adder medium range A2A missile 2 x R73 Archer short range A2A Missile with APU-73 adapter 2 x UBK-23 gun pod 2 x GUV-8700 gun pod 2 x R27-ET/R27-ER Alamo medium range missiles with APU-470 pylon adapter 2 x R27-T Alamo medium range missiles with APU-470 pylon adapter 4 x R60 Aphid short-range A2A missile with three types of pylon adapters 2 x U-4 adapter rail 2 x UB-32 rocket pod 2 x KH-35 Kayak anti-shipping missile 2 x S-24 rocket with APU-68 pylon adapter 2 x KH-23 Kerry A2G missile with APU-68 pylon adapter 2 x KH-59 Kazoo TV guided missile 2 x KAB-250 satellite guided bomb 4 x FAB-250-M62 bomb 4 x FAB-250-TS bomb (there's a spelling mistake showing it as "F2B" on the instructions) 4 x FAB-250-M54 bomb 2 x BETAB-500-ZD penetrator bomb 4 x SAB-100 high explosive bomb 2 x S-25-A, B & C rocket 2 x RBK-500-250 cluster bomb 2 x B-8M rocket pod 2 x B-13 rocket pod 2 x KH-25-ML/MT Karen A2G Missile 2 x KH-29L Kedge laser guided A2G missile 2 x KAB-500KR TV guided bomb 2 x KAB-500L laser guided bomb 2 x KAB-1500-L/KR laser/TV guided bomb 2 x UB-16 rocket pod 2 x KH-31 A2G missile 2 x KH-58ME Kilter missile 2 x KH-58 Kilter missile with AKU-58 pylon adapter There are two pages of diagrams showing which stations the various weapons are suitable for, but if you're going for accuracy, check your references for some real-world loadouts, as with all aircraft there are limitations. The parts on the sprues are also marked by designation, with all the parts for each weapon sub-numbered within that section of the sprue. Markings The largest decal sheet is for the armament, with each weapon's stencils and markings sectioned off with a dotted line and the designation, which will make applying them a much easier proposition. Four pages of colour diagrams at the rear of the booklet show their colours and markings. Once you have unpicked the main painting guide from the centre of the booklet, you can rotate them so they're easier on the eye, where you'll discover that there are four markings options, each with four views so that there is no guesswork with the camouflaged options. Everything is a good size too, which makes reading the decal numbers and other details a lot easier than some of their first kits, proving that KH have come a long way in all departments. There is a variety of schemes available out of the box, two of which use the three shades of blue camo, one in primer, and another in dark blue over blue, and all rocking a fetching white radome. There are also large expanses of bare metal where paint wouldn't last, on the underside of the engine nacelles, and the leading edges of the elevators (hot missile exhaust?). From the box you can build one of the following rather generically described airframes: Russian Aerospace Defence Forces Red 02 in three-tone blue camo Russian Aerospace Defence Forces Red 03 in three-tone blue camo Russian Aerospace Defence Forces in primer Russian Aerospace Defence Forces in dark blue over pale blue It is unclear where and by whom the decals were printed by, but in general they are of good quality with decent sharpness and colour density except for the use of half-tones to create orange and the dielectric panel decals. On my sample, the dielectric panels also expose an element of mis-registration of the white, which is offset, giving the panels a drop-shadow effect on the sheet, which will probably disappear once applied. I would however be tempted to paint them and create some masks using the decals as templates. The white also shows up in the outlined digits as well as the tail decal BBC POCCИИ having the entire white outline projecting from the top, rather than equally spaced around the letters. Conclusion The plastic looks great, and as Kitty Hawk has stated that they want their Su-34 to be the best on the market in the scale, it shows that they have put additional effort into this model. The huge choice of weapons are also highly detailed, which are likely to be seen again as KH fill more gaps in the Soviet/Russian line-up, and we can forgive them for the little faux pas with the decals, which can be rectified fairly easily – hopefully it's an isolated case. As to shape, I've put some of the main parts together with tape to get a feeling for the overall shape of the airframe, and my first impression is that it's a good overall shape, with maybe a little more of a flare to the tip of the radome needed at the front, but it's very hard to gauge against photos of the airframe due to distortion and such, so I'll leave the final decision to you guys. If you want to discuss it further, start a thread in the main forums and link back to this thread Very highly recommended. We're now building this one, and you can find the thread here, with plenty of hints and tips, as well as pictures of the process Review sample courtesy of Available soon from major hobby shops
Hello everybody, as I'm quite new here I decided to finally contribute something meaningful and treat you all with a build of mine. Since I'm working from home at the moment I figured this to be the perfect time to start one of my long-term projects, a Sukhoi Su-17 (Fitter-C) in 1/48. The Real thing The Su-17 started life as a project at Sukhoi to improve the low-speed and take-off/landing performance of the basic Su-7 design. Liftjets proved to be a not feasible as they were dead weight most of the time and occupied much needed space in the airframe. Variable-geometry wings on the other hand seemed to offer a perfect solution to this problem. The outer part of the Su-7 wing was redesigned to be moveable and a demonstrator, based on the Su-7BM, was built and proved successful during tests. The first Su-17 variant (Nato Code: Fitter-C) that went into production was basically an Su-7BKL with Variable-geometry wings, a dorsal spine holding additional avionics, a clamshell canopy instead of a sliding one and a hydraulic drive system for the moveable wings. Still, the performance left something to be desired compared to the Su-7. While low-speed and take-off/landing performance improved markedly, range and payload did not. This was largely because the Su-17 retained the old AL-7F engine while overall weight increased. Only with the introduction of a new engine, the AL-21F, all performance data finally improved significantly. This variant went into production as the Su-17M ("M" for "modernized"). The References The subject of my build will be "Red 16", a Su-17 assigned to the 217th Fighter-Bomber Air regiment based at Kyzyl-Arvat (todays Serdar, Turkmenistan), patrolling the Iranian border in the early 80s. They received second-hand Fitters in 1979 to replace their old MiG-21PFMs used as fighter-bombers until then. Inspiration came from these articles from the site "easternorbat.com" (fantastic site for all Soviet aviation aficionados): http://www.easternorbat.com/html/217th_reg_su-17_bb_eng.html http://www.easternorbat.com/html/217th_regiment_80s_eng.html I have a soft spot for Soviet equipment stationed at the remote parts of the Soviet Union and in recent years, many photographs from private collections emerged, showing daily life on some of these remote spots at the edge of the red empire. Often these places lacked even basic commodities like running water: https://ok.ru/kizylarvat/album/51975801143379?st._aid=Groups_Photo_Album_List_openAlbum Then I've collected some walkarounds for detailing the kit: https://www.scalenews.de/suchoi-su-7-fitter-walkaround-46/ http://walkarounds.scalemodels.ru/v/walkarounds/avia/after_1950/su-17_omsk/ https://www.scalenews.de/ngg_tag/suchoi-su-17-walkaround-39/ http://litnik.in.ua/walkaround/reaktivnye-samolety/walkaround-su-17m-ot-peps-chast-2 The Kits Till now, there are no kits available in 1/48 to build the earlier marks of the Su-17. Therefore, the only possibility to portray one of these variants is to combine several existing kits. In this case it will be: The Kopro Su-7, which will be used mainly for its fuselage: The Hobby Boss Su-17, which will provide its wings, landing gear, weapons and various detail parts: Of course, some aftermarket help is thrown into the mix too, namely: Eduard Brassin Su-7 ejection seat Eduard photoetch Su-7 cockpit Quickboost Su-7 air Master Su-7 pitot and gun barrels Wolfpack Su-7 exhaust Reskit Su-17 wheels Master Su-17 pitot and gun barrels Although quite a complete package, some scratch building will be required too. Thanks for reading and hope to see you along my journey! Cheers Markus
I'm going to build a Soviet Mi-8 helicopter, as one during the 80s. But I'm not sure what correct shade of green it be in. I'm hoping to make it like how they were used at Chernobyl. If anyone can give me so correct colours that would be great!
Eduard 1/144 MiG-15
Tim Reynaga posted a topic in Work in Progress - AircraftEduard's MiG-15 is a "Dual Combo" kit with two kits in the box and markings for no less than six aircraft. The upper half of the airframe comes with the wings already attached complete with the slight anhedral characteristic of the MiG-15. Surface detail is dead sharp and amazingly delicate. The cockpit comes molded as a single tiny piece with a seat, consoles, panel and stick. Nice! The first step was to attach cockpit to the air intake splitter. There isn't much room for ballast to keep the MiGs from being tail-sitters, so I cut a lead fishing weight into tiny bits to pack as much into the available space as possible. I hope it will be enough! Next came painting the MiG-15s' plain gray cockpits. A highlight here is the Eduard instrument decals. The unbelievably tiny yet perfectly sharp dial detail is absolutely phenomenal! The panel even includes the vertical white line down the center used to aid MiG pilots in spin recovery maneuvers. The only changes I made to the kit cockpits were simple replacement wire control columns and seatbelts made from strips of Tamiya tape. It is almost a shame to install them into the fuselages which obscure much of the minute detail. Almost none of it will be discernable once the canopies are in place – but at least I'll know it is there!
