Greetings and salutations to one and all! By the time this news letter goes out, this will be the last article from me this year. With that being said, this month is our annual December Christmas party so again, pizza and drinks will be served. As mentioned in my previous email about our party, if you would like to bring in a dessert of sorts to share whether it be homemade or store bought, please do.

IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - December 20, 2022

7:00 PM to 7:10 PM - Place models on tables with description forms.

We would like to encourage all club members to join the national IPMS. Help support your hobby on a national level. IPMS provides the insurance that allows us to have our events, and membership includes a nice monthly magazine. The website can be found at: IPMS, and an application form can be found HERE.

Club member Dave Armitage recently had emergency surgery but expects to be able to attend the January 2023 meeting. We wish Dave a speedy recovery and hope to see him soon!

The monthly general club meeting will be on Tuesday, December 20th at the Knights Hall, 2735 Union Rd., Cheektowaga, NY 14227, starting at the usual 7:00pm at the usual meeting room in the rear building. This is the annual holiday party meeting, so there will be pizza and drinks provided to members by the club. Members are encouraged to bring desserts or side dishes. There will also be the annual collection of toys for the Toys For Tots charity run by the US Marines. Please bring a toy or two to donate; toys for older kids are recommended, since they are often overlooked. The toys should be new, in original packaging with no decorative wrapping. There will also be a 50/50 raffle held at the meeting to help raise funds for the club.

Long time club member and Chief Judge Tom Brown, Sr. is looking for kits of cars from 1960. If you run across anything at a show, estate sale, or online, give Tom a call at 716-604-8482. Tom says thanks!

To keep our club mailing list up-to-date, if you are a member of IPMS Niagara Frontier and have recently changed your email address or are not receiving the club newsletter and meeting emails, please contact our website coordinator, Larry Osolkowski, and pass along your email information. Thanks!

A link to the current Sprue and Glue News has been added in recent months to the Newsletter Blast emails provided by National IPMS. For those readers from other chapters, and anyone else who might be interested, our website has a Newsletter page with buttons to select any of our newsletters from the current year. There is also a button on that page to access the Archive page, which has links to all of the newsletters published since September 2007.

A NOTE TO NON-MEMBERS

The minutes from the November 2022 general meeting are included below. Thanks to our Secretary, Al Germann, for the meeting minutes.

November 15th - President Mike Butry led the meeting.

• Old Business:
  • Tom F. provided basic financial report.
  • Tom F. is planning another club shirt order soon.
  • IPMS member numbers of E-board members need to be submitted soon for chapter requirements.
• New Business:
  • None.
• BuffCon #38, April 2, 2023:
  • A contingency plan should be developed for aspects of judging.
  • Tom B. suggested having examples of judging criteria and having tutorials in January or February.
  • Dick S. spoke on sponsorships and members can have first choice.
• NorEastCon, 2023:
  • None.
• Miscellaneous/Open Floor:
  • Toys for Tots collection at December meeting.
  • Christmas party with pizza and drinks next month and members asked to bring in desserts.
  • Section 8 building a new place on Transit Road near Bullis and should be open in first quarter of 2023.
  • Recap of recent Cleveland show by those who attended.
  • Train show coming up at Fairgrounds in Hamburg.
  • Tom B. Jr. is now married.
  • Tom B. Sr. asking for donations of 1960 cars/trucks for a planned collection build.
  • 50/50 raffle was run at this meeting with the tickets sold resulting in a $54/$54 split.
  • Jim G. led presentation of members' models on the tables.

To promote greater transparency regarding the operation of the club and the EBoard, action items from the previous month's EBoard meeting will be published in the newsletter. These will not be detailed minutes of the meetings, but highlights that the general membership should be aware of.

December 12 - President Mike Butry led the meeting, held via Zoom.

• Old Business:
  • Dick spoke on status of IPMS membership renewal and Mike has action item to follow up with Tom F.
• New Business:
  • None.
• BuffCon #38, April 2nd, 2023:
  • Mike B. stated the next local Lego Club meeting at a North Tonawanda library is Dec 16th and Justin and Randy volunteered (action Item) to attend. Objective to make contacts and consider elements to support new Lego category.
  • Jeff K. spoke on idea for early entry for vendors and if there is any option of access on Saturday for set up but after good discussion, no changes to standard set up are planned.
    • Jeff also requested earlier access to vendor wrist bands and Al G has action item to forward them to Jeff before event.
    • Vendor table registration will include their helpers, "vendor +2 helpers".
    • After discussion, Jeff has action item to draft a revised vendor registration form. There were elements to other clubs forms that have merit and may be included in ours.
    • Jeff stated he will follow rule of "no paperwork, no money means no table" encouraging registration prior to the event.
  • Some brainstorming on encouraging better participation with regards to judging. This will be brought up at the general meeting.
  • Mike B. has action item to draft kit donation letters and to send them out to potential donors. Discussed idea of adding similar note/question on vendor registration form. Mike also has action item to make a call for raffle kits donation at general meetings.
  • Mike has action item to talk about the open position of "Show Boss" for event. This position will resolve the variety of issues that arise throughout the day including discussing with other area coordinators or informing the President or the Vice Presidents.
• Miscellaneous:
  • Discussed preparation for club pizza party at December meeting. Larry has action item to send email to membership. Tom F. has action item to order pizza. Al G. has action item to bring drinks.

