Well, it's definitely been an interesting winter. I hope the weather allowed you some quality modelling time! I also hope you are working on your entries for BuffCon. You still have two months to go! In fact, it would be great to see some of your "in progress" builds at the next meeting. We will also be passing around sign up sheets for you to be able to choose how you can assist at the show. We'll also be bringing you some details for the potential NoreastCon 2020 cooperation with the Rochester club to vote on. Al Germann will be giving his postponed presentation of model part holding tools and techniques. Looks like a busy meeting! Stay safe and warm, and I'll see you on Monday.

IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - February 18, 2019

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

Call for adjournment.

In case of inclement weather, members are advised to watch WGRZ, Channel 2 TV or check their website at the WGRZ Alert Center for information on meeting cancellation.

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.

The February 2019 newsletter of the IPMS Patriot chapter is available HERE.

The minutes from the January 2019 general meeting are included below. Thanks to our Secretary, Al Germann, for the meeting minutes.

January 21st - First Vice President Ed Button led the meeting.

• Ed B. recognized visitors; there was one.
• Old Business:
• Ed thanked all involved with the December pizza party, Secret Santa exchange and the Toys for Tots activities. Tom Brown Jr. reported some details of the Toys for Tots program for Western New York that included 100,000 toys donated helping 50,000 families.
• Tom Faith did another pass of his survey for model subject interest by the club's members. This will help organize the round table focus group discussions planned for upcoming meetings.
• Ed informed the members that dues for 2019 membership are due and Tom F. can accept payments during the break time of the meeting.
• New Business:
• Ed informed the membership that the E-board is considering club shirts and asked how many were interested. It was a high majority in favor of shirts. This will be a single design (not a selection or choice) and for purchase by members.
• Larry Osolkowski stated that he is building an on-line directory of members that will include photos.
• Ed presented the offer from the Rochester IPMS club on co-hosting NorEastCon 2020. This is based on the same arrangement as NorEastCon 2018 where our club and Rochester's club share planning, expense, set up, operations and tear down along with sharing the profits. Paul Hines spoke that he would like to see more available time to evaluate and review but it was discussed that in order to get the dates we prefer, we have a very limited time. The E-board recently voted to pursue and evaluate this joint venture and per the club constitution we need to get club membership approval to proceed for this first step. Larry O. moved to bring it to a vote and Steve Weller seconded motion. The general membership in attendance voted with the results of 36-yes and 2-no to proceed with the exploration of the joint venture of NorEastCon 2020 with the Rochester IMPS club. The motion passed.
• Upcoming nearby scale modeling events include HeritageCon in Hamilton in March.
• BuffCon was discussed and included recognizing the area coordinators. Tom Sr. stated that helpers for the event's set up in the morning are not to purchase from vendors until the official opening time of 9:00.
• Ed reminded members to bring in models that are still in work for display at BuffCon. More on this in upcoming meetings.
• Frank Blonski asked members to forward the club's postings on Facebook when possible and appropriate.
• Models on the tables were presented via "passing the mic".
• No demo (demonstration) took place as there was a connection problem to the projector. Action item for Al, Tom F. and Rich B. to discuss demo schedule prior to February meeting.

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.

January 14 - President Rich Bernecki led the meeting.

• Tom Faith brought up storage of the balance of the club's supplies are still at Joe Szczygielski house. Al Germann stated he has room for storage but no practical way of moving the containers. Ed Button volunteered to move them. Action item for Al and Ed to make arrangements for the move. A question was raised of where the club's banner was located and Al will take that as an action item.
• Notification of cancelled club meetings due to adverse weather will be communicated thru WGRZ TV channel 2. Action item for Rich to assure he has proper contact information.
• For the upcoming demonstration at the January general meeting, there is an action item for Ed to forward the digital projector to Al.
• A request was received from the Gundam Knights Model Group for a discount for the 2 vendor tables they are requesting. They stated that their presence at BuffCon is for promotion and information of their sector of model building and they are not selling anything at the show. After discussion, the E-board's response is to offer a $5 discount per table, from $35 to $30. This discount will be available at future BuffCon events for up to 2 tables if they are used for promotion, information or other non-direct sales. Rich has the action item to communicate this back.
• Discussed the recent email from another regional club having a contestant model entry stolen including how it can affect our club and coverage/deductible for a claim. Al G. brought up the visual deterrence advantage of having bright color club shirts for members may deter devious actions during BuffCon. After additional discussion, Tom Jr. volunteered for the action item to get a quote for Polo style shirts that includes club identification and logo.
• Short discussion on BuffCon categories with Tom Jr. stating of the advantage to involve members from Gundam Knights club to suggest categories specific to that segment. Action item for Tom to invite one of their members to the next E-board meeting for input.
• Action item for Tom F. to bring in the financial data from NorEastCon 2018 to the next E-board meeting.
• The demonstrations for the monthly meetings were briefly discussed and Al G. has the action item to send out his slide show presentation to the E-board members. February meeting is planned to have a round table focus group format organized by Tom F.
• Dick Schulenberg proposed a club sponsorship to IPMS National event of $250 and to NorEastCon 2019 for $100. This was the same amount as in the past. Tom F. motioned to to proceed with the sponsorship and Larry O. seconded the motion and was approved by the E-board. Action item for Dick to follow through on the sponsorships.

Member Name: Justen Hanna

What kind of modeling? What scale?
I started out with 1/48th WWII fighter planes around age 14. Within the last ten years or so, I've been doing 1/48th WWI aircraft but have moved into 1/32nd mainly because of the quality and fun of Wingnuts Wings kits.