Zvezda Su-2 1/48
Harold55 posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - AircraftThis is my first completed model for 2020. I am trying to work on getting better photos but need to keep working on it. This is Zvezda's great kit of the Su-2. Fit as well as surface detail is fantastic. I used Eduard's mask as this involves quite a bit of glass. The only drawback is the decals are on the translucent side but other than that is was a great kit to build. People have wrote in reviews that the cockpit is a bit sparse but I think this is because they might have had some armor plate in there so you don't see the usual ribbing on the cockpit walls. Highly recommended
MiniArt M4 Quad Maxim AA Machine Gun (35211) 1:35M4 Quad Maxim AA Machine Gun (35211) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Maxim machine gun was developed during WWI into a capable weapon, and was used by a number of nations, sometimes on opposite sides of no-man's land with different names. By WWII it had been replaced to an extent by other more modern designs, but it still saw some use, often in Russian service as an Anti-Aircraft gun. One such use was a quad mount that were seen in use on trains, mounted to open wagons to defend against incoming air attacks. Mounted on a conical base that was fixed to its intended carrier, it was able to pivot and elevate as one, with the cooling jackets linked to one reservoir for ease, and the guns controlled by one trigger while the operator leaned into a pair of braces that allowed quick repositioning to track an enemy. The Kit This kit from MiniArt is intended to be used with your own choice of mount, be it a railway wagon, a truck or even a horse-drawn carriage with pictures existing that back up that unusual option. It arrives in a figure-sized box with painting guide on the rear along with a suggestion for a possible mount. Inside are ten sprues in grey styrene, plus a fret of Photo-Etched (PE) brass in a protective card envelope. A small instruction sheet is also included to guide you through the complicated build process. Construction begins with the base, with a three-arm mount at the very bottom, and bracing struts helping reduce flex. The height adjustment wheel and locking mechanism are mounted, the latter being higher up near the pivot. The four ammo cans are all made up identically with a grab handle and feeder chute with PE guide at the bottom. They are linked together by a box-shaped bracket with PE stiffeners running across all four, then the gun frame is made up in preparation for the weapons. These are each made up identically from a main breech and barrel/cooling jacket part, to which mounting hardware are added, in order to correctly mount is on the frame, then link the cooling jacket hoses into the frame and add the lead-adjustment wheel that moves the ring-sight from side-to-side according to the operator's estimate of the speed of flight of the bullets and movement of their target. The operator's yoke is added, flip-off muzzle caps are installed on PE chains dangling from the barrel, then the magazines are offered up from underneath with a few small parts added to finish off, including the important ammo belts. In addition, there are 15 spare magazine boxes to clutter up your mounting area. Markings There are none, but the mount, ammo cans, framework and cooling jackets were painted Russian Green, while the breeches were a dark metallic colour that I think we should call Gun Metal. Conclusion It's a cool looking item to put in the back of a truck or wagon, but that horse-drawn option would be a bit unusual to depict, but you'd best release the horses before setting it up to fire. Highly recommended. They're currently on discount at Creative as I type this, so hurry up! Review sample courtesy of
T-55 STGB Chat
Shermaniac posted a topic in T-55 STGBSimple enough Guy's The Soviet/Warsaw-Pact T-55 chassis The model may represent any vehicle in service with any Nation/Army from it's inception to the present day Criteria: The model, as a basis for a Tank and associated vehicles (Recovery, enhanced Trucks, Emergency Vehicles) The model built must be based on a 'REAL' vehicle and not a paper project (unless that project reached a working prototype trials vehicle stage) If any offering is in-doubt, the builder should provide evidence of its existence The Host/co-Host decision is final Exclusions: Sci-fi variants (as used in Film or TV) What-if's including Fantasy, Post Apocolyptic, Steam-Punk etc Paper projects which did not reach working prototype stage Voting: Will initially be in a single block however, If sufficient entries present themselves to the Gallery, seperation may occur by either: Scale, Era, Soviet vs Other, Geography or similar arrangement - all to be determined after the closing date but prior to voting Sign Up Takers: 1) Shermaniac (Host) 2) Smuts (co-Host) 3) AaCee26 4) vppelt68 5) corsairfoxfouruncle 6) Antoine 7) Ozzy 8 ) Modeling Minion 9) Arniec 10) Bull Basket 11) Plasto 12) sgt squarehead 13) snapper city 14) plastix 15) Robert Stuart 16) Etienne 17) Patman 18) Agent G 19) Das Abteilung 20) Sleeper Service 21) Sabre_days 22) SimonT 23) Jabba 24) Hewy 25) Yetifan So... @Enzo Matrix, is this enough to make this happen? V-P
Zvezda 1/35 Soviet 4.5 ton truck (ZiS 151)
Vaastav posted a topic in Work in Progress - ArmourI recently got a Zvezda 1/35 Soviet 4.5 truck. It is my first truck build, so please help
1/72 Zil 131
OlegTheMeerkat posted a topic in Cold WarHi all, I'm starting a Zil 131 soon and I'm just going through what paints I'll need for it. It says I'll need xf 5 for the green, does anyone know if this is the correct colour for Soviet military vehicles? I'm looking at doing a Zil 131 from the 1980s, would the green be different back then. I'm planning on spraying it. Either tamiya and humbrol paints will be perfect for me if anyone can help me out.
MiniArt KMT-9 Mine-Roller (37040) 1:35KMT-9 Mine-Roller (37040) 1:35 MiniArt Mines are a problem for AFVs, softskins and foot soldiers alike, and there are different types used for different circumstances. Mines intended to disable tanks generally have larger charges to penetrate the thinner underside armour and tear off tracks and drive wheels, with a higher pressure required to trigger them. The resulting bang can cripple or destroy a tank, leaving crew killed or injured, a valuable tank out of action and sometimes blocking the way. Most Soviet and Russian tanks are fitted with attachment points for mine-rollers that can be fitted as needed and clear a path for the tank's tracks to allow them to proceed. Other tanks without a mine-roller must follow in their tracks exactly or risk detonating mines that are outside the cleared paths. It's not an ideal solution, more of an expedient one that probably requires a more complete cleaning later when the enemy aren't shooting at them. The KMT series of ploughs/plows have been in service since the 60s and were used with all Main Battle Tanks with newer vehicles using the improved KMT-7 and KMT-9. It operates by breaking the ground down with tough, sectioned rollers of substantial weight to simulate the footprint of an AFV, ploughing up the ground and detonating any mines it finds. Its rugged construction means that it can survive explosions, although they do take their toll on the hardware eventually. The Kit We'll be seeing the plastic from this box in a number of kits, the new BMR-1 with plough being one of them, which will be reviewed shortly by my colleague. It arrives in a shrink-wrapped top-opening box and inside are nine sprues in grey styrene, a small Photo-Etch (PE) sheet in a card envelope, and the instructions printed in greyscale. Construction begins with the rollers with two-part centres to which all the individual plates are fixed with equal spacing. The short axle threads through the centre and is supported by a three-piece yoke that is extended by another two parts that are in turn fixed to a central axle with one roller on each side, making a total of four sections, each free-wheeling. The end caps allow the rear axle to rotate freely if you don't glue them up, and then you start again on the other roller. Each roller assembly has a set of suspension arms added to each side and a cross-brace that links the suspension together. They are put to one side while the main chassis frame is made up, adorned with hydraulic rams that make up a large, heavy assembly with seriously thick parts depicting the sturdy design. Cleats are included to fit the plough to a BMR-1, consisting of a number of parts for the lower glacis plate and two main attachment pads for the upper glacis. Brackets are fitted to the lower plates and the frame is hinged from those with strong cables attached to the upper plates and linked to the frame to support it further. The two roller assemblies are suspended from the arms facing back toward the vehicle with the long rods sticking up in pairs. Conclusion The roller would look fine sitting in a yard, or alternatively attached to near to anything from a T-55 to a T-90 in the tank department, or a BMR-1/2 or BTS-4 in their roles, which often takes them into harm's way. It's a very well detailed kit, and put together well with a sympathetic and probably battered paint job it would add plenty of interest to any suitable model. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
