May 2019 IPMS Ottawa Model Contest

It was a dark and stormy night, with freezing rain and flooding throughout the Ottawa region.

FIRST PLACE

This is the very old (1956) Aurora model of a Chinese JUNK sail boat. It was part of their warships of the world series, despite showing a trading cargo boat. It came from the Bill Wilson collection. For a model tooled in 1956 it is surprisingly good.

The word "junk" may be derived from the Chinese word 船 meaning boat or ship or sailing vessel, but more probably from a Malay word for boat later used by the Chinese. Generally it means a boat with fully-battened sails. The type reached its apex in the 15th - 17th century. The basic wood colour is Vallejo's mahogany weathered with oil pastels. The plastic masts were replaced with wooden masts, then it was fully rigged. Lanterns with lucky Chinese sayings were built and hung.

Chinese Junk

SECOND PLACE

Forward Commander Sorscha Kratikoff "For the Motherland" - a bust of a favoured character from the battle universe. This is a four-piece resin bust from Privateer Press in about 1:11 scale. Beside her is a smaller full figure model in 30mm scale. Note the icicles.

Forward Commander Sorscha Kratikoff - "For the Motherland"

THIRD PLACE

RB-79 Ball Gun (Twin Blue set) from Bandai in 1:144 scale. Background added.

RB-79 Ball Gun

OTHER ENTRIES

Imperial Japanese Army, Ho-Ni self-propelled gun

This is a Heller 1:450 scale model of the French galley ship La Reale (1694). It was finally decommissioned in 1720. It took a team of 360 rowers (all slaves and prisoners of war) and two massive diagonal sails to keep the ship moving in the Mediterranean Sea. Over 57 m in length and the pinnacle of galley technology, this flagship of the French galley fleet was hopelessly outclassed by full sailing ships armed with many more cannons. The last great sea battle between galleys took place off Cape Matapan (southern Greece) in 1717.

La Reale Galley

Only remaining part of La Reale, in French Maritime Museum, Paris

This is the 1:288 scale kit from Eastern Express of the gigantic strategic bomber called the Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan (Белый лебедь).
The USSR designed and built some 36 of these bombers, which are now operated exclusively by the Russian air force (after they bought a number from Ukraine in exchange for writing off gas bills).
The aircraft first flew in 1981 and entered service in 1987. The type has been used in combat, striking targets in Syria in the past few years. All remaining in-service aircraft are based at Engels Air Force Base in Engels, Saratov Oblast, Russia.
The aircraft shown here is the short-lived Ukrainian Air Force version then sold to Russia in about 1998 in exchange for gas debts.