Member Name: Larry Osolkowski

What kind of modeling? What scale?
I build mostly automotive subjects, primarily racing cars, in scales from 1/43 to 1/12, including motorcycles. I also dabble in aircraft and science fiction subjects.

Model tables from the January meeting:

Clint Keidel showed us his current project, a 1/32 Roden Albatros DIII (OAW), which is progressing very well. Clint used Mission Models and Tamiya paints, with no weathering done yet. He said he just added the rigging, which went easier than he thought it would.

Clint also had a 1/25 Revell 1968 Chevelle on display. He said it's a new tooling kit from Revell America, and he's looking forward to building it as the Chevelle that he owned for 30 years. He said it was his first car, and he got it when he was 14 years old.

Jim Greenfield displayed a Game of Thrones 1/16 ICM Night King kit, including a horse. He used Citadel and Testors paints, with oxides and washes for weathering. Jim said he scratch built the armor and weapons and the guts of the dead horse. He mentioned that there were no issues with the kit, and he picked the subject because "he looks evil with no remorse".

Dick Schulenberg had two models on display this month. The first was an Azur (Special Hobby/MP4) 1/72 Loire 130 French pre-WW-II battleship-based seaplane that was in-progress last month. It was finished with Tamiya Silver Leaf over Citadel black primer, both from spray cans. Dick mentioned that odds and ends were replaced with scratch parts, but it was otherwise built out-of-box and the kit decals worked surprisingly well. He said it was a typical early short run kit with better than average surface details. It took lots of fitting and puzzling things out, like "where does this go"? He picked this subject because it looked cool to him; he loved the struts and odd tail.

Dick's second model was a Hobby Boss 1/35 French EBR-10 Wheeled Recon Vehicle, in-progress. It currently has Citadel black spray primer on it, and he'll use Vallejo Model Air acrylics to finish it. He's building it out-of-box except for replacement resin wheel sets; he doesn't care for vinyl tires. Dick said he had a hard time with the hatches - nothing positive to locate the covers. He also mentioned that some of the photo-etch was too small to bother with, like PE rivets. The subject was pretty cool-looking and the retractable center wheel sets were interesting. Dick started this at a Section 8 build night.

Dick also showed a couple of photos that were brought in by Larry Osolkowski. They were taken many years ago on a trip by a group of club members known as the "Traveling Tonys". Ask Dick to tell the story behind the pics sometime.

Larry Osolkowski displayed his progress on his current project, a Tamiya 1/20 Ferrari F-189 Formula 1 race car. The engine/gearbox assembly now has partly scratch-built spring & shock assemblies and a finished airbox with four colors of paint and three carbon fiber decals on it. Paints used include Tamiya acrylics, Alclad metal lacquers and Model Master enamels. Larry's adding photo-etch radiator faces and scratch-built water line connections, and a Studio 27 white metal brake set.

Larry also brought in some aluminum wire that he found on Amazon, in sizes 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5mm, a small lithium battery powered hand grinder, also from Amazon ($20), and some alligator clip leads that were free for the taking and can be used to hold parts for painting.

Al Germann showed us his next project, a 1/32 Grateful Dead Bus kit-bash. Al is using two Isuzu buses (in 1/32 scale) and a 1937 Chevy coupe front end (in 1/25 scale), along with a conversion from right to left hand drive and extended length. Al said it's a joint project (no pun intended) with his wife as she is a big Grateful Dead fan. Al will build the bus and Maryann will paint it.

Al also brought in another project, a Revell 1/48 P-61 Black Widow. He's added some photo-etch parts, and is dealing with mismatched seams, rivets and ejector pins. Al said the kit was a Christmas gift so he has to build it, and the extra photo-etch and rescribing of the panel lines is slowing him down.

Maryann Guest Germann displayed a 1/10 resin bust of "The Messenger, the Guardian of the Galapagas". She's finishing it with Vallejo paints, and has had no issues so far. The kit was a Christmas gift from her husband.

Paul Hines had another collection of three new paintings on a hot rod theme. The group comprises a White Rod With Gray Flames, a 1941 Willys With Flames, and a 1932 Deuce "High Boy" (meaning the body sits on top of the frame). Paul said that all of his paintings are finished with a gloss acrylic spray for protection and to give them an "oil painting look".

Brian McFee showed us his most recent build, a Tamiya 1/48 F-51D Mustang from the Korean War. Brian used Alclad aluminum, Testors gloss red, and Vallejo Model Air paints. The model is build out-of-box, and weathered with washes.

Jim Lewis had a couple of models for us to see. The first was a Revell 1/25 Acura Integra. He finished it with Testors One Coat Pink, and used the decals from a Fast and Furious Honda Civic kit. Jim said he did this model with his daughter in mind because it was one of the types of cars they raced on X Box before she passed away.

Jim's second model was a Monogram 1/25 1955 Chevy Indianapolis Pace Car. It was painted with Testors Italian Red and Pearl White. He said he built it as a memory of the old days of racing.

Tom Brown Jr. displayed a Warhammer 40K Death Watch Watch Captain kit bash. He finished it with Citadel and Model Air paints, with no weathering. Tom mentioned that the arms and jump pack are magnetized, and he had no issues with the kit. He picked the subject because he plays Warhammer.

The end-of-the-meeting raffle prize this month was a 1/72 Hasegawa B-47E Stratojet.

Finally, some around-the-room photos.

Thanks to Ed Button for passing the microphone around for the tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photography.