ICM Afghan Motorcade (1979-1989) - 1:72Afghan Motorcade (1979-1989) 1:72 ICM The Soviet-Afghan War was a conflict fought over a nine-year period from December 1979 to February 1989. The origins of the conflict were rooted in a coup in which the Afghan Communist Party seized power and, supported by the USSR, began a series of deeply unpopular modernisation reforms. They were opposed, and eventually defeated, by a coalition of insurgents known as the mujahideen, supported by the CIA through Operation Cyclone. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but the mujahideen prevailed and the Soviet forces withdrew. The defeat was an important component in the fall of the Soviet Union, creating a division between the military and the Communist Party and sowing the seeds of religious fundamentalism in South-Central Asia. Geo-politics aside, the conflict presents an opportunity to build models of some serious cool Soviet hardware. This new set from ICM includes four vehicles. Three are based on the Ural-375 platform, which was the standard Soviet truck during the conflict in Afghanistan, while the fourth is a BTR-60 armoured car. All of the kits have been released by ICM before, although I believe the Trucks are based on moulds originally designed by Omega-K in the 1990s. The BTR-60 is an original ICM model from the mid-2000s. The kits are packaged into a relatively compact box which is fairly packed with plastic, although a number of sprues are repeated due to three of the vehicles being based on the same basic chassis. Ural-375D Truck, -375A Command Vehicle and -375 ATZ-5 Fuel Bowser The Ural-375 vehicles all share the same chassis, cab and wheels, albeit with some minor differences. The ladder chassis includes plenty of detail, with parts for the drive shafts, differentials, solid axles, leaf springs and exhausts. The tyres are moulded from hard black plastic rather than the vinyl-like material often used in these types of kits. Wheels are split down the middle, so there will be an awful lot of clean up and careful painting involved in getting all of them ready for all three trucks. Turning to the upper parts of the trucks, each can is slide moulded and has clear plastic windows, which I find easier to work with than plastic sheet. The interiors are decent, with seats, a dashboard and a steering wheel. The -375D truck includes a basic wooden load area, as well as a spare wheel. The sides of the load area are nicely moulded, although it would have been nice to have something to put in there. There are plenty of aftermarket items to make up for that, though. The -375A command truck includes the command compartment, an aerial and other details, as well as another spare wheel. There is no interior detail and the doors cannot be opened. The fuel bowser, which could also be used for an aircraft diorama, has a fuel storage tank which is split vertically and some nice touches such as a separately moulded aperture on the top. BTR-60PB The BTP-60 is a monocoque design, so the suspension units and wheels fit directly onto the lower part of the hull. That's not to say there aren't some nice details though, particularly the propellor for amphibious use. The crew area is nicely detailed too, with even the fighting compartment having some basic interior detail. Overall you can tell that this is a slightly more modern tooling when compared to the trucks. Most of the hatches are moulded separately, which improves the diorama potential immeasurably. Even the grab handles and pioneer tools are moulded as separate parts which is really impressive for the scale. The colour schemes referred to in the instructions are all pretty basic/standard schemes for the subject and period. The small decal sheet is fairly generic and includes markings that are not appropriate for this boxing, such as UN and DDR. Conclusion While none of the kits included are going to set the world on fire on their own, the opportunity to acquire all four as part of a set like this certainly boosts their appeal. That's not to say they are bad kits - far from it - but with a street price of less than twenty smackaroonies they are much more appealing than they would otherwise be. Stick them alongside a Su-25 or a Mil-24 and you'll definitely have a winning combination. Review sample courtesy of
Best MiG-19 Farmer in 1/72nd ScaleWhat is the best MiG-19 kit in 1/72nd scale? I know of the old Heller and KP kits, and Mastercraft do one. Are there any others? I'm specifically looking for the cannon-armed version, as opposed to the missiles-only version. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Best Regards, Jason P.S. This is an aeroplane that cries out for a new-mould kit. Airfix? Zvezda? Anyone?
German & Russian Tank Models 1939-45 (9781612007359) Casemate Publishers UK The 2nd World War in Eastern Europe, known as the Great Patriotic War by the Soviets, was total war, with no quarter asked or given, resulting in massive destruction of men, machinery, innocent civilians and the land through which operation Barbarosa was prosecuted. The Russians burned anything that would be of use to the advancing Germans, and the Germans did the same as they were forced back by the then-fully mobilised Soviet war machine. A broad range of equipment was used by both sides, from light tanks to heavy tank destroyers, as well as the ubiquitous T-34 that was produced in huge numbers to counter the complex German tanks that were used to great effect during the initial advances. The Book This is a techniques book that takes a selection of subjects from this campaign and also touches upon North Africa's Afrika Korps (DAK), showing the modeller step-by-step how to achieve realistic and artistic effects that you can try on your next model, whether it's from the Eastern Front or not. Written and modelled by Mario Eens, the book is bound in a hard back cover, which is handy if you're going to be flicking back and forth and leaving it open as reference. Inside are 128 pages plus two blank sheets printed in colour on glossy stock, with an easy to read layout and photographs of the modelling techniques printed at such a size that leave the details easy to see, rather than lots of postage-stamp sized photos that are hard on the eyes (we're none of us getting any younger). There are five subjects within the book, as follows: Panzer I Ausf.A North Africa, 1941 A light tank that was almost obsolete by the time the war was underway, depicted in a worn dark yellow scheme with the original Panzer grey showing through. T-34/76 "chTZ" Russia, Summer 1943 In Russian green with a light coating of dust from the dried out countryside, hay adhering to the stowage from a close encounter with a haystack, and a cheerful crew member grinning at the viewer. Pz.Kpfw.VIII Maus, Germany 1946 An alternate history monster that almost reached service in the final days of WWII, wearing a striking green splinter camo over a dark yellow base. Su-152 Eastern Front, Winter 1943 A 152mm self-propelled howitzer in Russian green with the remnants of a winter white distemper coat clinging to the front and sides. Russian Infantry, Berlin April 1945 A typical member of the army, posing in his padded coat on some steps in front of a discarded cable reel, with a captured Panzerfaust over his shoulder. Each subject has a section of the book devoted to it, and it's not just a slavish out-of-the-box build, but includes plenty of additions and alterations to make the finished result better. This includes some handy hints and tips, as well as suggestions for methods that will improve your own models if you apply them judiciously to your builds. They are broken down further into subsections as if we are watching the build "live", showing various construction and painting phases, with the latter including more tips for effects such as chipping, streaks, and rust effects. It's clear that Mario is a master modeller, and at the top of his game so the end results are all fabulous, and give us all a standard to aim for. Add a couple of his tricks to each subsequent build, and you'll be surprised how soon it will become second nature to you. You will notice that he models each sub-assembly such as exhausts and pioneer tools as a model in and of itself, which helps to further improve the detail, although it takes more time than just lashing a bit of brown paint on the handles of the tools. As well as the gurning tanker that's popping out of the T-34, there is also a little diorama of the Russian solider at the end of the book, which gives the modeller a quick introduction to quality figure painting, often a weak-point of many of us, as well as the construction of the base with its tangle of twisted metal, rubble and the cable reel, which is another area that I personally struggle with. Conclusion A great how-to book that is bound to give you some inspiration as well as technical knowledge that will assist most modellers in achieving better results. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
1/48 He-162 Salamander Red Star
paulsbrown posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - AircraftA bit of fun since I have a surplus of red stars.
Yak-3 1\48 Zvezda
Michael-S posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - AircraftHello Folks. I Want introduce my new model and first completed model this year. This model was built under the impression from book about Roland De la Poype the French pilot & the hero of the Soviet Union . Best regards. Michael.
