Happy New Year to all of you!

Model Table Round-up from the December meeting

Thanks again to Matt Keysa for directing the model table commentary.

Brian McFee starts us off with his AD-6 US Marines Skyraider from 1952 as flown by VMA-223 out of NAS Edenton in North Carolina. Brian used Tamiya Flat White and Testor's Acryl Gull Gray for the final finish. He also used Eduard seat belts and decals from Impact.

Larry Osolkowski says he's starting to build his collection of Chaparrals with this 1/43rd scale kit from Marsh Models, a Chaparral 2C Can-Am Race Car. Larry scratchbuilt fuel filler caps, fuel injectors and exhaust pipes. He's used a variety of paints from the lines of Model Master, Tamiya and Zero.

Larry also has another kit in 1/43rd scale, the MEAkit43 1955 BMW Sidecar Racer. He says that the kit is a little rough and will probably require some scratchbuilding to bring out its full potential. This kit also includes some figures which, he explains, will be a new challenge for him.

Larry also showed us some new detail parts: a new company called Clearly Scale has some interesting resin bits, including various sizes of brake sets; Top Studio has some nice 1/24 scale machined toggle switches, and Zero Paints has a two-part etching primer for metal parts such as white metal and photoetch.

John-Allen Price brought in his Airfix/Heller P-38F Lightning in 1/72nd scale. This out of the box project isn't without its challenges - lots of flash and sink holes that will need to be dealt with. John-Allen is using paints from the PollyS and Humbrol range.

Clint Keidel has his Revell P-40C he converted from the "B" variant. Clint scratchbuilt a variety of parts and added some resin and photoetch aftermarket parts as well. Paints by Tamiya, Vallejo and Model Master were used. Oil paints were used for washes and dot filters. AK Interactive products were used to reproduce fuel and oil stains. Clint relates that he loves the P-40 and this is part of his "Buffalo" themed build for this year.

Ilya Grinberg also offers up a couple of projects this month. The first is a Studebaker US-6 in 1/72nd scale. He used Model Color paint and MiG products for the dirt effects.

He also brought in S-Model's Willys Jeep in 1/72nd scale. Model Color paints were used throughout and MiG products for dirt effects as well.

Justen Hanna has his Wingnut Wings Fokker E.II on hand tonight. He's used Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics for the main paint job and artist's oils to produce his signature wood grain.

The Japanese TV anime cartoon, "Girls Und Panzer" inspired John Zachritz to build Emhar's 1/72nd scale Mark IV Female tank to represent one as seen on the show. John used a variety of weathering techniques including rust and mud. He made simulated barbed wire from cut up pieces of window screening.

Jeff Usiak's son, Nigel appears to be following in dad's footsteps with his impressive 1/12th scale "Halo" Master Chief figure. Nigel explains that it was a "snap kit" that took him about two hours to build. He likes "shooter" computer games and received it for his birthday.

Even more impressive is Nigel's 1/72nd scale Polikarpov I.153 model kit. He used Vallejo paints, but lost the windshield. Nigel related it wasn't that hard and he had fun completing it. The downside was that "Dad cut himself" while helping him make a replacement windshield.

Matt Klukowski put together a Revell Snap-Kit of a Star Wars First Order TIE Fighter. He used Vallejo paints to complete his project.

Jim Greenfield brings in two of his projects this month: an M41 Walker Bulldog by Tamiya in 1/35th scale and a 1/48th scale Hasegawa Shinden. He made the Shinden into a twin jet, two seater.

Frank Blonski showed us the progress he's making on his conversion project he started about 43 years ago, the 1941 Plymouth ProMod based on the AMT Plymouth Coupe. Frank sectioned and split the body, chopped the top, and the hood was split and pie cut. All gaps were filled in preparation for smoothing out the body panels.

Bob Collignon brought in his M4A3 Sherman that was a feature article in Fine Scale Modeler Magazine. Bob made scale sandbags out of the "real deal", converted the figures and photomatched the base. He also used various weathering techniques "before it was cool".

Joe Szczygiel showed his work in progress, the Meng M3A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle in 1/35th scale. So far, he's used Tamiya Sea Foam Green for the interior color.

Paul Hines had some more artwork for us to enjoy this month: a 1965 Shelby GT350 and a 1952 Allard J2X.

Tom Faith presented his Italeri 15 CWT Chevy Truck with a Bronco 40mm Bofors gun in 1/35th scale. Tom's used a variety of paints for this project including those by Tamiya, Floquil, Model Master, Model Color and oil-based pastels.

Lastly, John Zaranek shared two of his new acquisitions. Both are modern French armor pieces by Tiger Model. The first is the Panhard VBL Light Armored Vehicle and the second is an AMX-10RCR six-wheeled tank destroyer. He says he's never built kits by this manufacturer before, but the moldings are very sharp and the instructions look suspiciously like those by Tamiya.

There were a few unidentified late entries on the tables.

Gifts were brought in for the secret gift exchange.

Presents were also collected for the Toys for Tots contributions that club members generously support every year.

The annual pizza party was enjoyed by all.

And, a few around-the-room shots of the meeting.

Thanks to Larry Osolkowski for the photography.