Bruce Mathes sent in photos of a few of the civil 1/72 scale models he has done: '66 Cessna 150, Piper Apache, Piper Warrior, Stinson 108, Champion Tri Traveler, Fairchild F-24W, '66 Cessna 310, Cessna 172 Skyhawk, Jetstream 32, '59 Cessna 310.

John Doerr sent in some photos of his model photography setup.

Moving to the model tables, Tom Brown Sr. displayed a group of kits of cars from 1960. Tom explained: "I want to build a collection of 1960 cars. That's the year I was born. I have these four. If anyone has or sees another at a show or estate sale, please call me at 716-604-8482. The more, the merrier."

Al Germann displayed the progress on his 4x4 Ford Van Alternative Future subject. He used Tamiya and Vallejo paints, along with "the same old store brand spray paint". The added tracks were from E-Bay, and he scratch-built the storage rack and computer station chair. Weathering was done with some washes, and mud was made with Woodland Scenic snow with Elmers glue and brown paint topped with clear gloss and gloss Mod Podge. Al said his first paint job failed, and it took two attempts to make the storage rack. Al mentioned that he's had this idea for a while, and collected a second hand kit from Dave Armitage, a resin figure from E-Bay, and a 1/32 Anime hunting robot from Jim Greenfield. They will all be part of an alternate future diorama.

Eugene Paveljack showed us his Morser Karl Gerat 040/041, finished with Tamiya Red Brown, Dark Yellow and Dark Green, with a Nuln Oil wash.

John Doerr displayed three Japanese aircraft. The first was a Nichimo 1/48 B5N2. He used Tamiya IJN Gray, IJN Green, Cockpit Green, Model Master Metalizer Steel, and Model Master enamel Aotake, Engine Gray and Black. John added seat belts and aftermarket decals, and did some weathering with paint chipping and some darkened panel lines with a Tempura wash. He mentioned that there were some fit issues with the bomb racks and 60kg bombs - the rack instructions were wrong and there were no locating pins or holes on the bombs. John said the B5N was used at Pearl Harbor with 60kg bombs.

John's second model was a Hasegawa 1/48 B7A, finished with Tamiya IJN Green/Gray and German Green, and Model Master Steel and Aotake. He added seat belts and paint chipping and a Tempura wash for weathering. John said there were no issues with this kit. It represents a 3rd carrier torpedo bomber.

John's last model was a Hasegawa 1/48 B6N "Jill". He also finished this one with Tamiya Cockpit Green, IJN Gray and Green, and Model Master Metalizer Steel and Enamel Aotake. The B6N also received seat belts and weathering with chipped paint, Model Master enamel black wash, and darkened panel lines with a Tempura wash. John had no issues with this kit, which also represents a Japanese carrier torpedo plane.

Brian McFee showed us his Tamiya 1/48 F-16C Block 30, finished in USAF Dark Gray.

Paul Hines had three new automotive art subjects for us to see. Paul described them as follows: "1) Just a great looking Ford Pickup Truck. To bring out the yellow, I added a dark gray background and dark green grass. 2) I saw this black 3 Window Coupe with a chopped top, all in black with a little red trim, so I eliminated all background and added a little red to set off the black. 3) Late model Ford Mustang. I decided to bring out the blue car color by extending the color outwards for a dynamic effect."

Mark Gadek brought in a Trumpeter 1/48 A-3 Skywarrior. He used AK Interactive paints sealed with Alclad Matt Clear. Mark built it out-of-box with the addition of Eduard seat belts, and added a Tamiya panel line wash. He mentioned that the bomb bay doors had fit issues, so he left them in the open position. Mark picked the subject because he likes the looks of the 1968 Vietnam Whale camouflage.

Dick Schulenberg had four models on display. The first was a Revell Vought Regulus II Test Missile, 1958 kit boxing in approximately 1/72 scale, as a work-in-progress. He used Vallejo Model Air Glossy Sea Blue over Tamiya Fine White Primer. Continuing his progress from last month, he said it was all scribed and he's pretty happy with the way it came out. Dick mentioned that the kit was fine, but the plastic was brittle so repairs were needed. He said the original kit decals bleached out OK in sunlight but are still fragile even after several coats of Microscale Decal Film, and replacements are on the way. Dick said he bought this kit as a kid in 1958, probably because of the box art. The P-40 displayed with it is the Aurora 1/48 kit from 1953, and Dick mentioned that it's interesting to see how much progress was made in model kits in the five years from 1953 to 1958.