Italeri T-34/85 Zavod 183 Mod.44 (6545) 1:35T-34/85 Zavod 183 Mod.44 (6545) 1:35 Italeri The T-34 gave the German invaders something of a shock when they first encountered it during operation Barbarossa, their attempt at conquering the Soviet Union, and they were instrumental in reversing the tide through both their impressive performance and weight of numbers, due to their simple construction and the overwhelming industrial capability of the Russians. Even when the Germans were knocking on the gates of Moscow and Stalingrad, production was shifted lock-stock-and-barrel further east with barely a flicker, and in Stalingrad there are stories of fresh tanks rolling off the production lines and almost straight into combat. The simple design used tried and tested technology, together with innovative sloped armour that increased its effective thickness when hit in the horizontal plane. It was initially fitted with a powerful 76mm gun, but when this proved less able to penetrate the frontal armour of the Tiger, it was upgraded in 1943 with a bigger ZiS 85mm gun, which was equipped with a larger three-man turret that reduced the combat load on the crew, enabling the commander to concentrate more on the task in hand. It's diesel power plant gave it a good speed over most terrains, and as production ramped up there were over 1,000 produced each month, plenty to replace losses and more besides. The 1944 mod introduced a simplified new gun, improved crew layout, better sight and the radio moved into the turret to take advantage of increased space. The Kit This is a complete new tooling from Italeri, and shouldn't be confused with older toolings and collaborations, as it's a different animal. It arrives in a standard box with a fetching painting of the subject matter ploughing past ruined German armour, and inside are four sprues in dark green styrene, one in grey styrene, two lengths of insulated cable, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, two rubbery tracks, decals sheet and the instruction booklet. The tooling is well-detailed, and as well as the rubber tracks there is also a full set of link-and-length styrene tracks, which should please almost everyone. What will also please many is the inclusion of a complete interior, even down to the engine compartment, the parts for which are on the grey sprue, so may have been a later addition. Construction begins with the lower hull, which has slots for the suspension, and circular holes for the drive sprockets, which are glued together from two halves, and fitted to a cone-shaped moulding with a cap inside to allow you to leave the idler movable. The suspension units are added to the inside of the hull with springs in diagonal housings, comprising two sections on each side, leaving enough room for the engine, which is next. You don't get a full engine, but the detail is plenty for the installation. The firewall has the engine top slotted into the back, and the aft of the engine with big fan is attached to the aft end of the top panel. The exhausts and large fan are glued in place, and the assembly is dropped into the hull, locating on tabs in the floor. The final drive housing is built up and dropped in behind the engine, and a set of ammo boxes double as a turret floor in the centre of the hull, with the driver's controls fitted at the front with some rather arm-chair style seats for driver and bow gunner. A scrap diagrams shows the correct position for the tools, controls and air bottles, after which the suspension and wheel set are glued in place, with nice detail on the wheels and their treaded rubber wheels, which are moulded-in. They fit onto swing-arms with stub axles in pairs that fix into two holes each in the sides of the hull to ensure the correct angle. The idler wheels are also added at this stage with their axle, two-part sprocket and hub cap holding it in place, and allowing it to rotate too if you're sparing with the glue. The final drive cover fits from underneath, with a note telling you to install parts 38A after adding the towing cable later, and then you can choose which style of tracks you'll be using. The rubber-band tracks are the simple option, and are moulded in a gun metal plastic that can be glued using super glue (CA). You can even forego painting them if you hate that sort of thing. The more complex option is to use the included link and length tracks, which have more detail, and will leave you with the correct faceted appearance where the tracks wrap around the ends of the runs. The top sections are each moulded as one piece, the bottom sections in two parts, while the curved sections are individual links, which are each made from two plates. More care will be needed for this option, but the results will be improved, and even more so with careful painting and weathering. The upper hull needs 11 small holes drilling out before you begin its assembly, mainly for the later mounting of fuel tanks, so get those out of the way before things get busy, or you might regret it. The louvers for the engine deck are inserted from the inside, and the hull is then turned over and detailed from the topside, with a central engine hatch and a big radiator box on top of the aft louvers, which has a two layer PE grille glued over its aperture after gently bending it to fit the curve of the box. Another two boxes with louvered parts are added to the sides of the engine deck, and a little tool box gets added to the starboard fender at the rear, then spare track links are assembled and lashed down with PE straps, with an additional length pinned across the glacis plate. The glacis plate also has the ball machine gun mounted and the large driver's hatch, which can be fitted open or closed and must have been a bullet-magnet when open. This is then fitted to the hull over the inner front panel, the turret insert is added, and three fuel drums are fixed to the hull sides along with some pioneer tools, more stowage, lights and shackles glued in place, with an overhead diagram showing their correct location. The two hull halves are married up, the front fenders added, and yet more barrels, this time smoke dischargers are added to the rear bulkhead skin, which is a separate part. The armoured exhausts are assembled and fitted to the apertures on the skin, and a central access hatch can be modelled open or closed. The whole rear bulkhead can be posed open on its hinge-points, and a PE lip is included on the brass sheet to give this a more realistic look. The exhaust pipe tips sleeve onto the main exhaust during the closing process, although the break-point looks slightly different from the pictures I have seen, so if you want to add a little more realism, drill out the ends of the pieces and add a collar near the end of the fixed part of the exhaust that comes out of the mufflers. The tip that is visible outside the tank already has a hollow end, which is nice. As yet the tank is turret-free, so the next steps rectify this with a full breech, ready rack holding 12 rounds, sighting equipment with gunner's stool attached, and the relocated radio gear, as well as a couple of periscopes in the roof. The commander's hatch has a periscope built into the front half, and can be posed open by gluing them into the ring in an appropriate position, then mating them with the cupola ring. This and the gunner's hatch are fitted to the top of the turret along with a couple of mushroom vents, various tie-downs and rails, while the mantlet with cover, two part styrene gun barrel and cheek armour are added during the mating of the top and bottom sections. These cast turrets weren't put together with extreme care, and the joints are sometimes horribly rough, so check your references and decide what they look like in the flesh. The turret has a nice sand-cast texture moulded-in, as does the mantlet, rear bulkhead and final drive panel. The barrel is split horizontally, so there's a seam to fix there, and once that's in place, the turret fits to the hull, locking with a bayonet fitting. The last job is to create the towing cables from the two insulated wires that are included in the box. You cut them to length, twist the strands as you slide off the insulation, then glue the styrene towing eyes to each end, draping them over the fenders and attaching them on the shackles as indicated. Markings There are four decal options from the box, all of which are painted Russian/Soviet Green, and one is over-painted with white winter distemper camouflage. Each tank has unit markings, as well as some additional markings and emblems. From the box you can build one of the following: 9th Guards Tank Corp, 2nd Guards Tank Army – Berlin, Apr 1945 64th Guards Tank Brigade, 1st Guards Tank Army – Pomerania, Feb 1945 44th Guards Tank Brigade – Yugoslavia, Spring 1945 2nd Motorcycle Tank Battalion, 1st Tank Corp, 2nd Polish Army – Jul 1945 The decals are printed by Zanchetti in Italy for Italeri, and have good sharpness and colour density. They are all either black or white, so there's no issues with registration either, as there isn't any! Colours are called out in Italeri acrylic paint codes, as well as FS numbers, which should be a help if you use another brand. Conclusion It's nice to see Italeri moving with the times, including PE and metal towing cables with their kits, and options to please modellers with different needs, such as the two track options here, and with this being a popular subject it should sell well, particularly with their wide distribution network. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
I have always thought the three T-34 precursors (A-20, armed with 45mm cannon, 4 main wheels in the tracks instead of 5, and BT-7 tracks, A-32, armed with short barrel L-10 76mm cannon, 400mm thick tracks, and 5 wheels for each side tracks, and A-34, which had 550mm wide tracks, a longer L-11 76mm gun, and 5 wheeled tracks. The A-34's only difference to the T-34 Model 1940 was that it had a huge headlight on top of the barrel, and 37mm frontal armour plating instead of 45mm). I have decided to replicate the A-32. The first step was finding the 1/100 T-34 model 1940 in my "stash". (Which is really only 15 kits - I'm only 15 myself, but I'm sure some people on here will envy the tiny stash of mine ) After I found out I had already started it, and had attempted to remove the paint with sandpaper at some point, unsuccessfully, I finally came to terms that the model will have a slightly thicker coat of paint than I would like. The second thing I added were some neodymium magnets to the hull of the tank and inside the turret, so I can move the turret instead of gluing it in place. The third thing I did was take some sprue cutters and cut the L-11 gun to the size of a L-10. I eyeballed this. The A-32 also had these little pieces of metal in the middle of the turret that poked out. I'm guess this was where they welded the two sides of the turret and added a small piece of metal on the welded edges to strengthen the bond. This was not on any of the T-34's, they were all single piece turrets if I recall correctly. To make these, I took a piece of cardboard and cut the corrugation off and then cut each one to about 3mm in width, and superglued it to the appropriate place. The A-32 also had two periscope instead of one as the T-34 had, the second periscope was in the rear of the turret, the first in the front. I simply cut a piece of wire and glued it in place with pliers. The A-32 had one large headlight above a coaxial machine gun. Since the zvezda kit does not model the machine gun, I took a dremel and drilled a hole and stuck a small thin piece of stretched sprue to replicate a MG. For the headlight, I found a searchlight that was from a 1/350 scale resin subchaser, it was the perfect size and looked like the A-32's headlight. The tracks on the A-32 were 400mm thick instead of 550mm as on the T-34, but I found Zvezda's kit tracks were too thin anyways, so no change was done there. Anyways this is my progress to create a diverse tiny scale 1/100 Soviet arsenal. Enjoy so far! RJ
This is the Airfix 1/48 P-40 finished in a Soviet scheme courtesy Xtradecals sheet X48162. I used a spare reheat seat & seat belts but otherwise OOB. Can't say I'm uber chuffed with it as I found the kit over engineered in some places & my attempts to wrestle the cowling area into submission show some scars. It won't be in the front of the display cabinet but here it is anyway, with its imperfections. Comments, criticisms & observations welcome as always. Pete Thanks for looking.
