DUES ARE DUE AT THE JANUARY MEETING! PLEASE BRING $20 IN CASH OR CHECK TO TOM FAITH AT THE MEETING. THANKS, IN ADVANCE, FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS REQUEST.

IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - January 20, 2020

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.

Here is the schedule of presentations for upcoming general club meetings:

• January: round table discussion
• February: possible modeler website review or painting marble effect
• March: round table discussion
• April: pizza party, E-board nominations
• May: E-board elections

The club has a number of shirts that have not been claimed by the members that ordered them. Please see Tom Faith at the next meeting to pick up and pay for your shirt. Tom also has a few extras, so see him if you are interested in getting one.

The January 2020 newsletter of the IPMS Patriot chapter is available HERE.

A NOTE TO NON-MEMBERS

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

Dec 16th - President Rich Bernecki led the meeting.

• Rich brought up the previous meeting's minutes and there was a motion to approve them. There was a second to the motion and the minutes were open for discussion. There were no questions or comments and the general membership voted to approve them.
• Old Business:
  • Toys for Tots drive had members from the United States Marine in attendance to accept the donations from the members. They expressed gratitude as this will help local families with their Christmas.
  • The club celebrated with the pizza party at the meeting.
• New Business:
  • No new business.
• NorEastCon #49 in 2020:
  • No updates.
• Members' models on the tables were presented via "passing the mic".
• This month had a member's swap meet. This took place prior to and after the meeting. This was very well received by the members.

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 13 - President Rich Bernecki led the meeting.

• There were no previous E-board meeting minutes to approve as we did not have an official December meeting.
• Old Business:
  • Tom Faith stated that he still has remaining club shirts that members ordered and never paid the balance or picked them up.
• BuffCon #37, 2020:
  • Ed Button will continue with his action item as trophy coordinator for the event.
  • Tom Brown will continue with role of Chief Judge.
  • Larry Osolkowski will handle photos and be a judging coordinator.
  • Bill Borkowski will help Larry with photos and be a judge.
  • Dan Price will be a judge (Sci FI category).
  • Tom Faith will continue as financial coordinator along with opening and closing the event.
  • Al & Maryann Germann will again handle the kitchen.
  • Dick Schulenberg will confirm insurance coverage, letter to IPMS regional contact and is pursuing sponsorship exchanges with the usual clubs.
  • Dan Price described some of the area's Gundam and gaming stores. Dick added that we need to get BuffCon flyers to these stores.
  • Inventory of BuffCon supplies was a concern. Al has action item to inventory items at his location. The question of do the tablecloths need to be laundered came up.
  • Advertising is planned for Fine Scale Models and Scale Auto magazines.
  • Dick suggested a category sponsorship for the owner of Ace Hobby (Ron) that recently passed.
• NorEastCon 2020:
  • Larry requested that his position on the NorEastCon planning committee be filled by someone else as he does not have time in his personal life. There was a comment if this position be left vacant. Dave Schwab will be notified.
  • Al will update action item list and forward to E-board.
• New Business:
  • Tom Faith informed the E-board that he is concerned with the revenue for the upcoming BuffCon show. Last year was less than the previous standard and that the bank balance is solid but down from a historical average. Also membership dropped by a small number. Pre-show expenses are an area of attention. Ideas or actions discussed were:
    • Club shirt money needs to be collected or shirts sold to other members.
    • Club dues need to be collected in a timely manner.
    • Trophy budget needs to be reconsidered.
    • We should do more self-promotion during BuffCon.
    • Consider $5 off new club membership if people sign up during BuffCon.
    • Need to get BuffCon flyers out at locations.
    • Consider 50/50 raffle at club meetings.
    • E-board already quoting replacement location for monthly club meetings.
    • Consider asking hall about opening up the bar for NorEastCon as a benefit to attendees.
  • Demos for the general meetings are planned as follows:
    • January: round table discussion
    • February: possible modeler website review or painting marble effect
    • March: round table discussion
    • April: pizza party, E-board nominations
    • May: E-board elections
  • Dave Schwab of Rochester's club asked if our club was interested in co-hosting a IPMS National event. This will require a 3 year lead time and will cross over multiple E-board elections for our club. Discussion followed and this will be re-visited after the results of BuffCon, likely the June meeting.
• Miscellaneous:
  • Additional sites for the E-board meeting were identified with the following members volunteering hosting it at their homes.
    • February: Jeff Keenan, Clarence
    • March: Paul Hines, Depew
    • April: Jeff Keenan, Clarence
    • May: Dick Schulenberg, Silver Creek

Member Name: Dan Price

What kind of modeling? What scale?
Fantasy & Sci-Fi models, mostly Games Workshop models.