Dick's second model was a Vargas Scale Models 3D-printed Ford 3-Ton Tank from 1918. This is another work-on-progress, and required modifications and scratch-building to replace a few partly-formed features and replace some parts that broke during assembly. Dick said there were printing ridges on some parts, especially the face of the big wheels and the front hatch. He scraped them smooth with a flat edge Xacto blade. Dick observed that it was "not as easy as I thought it would be - somewhat fragile and the instructions left a lot to the imagination." He picked the subject because it's an interesting little tank and he was curious to see what the 3D-printing looked like. He also mentioned that Vargas has some other interesting looking kits, and their service was great.

Dick's last model was an FCM French Tank in 1/35 by ICM, built out-of-box. He used Games Workshop Black primer and Vallejo Model Color acrylic for everything else. He added an overspray with well-thinned Vallejo Dark Gray to blend the colors, and a brown water color pen for additional dirt. Dick said the kit and decals were fine, but the paint scheme was exasperating to do. He painted it all by brush with lots of touch-ups, and he said it looked awful before the gray overspray. Dick mentioned that this was one more for the pre-war/early war (WW II) French armor collection.

Larry Osolkowski showed us his continuing progress on the Meng 1/9 BMW HP4 Race motorcycle. The carbon fiber decal work on the frame was completed, and the engine, frame and rear suspension are now assembled. The radiator and oil cooler were assembled, with small metric hardware for detail. The hardware came from Scale Hardware. They have a large selection of actual and simulated bolts, screws and other fasteners. Larry also started working on the front brakes; the kit includes photo-etched disks and ABS sensor ring that attach to plastic hub parts. Larry found an inexpensive set of diamond-grit files at Harbor Frieght, which work really well for smoothing the edges of stainless steel photo-etch parts.

Larry also brought in another new kit, this one from a new company called Wicked Model Cars. It's a 1/24 3D-printed model of the new Porsche 963 LMDh race car that will run in the IMSA Weathertech sports car racing series next year. Two of the Porsches will be run by Team Penske, and Larry plans to see them run at the Sebring 12 Hour Race next March. The kit is pretty simple, with a basic floorpan made of machined hard plastic with 3D printed front splitter and rear diffuser, all attached with tiny screws. The body is one piece, and the printing is really nice, with barely noticeable printing lines and good detail. The decals had to be purchased separately from another company called Decaldoc, and Larry brought in a copy of Race Car Engineering magazine that has some good reference photos.

Gregory Fox displayed his Revell AH-64 Apache Attack Chopper.

Bob Heiss is also getting into artwork, and brought in a painting that was his summer project. It was titled "Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany", and was done with oil on stretched canvas. Bob said it was the result of a contest between his sister and himself to produce entries for the County Fair.

Jeff Keenan brought in four models to display. The first was a Bandai Razor Crest (no scale given) from the Star Wars universe. He used Tamiya black panel wash, assorted metallics, craft paint, and homemade glow-in-the-dark paint for the engines. It was built out-of-box, with the panel wash streaked for weathering. Jeff said these small scale kits come with stickers, not decals, so the markings have to be painted; otherwise, it looks like a toy. Jeff added that scratching up the paint was fun, and "if it's Star Wars, I'll build it."

Jeff's second model was a 1/144 Bandai AMX-004 Qubeley. He used oils as washes, and mixed some glow-in-the-dark powder and Future to make the eyes, which he says look pretty cool in the dark. He's still trying to decide if he wants to weather it. Jeff said it went together like a typical Bandai kit - quickly and easily. He mentioned that he didn't pick the subject, his wife did - she bought it for him and liked that it wasn't covered in weapons. Jeff added that this was a "Covid build" and helped pass the time while in quarantine.

Jeff's third model was an Academy 1/35 M50A1 Ontos, finished with Vallejo Air Yellow Olive 71.013. He used the included photo-etch parts in the build. Jeff said there's no weathering yet, just a base coat so far, but he's hoping to make it dirty. He mentioned that the kit is not very accurate, but it's also not worth the time and effort to fix everything. He picked the subject because the six recoilless rifles look really cool and provide a lot of firepower for such a small vehicle. Jeff said he's also looking forward to working on the figures.

Jeff's last model was a 1/700 Academy USS Missouri, Modeler's Edition (includes photo-etch and masks). So far, he's applied Model Master enamels in Deck Blue and Haze Gray, and Tamiya Red and Hull Red. No weathering has been done yet, but Jeff is planning on using oils. He's using the included photo-etch details, and drilled out the 16" gun barrels. Jeff did mention that "photo-etch is not my friend." He added that a friend recently divulged that his dad was on the Missouri during the Japanese surrender, and Jeff thought it would make a cool Christmas gift. He also mentioned that the masks that were included made painting so much easier.

Jim Greenfield showed us his latest project, a Lindberg 1/266 C.S.S. Virginia Iron Clad ship. Jim used Citadel and Mission Models paints along with washes, panel liner and dry brushing. He opened up the gun ports and rebuilt the cannon. Jim said he had no issues with the build and picked the subject because he loves the ship.

Tom Faith showed us a new tool he recently acquired. It's a cutter for use with photo-etch parts.

Finally, some around-the-room shots.

Thanks to Jim Greenfield for handling the model tables. Photos provided by Larry Osolkowski.