Hi Guys, I will be building the Scud B missile on the 2P19 tracked launcher from Trumpeter. It will be build out of the box. Here are some pictures of the box and content. There will be loads of parts to glue. There will be around 750 parts on it. It also has some etch parts and some die cut masks for the windows. the box top The content This is a leaflet with it of what is possible. and the two decal options. I think both are from a parade?! Now we need to wait till Saturday for the start. Cheers,
Eduard FAB-500 M54 Bombs (648424) 1:48
Mike posted a topic in Aftermarket (updates/conversions)FAB-500 M54 Bombs (648424) 1:48 Eduard Brassin Russian iron bombs, dumb bombs of free-fall bombs. They have a lot of names, and come in a variety of sizes from 100kg all the way up to 9000kg. This one is a 500kg M54 unit (designed in 1954), which is surprisingly still in service alongside the M62, but can be differentiated by the more complex fin arrangement with four larger and four narrower fins at the rear, the larger ones overlapping the stabilising ring. As usual with Eduard's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar Brassin clamshell box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves, doubling as the header card. Inside the clamshell are two bomb bodies, two fin units and a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, with stencils on a sheet of decal paper. Once cut from their casting blocks, the two parts are lined up and glued together with super-glue (CA), with the fins connecting to corresponding grooves in the rear of the body. The cut rear end of the bomb body is finished off with one of the small circles of PE, with a raised section and a hole in the centre. Painting is shown on the guide diagram, and it's a dull grey (H/C308 in Gunze shades), with just the one stencil on the side (with a spare, in case you can't see on the pic). There's plenty of options for weathering, as bombs are often moved more times than they are dropped, so scratches, rust and missing paint, as well as fading is often seen. These types have been seen many times on multiple ejection rack pylons on Tu-22s, forcing them to remain subsonic unless they are carrying the newer M62 units that have no ballistic ring on the nose and are designed to cope with the forces associated with externally carried munitions on a modern fighter. Review sample courtesy of
1/72 Joseph Stalin-7 (IS-7) Trumpeter
CzarPeppers posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - ArmourWhile waiting for some scratch building materials for my Mig-3 project I decided to do this Trumpeter IS-7 kit I had laying around, because I find Trumpeter 1/72 kits are always a pleasure to work on. I did a few modifications for added detail, but overall the kit had the nice detail that I have come to expect from these 1/72 Trumpeter kits. The last one I did was an STRV-103 from Trumpeter that I loved building, so I was hoping this would be another reasonably priced gem. Although it was missing a few details that were present on the model shown on the package, it was pretty much just as good. Hope you enjoy. For those who are curious it was primed with black Stynylrez primer (same as Mig One Shot) with some pre-shading done with light grey. Colours used were XF-13 then XF-67 NATO green for some modulation, Vallejo Metal Color steel was used for the tracks with Vallejo 70.862 grey black used for the tires. I also used the grey black for the machine gun barrels after which I dry brushed them with Mr. Metal Color iron once the final flat clear was applied. My gloss coats for decals and weathering was Future (or Pledge whatever it is now) and the final matt was Microscale Micro Flat thinned 50/50. I often see people saying they have really bad results from Microscale flat and satin clear coat, but it seems like most of the time they don't thin it enough. I at least thin it 40/60 and I have always had good results, I've tried the Tamiya flat clear but I find it just doesn't do a very good job at achieving a flat finish. Anyways that's enough of my flat clear coat rant. As far as weathering goes I just used Tamiya black, dark brown and brown panel liner along with AK European earth and dark earth pigments. Then using enamel thinner for pre-fixing pigments and then enamel pigment binder or Vallejo water based binder depending on whether applying with brush or airbrush. I also had detail upgrade parts for the main gun and plethora of machine guns mounted all over this thing. The main thing I wish I had done better were the headlights. They were just molded out of one piece normal plastic, so I made it recessed with a ball engraving bit which worked well, painted the inside silver (wish I had done a slightly cleaner job or used a bit of panel liner for the edge) then put a thick dab of microscale kristal klear on for a lens. Sadly it didn't quite dry in a convex manner as I hoped, but it still look pretty good for the scale. Any recommendations on what I could use in the future? Clear epoxy maybe? I thought about shaping something out of some scrap clear sprue, but the scale was just too small to do something like that properly.
ICM Soviet Drivers (1979-1991) - ICM 1:35 35641
Julien posted a topic in Diorama & AccessorySoviet Drivers (1979-1991) ICM 1:35 35641 While it would be good to get a driver figure in a kit, some people dont use them so it does make sense that companies will offer them as an "added extra". This set from ICM is aimed at some of the great Russian truck models they are currently producing; how ever they can be used as and where the modeller wants. There are two figures in the box, one sitting on a higher type seat and one on a lower type. They are well sculpted. Conclusion These figures will enhance any Russian truck model the modeller wants to use them on. Recmended. Review sample courtesy of
80s Soviet
GazB posted a topic in Armour ChatHey all, got a question for you. Did Soviet tanks in the 80s period use a particular colour as a primer (much like the Germans did with red oxide) and what was the primary green they used? I have the Mig Ammo ZASHCHITNIY ZELENO, which was mentioned as being the colour for the vehicles in that time, but it seems more...browny than green, so I was just wanting to specificy, particularly since Trumpeter often suggests using 303 Green for Soviet tanks or equipment of that period, which is decidedly more green in colour. Being Russian vehicles I imagine they used a mishmash of greens and camouflage, but I'm particularly curious about the most common known colour for them, as well as any known schemes used in the Afghan theatre, particularly on T-62s and Zil-131 trucks. Cheers. Gaz


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Adviser to Galileo Global Education for the acquisition of three leading universities in Italy and Cyprus
January 2018 - Afaya Partners was retained as advisers by Galileo Global Education for the successful acquisition of a portfolio of higher education institutes from Laureate Education, Inc. in Italy and Cyprus.
The services of Afaya Partners covered the strategic, commercial, and operational due diligence of the concerned assets.
Laureate Education, Inc., the world's largest global network of higher education institutions, has sold its operations in Italy and Cyprus for a total transaction value of Euro 225 million to Galileo Global Education, owned by Providence Equity Partners – one of the world's largest private equity firms and a leading global investor.
About Galileo Global Education
Galileo Global Education is a leading European private post-secondary education group focused on providing students with increased access to higher education in the fields of art, creativity, design, digital, communication and management. With 60,000 students, the group currently operates in eight countries: France, Italy, UK, and Germany, as well as Mexico, China, India and Senegal. Galileo institutions combine academic preparation with practical applications to provide career-oriented programmes in the constantly evolving world of higher education.
Read the official press release: www.globalnewswire.com
For more information:
Galileo Global Education: www.galileoglobaleducation.com
Providence Equity Partners: www.provequity.com
Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA): www.naba.it
Domus Academy: www.domusacademy.com
European University Cyprus: www.euc.ac.cy
Laureate Education, Inc.: www.laureate.net

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Renault is determined to showcase the progress it has made with its Formula 1 engine at the Bahrain Grand Prix, according to team boss Cyril Abiteboul.
The French squad had talked up its power unit gains during the winter and set itself the target of closing in on F1's leading trio of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in 2019, though it endured a disappointing start at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo were both unable to make it into Q3 in qualifying, though Hulkenberg was able to recover to a strong seventh place. Ricciardo suffered a nightmare home race on his Renault debut and retired at mid-distance in Melbourne having lost his front wing on the first lap.
Five questions that need answering in F1 2019
Abiteboul said Renault needs to be hard on itself in order to hit back strongly this weekend in Bahrain, having failed to extract the most out of its 2019 package in Australia.
"In seasons gone by, we would have been satisfied with a seventh-place finish at the first race of the season, but this year we were a little disappointed," Abiteboul explained.
"We feel our car is capable of fighting at the top end of the midfield. However, that wasn't always displayed when it really counted in qualifying and during the race.
"We are determined to show more in Bahrain. We have to underline the step we've made on the engine side, and the second grand prix of 2019 is an opportunity to showcase that. We will bring some aero updates, as we will do at every race.
"We also need to target consistency over the course of the entire weekend, delivering a balanced and reliable car in all sessions to allow the drivers to extract respective maximum performance.
"Equally, we need to target operational excellence in all areas. Having both cars inside the points is the target and we want to show the qualities of our team. We have to be hard on ourselves if we're to keep on our path."
Renault technical director Nick Chester said the team will introduce a range of updates - including aero, mechanical and cooling developments - to its R.S.19 in the search for added performance.