Member Name: Steve Weller

What kind of modeling? What scale?
I build ships, aircraft and tanks in 1/2400 - 1/32 scales, like old Monogram aircraft and Revell sail ships. I like kits with monster interiors, but I don't get many of them done.

Model tables from the December meeting:

John-Allen Price displayed his Fujimi 1/72 A-4E Skyhawk. He used Model Master light grey, dark RAF green and gloss white, Polly-S weapon olive, and Humbrol red paints, with no weathering done yet. The model is being built out-of-box, and John-Allen commented that there were too many small parts. He picked the subject to complete a series of U.S.N. models.

Maryann Germann showed us her latest project, an Arch Duke Ferdinand II figure. She's using Metalizer paint to finish it, and thought it was an interesting subject.

Al Germann showed us further progress on his diorama of a scene from the TV show "Most Dangerous Roads with Lisa Kelly", including a JB Model 1/76 Bedford truck. Al said he made new rear fenders for the truck, but still needs to scratch-build new mirrors. He made the rock wall using a wood structure, and the rocks were plaster-cast in sections.

Al also had his Revell 1/25 1956 Henry J on display again. He replaced/restored the rear wheel openings, and used the front fender on the rear. Al said he wanted to make it a modern drag car instead of an old gasser, and he likes the way it's turning out.

Al and Maryann are also working on a joint project, a Grateful Dead Tour Bus. This model is a kitbash of two 1/32 scale Japanese buses combined with the front clip of a 1/25 1937 Ford. Al is doing the body and chassis construction, and Maryann will do a custom paint job in a psychedelic pattern.

Tim Grieve brought in a Lindberg TBF Avenger from the Firepower Series. He used Model Color light sea grey paint, along with Model Masters true blue, red, green, flat black, yellow and gray. F104 avgas decals were applied, and a coat of Testors dullcoat was applied. Tim said that this is a highly articulated model - everything moves, including the ball turret, prop, sliding cockpit doors and all flight controls and landing gear. He picked the subject because he likes George and Barbara Bush. Tim mentioned that the instructions leave much to be desired, with not enough detail as to what goes where.

Jeff Keenan had a Revell 1/72 Sd.Kfz.7/1 Quad Anti-aircraft Half-track on display. It was finished with airbrushed Tamiya paints and a top coat of Vallejo dullcoat which came out satin. Jeff had to remake the sight guides when the originals broke off. He said he's still working on the weathering, using washes and pigments. He picked the subject because he likes quad cannons, and had no issues with the kit.

Jim Greenfield brought in three models this month. The first was a Revell Star Wars Star Destroyer in big scale. This is a work-in-progress, and it's a large model!

Jim's second model was a Moebius 1/4105 scale Battle Star Pegasus, finished with Tamiya, Vallejo and Citadel paints. Jim built it out-of-box, and weathered it with dry-brushing. He said he had zero problems with the kit, and picked it because it looked cool.

Jim's last model was a Bandai 1/48 Star Wars AT-ST Walker. Jim used a combination of Tamiya, Citadel, Vallejo and Mission Model paints, and weathered it with dry-brushing. The model was built box stock, and Jim said he had no issues with the kit. He was inspired by watching the Star Wars series "The Mandalorian".

Larry Osolkowski displayed his progress on his Hasegawa 1/24 BMW 2002tii. He completed some painting and assembly of the chassis, using Splash paint for the orange, and Alclad, Model Master, Zero, Mig and Tamiya paints for the details. He also made some progress on the interior bucket, door panels and dashboard, and found some interesting 3D-printed door handles from Spinneyworld, an online shop in the U.K.

Dave Armitage brought in another collection of models for us to see. The first was called "Ho Ho Ho, Dairy Christmas", finished in acrylics. Dave hollowed-out the cow to install the red light on its nose. The model was not a kit, but was inspired by a TV commercial.

Dave's second subject was an Italeri 1/500 Coliseum AD32, again finished in acrylics. Dave said some of the parts had a poor fit, but the model looked interesting. He also mentioned that painting the figures was "fun".

Dave also had a couple of items in HO scale from his train layout: a horse-drawn hearse and a railroad station, both finished with acrylic paints.

Finally, Dave had a figure on display, along with a 1/12 1927 Oil Wagon. Dave said the undercarriage was a bear to fabricate, and he has others in this scale.

Paul Hines showed us three new paintings based on an aircraft theme. The first was a Messerschmidt BF109 "Mark One Kill", the second a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt "On Patrol", and the third was a Grumman F9F Panther Jet "Cleared for Take Off". