FROM THE JUDGING TABLE
The Difference Is in the Details
At an event as long-standing and prestigious as Top Gun, having just celebrated its 30th year of existence, you would expect to see a field of excellently executed replicas, with many of them falling into the “outstanding” category—entries that go way beyond the definition of “models,” more accurately, “reduced-scale replicas.” Of the eight classes of competition, five are statically judged using detailed documentation packages submitted by the builders with the entry (the Pro-Am classes require only a single image for documentation. I, along with Len Bechtold, am privileged to be a Craftsmanship judge. To better evaluate and ultimately reward modelers for their efforts (or separate the “outstandings” from the “excellents”), the rules of Top Gun (unlike other scale competitions) allow Craftsmanship judges in the static portion of the competition free rein to get as “up close and personal” with the model as we choose. And it can be a daunting task!
There were some really amazing models competing at this edition of Top Gun. I’ve attended all 30 events and have to say that this year’s competition featured the largest number of truly outstanding replicas I’ve ever seen. They weren’t limited to one type either. Here’s why. For the benefit of those of you who insist that “rag” airplanes, like Cubs, Champs, and the like, are simple subjects and, therefore, easier to model, I’ve got a news flash—they aren’t!
As in past years, the entries varied substantially, from Todd Bixby’s beautiful (and big) Airco DH.1A to Lance Campbell’s incredible Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird,” and covered every period in between. With so many outstanding subjects to look at, I found it difficult to come up with favorites for this coverage, so I narrowed the field by choosing three models that had never before appeared at Top Gun, demonstrating the fact that there are always new and exciting projects underway.
The first of these is the Hawker Fury
Mk I biplane, masterfully executed by
Gwyn Avenell from his own plan set. Gwyn,
accompanied by his charming wife, Christina, traveled all the way from New Zealand for the event. The Fury is a pre–World War II British fighter, and Gwyn did an amazing job replicating it in 1/4 scale (90-inch span). The aluminum cowl work was all hand-formed, as was the cooler. Those of you who think that fabric-covered subjects are “easy” need only to look closely at the covering job on this machine. The pinked-edge tapes and rib stitching were details to behold.
Staying with fabric but moving the clock forward nearly half a century is the Bellanca Viking general-aviation machine entered by Dave Lovitt. Done to 1/5th scale, this beauty replicates Dave’s personal, fullscale Bellanca, and one gets the feeling he discovered some new, magical shrinking process. It is all there, from upholstered door panels and beautifully formed fillets and fairings to a precisely fit baggage compartment door. This isn’t a model that screams “Look at me! Aren’t I beautiful?” Rather, it subtly beckons you to come closer to absorb and appreciate the many small details throughout the aircraft. With this beautiful replica, “understated” is, indeed, an understatement!
Equally understated and clearly at the other end of the subject spectrum is the 1/4-scale L-39ZA/ART Albatros entered in the Expert class by Chanatip Seevaranant, all the way from Thailand. Replicating a ground-attack version of the breed serving in the Royal Thai Air Force, Chanatip (his new Top Gun friends call him “Joe”) included a beautifully detailed external gun pod carried by the full-scale version. Developed from the CARF kit, Joe’s model featured surface detail not originally molded into the kit, including external landing-gear-position indicators, hydraulic pressure gages, and a whole airframe’s worth of various and accurately placed fasteners.
Another item worthy of note is that many scale models these days seem to suffer from “overweathering,” negatively impacting the overall realism. Too much dirt and simulated fluid leakage, gun-gas staining, and panel line/skin chipping would indicate that the real version never had any maintenance or paint touchup. Joe’s subtle touch was just right—convincing and well executed, in keeping with the rest of the model. These are just three picks; there were many others, such as Pete Goldsmith’s F-104, Mauro Pirotti’s Fiat G.91, Joe Castelao’s T-34, and the Palmer/Johnson Team entry Fieseler
Storch, which were all amazing scale modeling efforts.
—Rich Uravitch