"We didn't qualify where the cars deserved to be in terms of pace and that was down to execution in some areas and a reliability problem which is now understood," Chester added.
"It shows the midfield is so close and that any small mistake or dip in performance means you'll lose places on the grid. Unfortunately, we experienced that quite directly. The reality is, the lower down the grid you qualify, the more likely the risks of damaging the car are.
"Elsewhere throughout the weekend, we tested some new parts, played around with different setups and learnt a decent amount. It's quite clear, though, we have some work to do to move away from the midfield, which is where we want to be."


text:
Undead onslaught not slowing
"Been wondering if the pop infatuation with rom-zoms (Romero-style zombies) is on the skids in the United States. I mean, wasn't their fifteen minutes up some time ago?
"Happily, I have to say I don't think so. "Zombie walks" and other zombie events are increasingly popular. The Walking Dead comics have had enormous sales, and a second season of the show based on them begins in October. The zombie apocalypse of Resident Evil keeps gamers busy. Undead flesh-eaters just keep a-comin'."
Read more here:
mland.com/undead-onslaught-not -slowing/
Includes chatter with horror meister David J. Schow!
Includes chatter with horror meister David J. Schow!


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This is too disturbing for words. I fall in the 13-15% range that thinks man evolved without the hand of god. But we're in the minority here.
Did these people fall asleep during biology classes? Hell, I went to a Catholic high school and we learned about Mendel and Darwin in biology. Just what in hell are they teaching these days in public schools? If it's Georgia they're studying (And that's me being optimistic!) the Bible so they get a pass.
I'm far too tired to lament this. So just read the blurb.


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How to be photographed to get a job as a cat gardener: don't nap near the fern!
Cat-gardening Chronicles: roses showing off and Manchester by the Sea on Netflix
If you want your heart to splinter into pieces you might like to watch Manchester by the Sea on Netflix. Despair droops over this exquisite film like raindrops bathing roses. But if you don't want a movie to sadden your soul by the truth that very often life is just too unforgiving, then don't watch this one.
Casey Affleck won the Oscar for his acting in this movie about grief so horrendous it takes your breath away. He is a mysterious, reclusive janitor who removes trash and cleans up toilets etc. in other people's houses and keeps to himself like a ghost. He is alone, paid very little for his chores, and leads a dreary life. But soon a phone call from the past comes to pull him out of his stupor and you are slowly but unbearably drawn into the crumbling contours of his life.
Manchester by the Sea is one of the best films to be offered by Netflix and will keep you glued to the broken, icy glass pieces of one family's trauma, by its subdued brilliance. Michelle Williams too is wonderful though the film seems to unfairly leave her out of its story telling which is a pity. It could have been even more powerful if it had allowed her to shine a little more….but even as it is, this movie will haunt you for a very long time…
Coming back to cat-gardening, if you really want to earn your keep with this job, you cannot use these pictures for your resume. Try at least a little, to show more interest in your work place: pamper the philodendron, don't sleep with the fern, and don't ever squash it!
Pretend to like roses even if you feel jealous of them. Remember that they cannot purr or blink at your bosses! And they have very short lives!


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Kazakhstan joins the Group of States Against Corruption
NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM - The Republic of Kazakhstan and the Council of Europe have signed an agreement on Kazakhstan's entry into the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), Kazinform reports referring to the press service of the Anti-Corruption Service of Kazakhstan.
GRECO is an initiative within the framework of the Council of Europe, created in 1999. It was informed that GRECO joined 49 states including Austria, the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, etc. It should be noted that the following countries of the former Soviet Union are part of the organization: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Estonia.
The two main tasks assigned to GRECO are improving the methods of combating corruption in the participating countries and creating the basis for the exchange of best practices in the prevention and detection of cases of corruption.
Kazakhstan side was represented by the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency Alik Shpekbayev.
The Council of Europe was represented by Deputy Secretary General Gabriella Battini-Dragoni. She noted significant progress in the implementation of the anti-corruption policy in Kazakhstan.
«I am proud of the achievements of Kazakhstan and the willingness to effectively cooperate with the GRECO member states. We look forward to the next steps including your country's accession to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption», said Gabriella Battini-Dragoni.
Alik Shpekbayev explained that Kazakhstan has been cooperating with the Council of Europe and its structures since 1997.
«We have the opportunity to participate in a number of expanded agreements that allow us to work together with the Council member states on the issues of particular interest. Cooperation with GRECO demonstrates the commitment of our country, as a full member of the UN Convention against Corruption, to the fundamental principles of the Council of Europe and our country's intention to improve anti-corruption measures. Joining GRECO paves the way to adopt the best European practices in the fight against corruption», A. Shpekbayev emphasized.
During the working meeting, Gianluca Esposito, GRECO Executive Secretary, said: «Accession negotiations have been completed successfully. We expect a speedy ratification of the agreement by Kazakhstan which is entering this prestigious initiative as the 50th member».


text:
Monday, April 30, 2012
Weekend Wrap
8 comments:
The Yogi bear voice is stuck in my head now! Some great finds there, it's a shame you missed out on the Pyrex! Love the string rings (reminds me of cheese ha!)ReplyDelete
What a mouth full String Thing Along! =D
Great picnic basket! Looks to be in good shape.ReplyDelete
Your dresden rings are terrific:)
The recipe boxes are sweet! I have my three - they belonged to my grandmothers and my Mom.ReplyDelete
Darn Pyrex snatchers;)ReplyDelete
love the string blocks---great colors!
Love the string rings .. and the pic-a-nic basket is beautiful! hey hey boo boo!ReplyDelete
Cute picnic basket! And cute recipe boxes! I love that one with the strawberries. It reminds me of some dishes my mom got in the late 70's by saving up "stamps" from the grocery store & then redeeming full cards of stamps for dishes.ReplyDelete
Also, LOVE that little string block you did. The zig-zag effect is awesome.
And finally, those string Dresdens are awesome sauce. I love looking at them and going, "hey, I recognize that fabric. And that one. And that one." It makes me happy when fabric gets used instead of just sitting in boxes.
xo -E
Methinks your friend is an enabler! But Im sorry the pyrex stashed was cleaned out by the time you got there.ReplyDelete
Those recipe boxes look like they're in great condition.
Im going to be working pic-a-nic into my conversations all day now!
Hey, Boo-Boo! *Grins* You have a loverly pic-a-nic basket, hee-hee!ReplyDelete
Your scrappy rings are great, what a cool quilt this will be ~


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MadRocker wrote:Dopi I think I found the calibration issue.
I fixed calibration some days ago, the fix is in the sources on github (https://github.com/JetDroid/JetKernel/tree/experimental-2.6.29-dopi). I will try to upload an updated version soon.
The calibration data got lost when I applied vaclavpe's patch for ADC (ALS) reading. This is what happens if I get whole files not patches


text:
The success of a Toastmasters meeting depends on the program participants. There are many roles to fill, and each job is designed to improve the members' public speaking and leadership skills. Program participants must know and understand their duties so they can prepare for them. Some roles can be combined – for example, the Ah-Counter might also be the grammarian or listen for uses of the word of the day.
The Toastmaster is a meeting's director and host. You won't usually be assigned this role until you are thoroughly familiar with the club and its procedures. Ask your mentor or the club's Vice President of Education (VPE) for pointers well before the meeting.
Begin preparing for your role several days in advance. You can use the Toastmaster's Check List to help you prepare. You'll need to know who will fill the other meeting roles and if a theme is planned for the meeting. You'll also need to create an up-to-date meeting agenda. Click here to download an agenda template.
Next, contact the general evaluator and make sure you're both working from the same agenda. Ask the general evaluator to call other members of the evaluation team – speech Evaluators, Table Topics Master, Timer, and Grammarian/Ah-Counter – and remind them of their responsibilities. Remember, as the director, you're responsible for ensuring all of the meeting's players know their parts and hit their marks.
As the Toastmaster, you'll introduce each speaker. If a speaker will not write his or her own introduction, you will write it. Introductions must be brief and carefully planned. Contact speakers several days before the meeting to ask about:
- Speech topic and title
- Manual and project title
- Assignment objectives
- Speaker's personal objectives
- Delivery time
You need all of these elements to create your introductions. Remember to keep the introductions between 30-60 seconds in length.
Of course, you want to avoid awkward interruptions or gaps in meeting flow so your last preparation step before the meeting is to plan remarks you can use to make smooth transitions from one portion of the program to another. You may not need them, but you should be prepared for the possibility of awkward periods of silence.
The Big Show
On meeting day, show up early. You'll need time to make sure the stage is set for a successful meeting. To start, check with each speaker as they arrive to see if they have made any last-minute changes to their speeches – such as changing the title.
- You and the speakers will need quick and easy access to the lectern. Direct the speakers to sit near the front of the room and make sure they leave a seat open for you near the front.
- When it's time to start the program, the club president calls the meeting to order. Sometimes he or she will make announcements, introduce guests or conduct other club business before introducing you.
- When you're introduced, the club President will wait until you arrive at the lectern before being seated. (This is why you should sit at the front of the room.)
Pay attention to the time. You are responsible for beginning and ending the meeting on time. You may have to adjust the schedule during the meeting to accomplish this. Make sure each meeting segment adheres to the schedule. If time allows, you can make some brief remarks about Toastmasters' educational program for the benefit of guests and new members before you move forward with the introductions:
- Introduce the General Evaluator as you would any speaker. Remain standing near the lectern after your introduction until the speaker has assumed control of the lectern, then be seated. The General Evaluator will introduce the other members of the evaluation team.
- Introduce the Table Topics Master as you would any speaker. Remain standing near the lectern after your introduction until the speaker has assumed control of the lectern, then be seated.
In our club it is customary for the Toastmaster and the person assuming control of the lectern to exchange a handshake. It's sometimes done to help new members recognize when control of the lectern passes from the Toastmaster to the speaker and vice versa.
- After the Table Topics session has concluded, most clubs begin the speaking program. Introduce each speaker in turn.
- You will lead the applause before and after the Table Topics session, each speaker and the general evaluator. When each presenter has finished, you return to the lectern so the speaker can be seated and you can begin your next introduction.
- At the conclusion of the speaking program, request the Timer's report and vote for the best speaker, if your club offers this award.
- Briefly reintroduce the General Evaluator.
- While votes are being tallied, invite comments from guests and announcements (such as verification of next week's program).
- Present trophies or ribbons as practiced by your club.
- Adjourn the meeting, or if appropriate, return control to the club President.
Serving as Toastmaster is an excellent way to practice many valuable skills as you strive to make the meeting one of the club's best. Preparation is key to your success.
The purpose of the Ah-Counter is to note any word or sound used as a crutch by anyone who speaks during the meeting. Words may be inappropriate interjections, such as and, well, but, so and you know. Sounds may be ah, um or er. You should also note when a speaker repeats a word or phrase such as "I, I" or "This means, this means." These words and sounds can be annoying to listeners. The Ah-Counter role is an excellent opportunity to practice your listening skills.
One benefit of Toastmasters is that it helps people improve their grammar and word use. Being Grammarian also provides an exercise in expanding listening skills. You have several responsibilities: to introduce new words to members, to comment on language usage during the course of the meeting, and to provide examples of eloquence.
Before the Meeting
Several days before the meeting, select a "word of the day":
- It should be a word that will help members increase their vocabulary – a word that can be incorporated easily into everyday conversation but is different from the way people usually express themselves.
- Adjectives and adverbs are more adaptable than nouns or verbs, but feel free to select your own special word.
- Print your word, its part of speech (adjective, adverb, noun, verb) and a brief definition in letters large enough to be seen from the back of the room.
- Prepare a sentence showing how the word is used.
At the Meeting
Before the meeting begins, place your visual aid at the front of the room where everyone can see it. Also get a blank piece of paper and pen ready to make notes.
When introduced:
- Announce the word of the day, state its part of speech, define it, use it in a sentence and ask that anyone speaking during any part of the meeting use it.
- Briefly explain the role of the Grammarian and Ah-counter.
Throughout the meeting, listen to everyone's word usage. Write down any awkward use or misuse of the language (incomplete sentences, sentences that change direction in midstream, incorrect grammar or malapropisms) with a note of who erred. For example, point out if someone used a singular verb with a plural subject. "One in five children wear glasses" should be "one in five children wears glasses." Note when a pronoun is misused. "No one in the choir sings better than her" should be "No one in the choir sings better than she."
In addition, throughout the meeting, listen to everyone for sounds and long pauses used as fillers and not as a necessary part of sentence structure. Write down how many filler sounds or words each person used during all portions of the meeting.
Also be sure to write down who used the word of the day (or a derivative of it) and note those who used it correctly or incorrectly.
When called on by the General Evaluator during the evaluation segment:
- Stand by your chair and give your report.
- Try to offer the correct usage in every instance of misuse (instead of merely announcing that something was wrong).
- Report on creative language usage and announce who used the word of the day (or a derivative of it) correctly or incorrectly.
Here's how to succeed as Timer:
- Before the meeting, contact the Toastmaster and General Evaluator to confirm which members are scheduled program participants. Then contact each speaker to confirm the time they'll need for their prepared speech.
- On meeting day, retrieve the timing equipment from the Sergeant at Arms. Be sure you understand how to operate the stopwatch and signal device, make certain the timing equipment works and sit where the signal device can be seen by all.
- The Toastmaster of the meeting will usually call on you to explain the timing rules and demonstrate the signal device.
- Throughout the meeting, listen carefully to each program participant and signal them. Generally, Table Topics speakers should be +/- 15 seconds of allowed time; prepared speakers must be +/- 30 seconds. Record each participant's name and time used.
- When you're called to report by the General Evaluator, announce the speaker's name and the time taken. Mention those members who are eligible for awards if your club issues awards. Additionally, confer with the Ballot Counter to ensure that each speaker who is eligible for an award has met his or her speaking-time qualification.
- After the meeting, return the stopwatch and timing signal device to the Sergeant at Arms.
Take on this role and the new habits formed will serve you well in your private life and your career. People appreciate a speaker, friend or employee who is mindful of time frames and deadlines.
The Table Topics Master gives members who aren't assigned a speaking role the opportunity to speak during the meeting. The Table Topics Master challenges each member with a subject, and the speaker responds with a one- to two-minute impromptu talk.
Not only does this role provide you with an opportunity to practice planning, preparation, organization, time management and facilitation skills; your preparation and topic selection help train members to quickly organize and express their thoughts in an impromptu setting.
Preparation is the key to leading a successful Table Topics session:
- Several days before the meeting, check with the Toastmaster to find out if a theme meeting is scheduled. If so, prepare topics reflecting that theme.
- Confirm who the prepared speakers, evaluators and general evaluator will be so you can call on other members at the meeting to respond first. You can call on program participants (speakers last) at the end of the topics session if need be.
- Select subjects and questions that allow speakers to offer opinions. Don't make the questions too long or complicated and make sure they don't require specialized knowledge.
- Phrase questions so the speakers clearly understand what you want them to talk about.
Remember, too, that your job is to give others a chance to speak, so keep your own comments short.
When the Toastmaster introduces you, walk to the lectern and assume control of the meeting:
- Briefly state the purpose of Table Topics and mention any theme.
- Encourage speakers to use the word of the day in their response.
- Be certain everyone understands the maximum time they have for their response and how the timing device works (if the Timer hasn't already done so).
Then begin the program:
- Give each speaker a different topic or question and call on speakers at random.
- Avoid going around the room in the order in which people are sitting.
- Don't ask two people the same thing unless you specify that each must give opposing viewpoints.
- State the question briefly – then call on a respondent.
- You may wish to invite visitors and guests to participate after they have seen one or two members' responses. But let visitors know they are free to decline if they feel uncomfortable.
Watch your total time. You may need to adjust the number of questions so your segment ends on time. Even if your portion started late, try to end on time to avoid the total meeting running overtime.
- Ask members to vote for best Table Topics speaker (awarded at the end of the meeting) and pass their votes to the Sergeant at Arms or vote counter.
Return control of the meeting to the Toastmaster.
Most of the talking we do every day – simple conversation – is impromptu speaking. Yet for some members, Table Topics is the most challenging part of a Toastmasters meeting.
Table Topics continues a long-standing Toastmasters tradition – every member speaks at a meeting. But it's about more than just carrying on an anxiety-ridden tradition. Table Topics is about developing your ability to organize your thoughts quickly and respond to an impromptu question or topic.
Table Topics begins before the prepared speech presentations. The Toastmaster of the meeting will introduce the Table Topics Master who will walk to the lectern and assume control of the meeting. He or she will give a brief description of the purpose of Table Topics and mention if the topics will carry a theme.
The Table Topics Master will state the question or topic briefly and then call on a respondent. Each speaker receives a different topic or question and participants are called on at random.
When you're asked to respond to a topic, stand next to your chair and give your response. Your response should last one to two minutes.
Now, take a deep breath and get ready to be remarkable!
No doubt you've guessed that the speaking program is the center of every Toastmasters meeting. After all, what's Toastmasters without the talking? But members don't just stand up and start yakking. They use the guidelines in the Competent Communication (CC) manual and the Advanced Communication Series (ACS) manuals to fully prepare their presentations.
The CC manual speeches usually last 5-7 minutes. ACS manual project speeches are 5-7 minutes or longer depending upon the assignment.
Every speaker is a role model and club members learn from one another's speeches. Prepare and rehearse to ensure you present the best speech possible. Don't insult your fellow club members by delivering a poorly prepared speech. However, it's also true that no speech is perfect. So, get out there and try! Here's what to do:
- Check our club's meeting schedule regularly to sign up to speak. Begin working on the speech at least a week in advance of the meeting. That way, you have enough time to devote to research, organization and rehearsal.
- If you don't write your own speech introduction, make sure the Toastmaster of the meeting prepares a good one for you.
- Several days before the meeting, ask the General Evaluator for your Evaluator's name. Talk with your Evaluator about the speech you'll give. Discuss your speech goals and personal concerns. Let your Evaluator know where you believe your speech ability needs strengthening, so he or she can pay special attention to those aspects of your presentation. Remember to bring your manual to the meeting.
- You should arrive at the meeting early to check the microphone, lighting and anything else that could malfunction and ruin your talk. Give your manual to your Evaluator before the meeting starts and discuss any last-minute issues with him or her. Sit near the front of the room and carefully plan your approach to the lectern and your speech opening.
- During the meeting, give your full attention to the speakers at the lectern. Don't study your speech notes while someone else is talking. When you're introduced, smoothly and confidently leave your chair and walk to the lectern. After your speech, wait for the Toastmaster to return to the lectern, then return to your seat. Listen intently during your evaluation for helpful hints that will assist in building better future talks.
- After the meeting, reclaim your manual from your Evaluator. Discuss any questions you may have concerning your evaluation to clarify and avoid any misinterpretations.
- Finally, have the Vice President of Education initial the Project Completion Record in the back of your manual.
You'll enjoy a growing sense of confidence as you repeat these steps with new speech projects. Don't be afraid to do the work, enjoy the applause and reap the educational benefits. Your courage will be rewarded
Don't worry; there's no capital punishment during Toastmasters meetings. Unless, of course, the Grammarian is in a bad mood.
If you think of a club meeting as a project, then you can see the General Evaluator as a kind of project manager. As GE, your responsibilities include:
- Ensuring the speech and leadership project Evaluators know their responsibilities
- Supervising the Timer and Grammarian/Ah-Counter
- Evaluating everything that takes place during the club meeting
- Making sure each activity is performed correctly
Several days before the meeting, contact the person who will be Toastmaster of the meeting and confirm the meeting program. You should also develop a checklist to follow during the meeting so you don't have to keep all the details in your head.
When discussing the meeting program with the Toastmaster, ask what evaluation format to use. Typically, an evaluation is assigned to an individual, but sometimes evaluations are done by panels. The General Evaluator may set up any evaluation procedure he or she chooses, but it should fit into the meeting program. Remember, too, that every evaluation must be brief and complete. Review the Effective Evaluation manual for different evaluation formats.
You'll also need to contact members serving as:
- Timer
- Grammarian/Ah-Counter
- Individual Evaluators
Remind them of their assignments, and brief Evaluators on their responsibilities, the members they will evaluate and the evaluation format to use. Make sure the Evaluators understand that evaluation is a positive, helping act that enables fellow Toastmasters to develop their skills. Point out that an evaluation should enhance the speaker's self-esteem and encourage Evaluators to prepare thoroughly for their role. Recommend that they call the member they've been assigned to evaluate to discuss specific project objectives.
Your final task before the meeting is to prepare a brief verbal explanation detailing:
- The purpose, techniques and benefits of evaluation so guests and new members will better understand the function of evaluations.
- How evaluation is a positive experience designed to help people overcome flaws and reinforce good habits in their presentations.
On meeting day:
- Arrive early.
- Make sure all Evaluators are present and that they have the appropriate speaker or leader's manual.
- If an Evaluator is absent, consult with the Vice President of Education and arrange for a substitute.
- Ask each Evaluator if he or she has any questions about the project objectives to be evaluated, verify each speaker's time and notify the timer if there are any changes.
- Take your seat near the back of the room. This will ensure you have a good view of the meeting and all its participants.
The Toastmaster of the meeting usually introduces the General Evaluator after the speaking portion of the meeting is over. The General Evaluator assumes control of the meeting during the evaluation portion – introducing each Evaluator and asking for the Grammarian/Ah-Counter and Timer reports after the Evaluators have finished.
During the meeting, use your checklist and take notes on everything that happens (or doesn't, but should). For example: Were there unnecessary distractions that could have been avoided? Did the meeting, and each segment of it, begin and end on time?
Study each participant on the program, from the person giving the invocation or thought for the day to the last report by the Timer. Look for good and less than desirable examples of preparation, organization, delivery, enthusiasm, observation and general performance of duties. When it's time to begin the evaluation portion of the meeting, the Toastmaster will introduce you, again. This time, you'll go to the lectern and introduce each Evaluator. After each recitation, thank the Evaluator for his or her efforts.
Finally, give your general evaluation of the meeting:
- Use your checklist and the notes you took during the meeting.
- Phrase your evaluation so it is helpful, encouraging and motivates club members to implement the suggestions.
- You may wish to comment on the quality of evaluations. Were they positive, upbeat, helpful? Did they point the way to improvement?
- When you've completed your evaluation, return control of the meeting to the Toastmaster.
Being General Evaluator is a big responsibility and it is integral to the success of every single club member. People join Toastmasters because they have a goal – they want to learn something. The club is where they learn. If the learning environment isn't focused and fun, members won't learn what they joined to learn. Your observations and suggestions help ensure our club is meeting the goals and needs of each member.
And what do you get out of the deal? You get the chance to practice and improve your skills in critical thinking, planning, preparation and organization, time management, motivation and team building!
to improve their speaking and leadership skills, and these skills are improved with the help of evaluations. Members complete projects in the Competent Communication and Competent Leadership manuals and you may be asked to evaluate their work. At some point, everyone is asked to participate by providing an evaluation. You will provide both verbal and written evaluations for speakers using the guide in the manual. Sometimes verbal evaluations are given during the meeting and sometimes they are given privately, after the meeting. Check with the Vice President of Education or the Toastmaster if you're not sure about the process.
Several days before the meeting, review the Effective Evaluation manual. Talk with the speaker or leader you've been assigned to evaluate and find out which manual project they will present. Review the project goals and what the speaker or leader hopes to achieve.
Evaluation requires careful preparation if the speaker or leader is to benefit. Study the project objectives as well as the evaluation guide in the manual. Remember, the purpose of evaluation is to help people develop their speaking or leadership skills in various situations. By actively listening, providing reinforcement for their strengths and gently offering useful advice, you motivate members to work hard and improve. When you show the way to improvement, you've opened the door to strengthening their ability.
When you arrive at the meeting, speak briefly with the General Evaluator to confirm the evaluation session format. Then retrieve the manual from the speaker or leader and ask one last time if he or she has any specific goals in mind.
Record your impressions in the manual, along with your answers to the evaluation questions. Be as objective as possible. Remember that good evaluations may give new life to discouraged members and poor evaluations may dishearten members who tried their best. Always provide specific methods for improving and present them in a positive manner.
If you're giving a verbal evaluation, stand and speak when introduced. Though you may have written lengthy responses to manual evaluation questions, don't read the questions or your responses. Your verbal evaluation time is limited. Don't try to cover too much in your talk; two or three points is plenty.
Begin and end your evaluation with a note of encouragement or praise. Commend a successful speech or leadership assignment and describe specifically how it was successful. Don't allow the speaker or leader to remain unaware of a valuable asset such as a smile or a sense of humor. Likewise, don't permit the speaker or leader to remain ignorant of a serious fault: if it is personal, write it but don't mention it aloud. Give the speaker or leader deserved praise and tactful suggestions in the manner you would like to receive them.
After the meeting, return the manual to the speaker or leader. Add another word of encouragement and answer any questions the member may have.
By giving feedback, you are personally contributing to your fellow members' improvement. Preparing and presenting evaluations is also an opportunity for you to practice your listening, critical thinking, feedback and motivation skills. And when the time comes to receive feedback, you'll have a better understanding of the process.
During a typical meeting, the audience votes for Best Table Topics Speaker, Best Speaker (performer of a prepared speech), and Best Speech Evaluator. The role of the Ballot Counter is to collect and count the ballots cast for each category. Voting occurs after each related portion of the meeting. For example, as Table Topics ends there is a one minute moment of silence. The audience prepares their votes and the Ballot Counter collects the ballots. The Ballot Counter then tabulates the votes, confers with the Timer to ensure that each speaker successfully met their speaking-time qualifications, and provides the President with the names of the winning members for a short award presentation toward the end of the meeting.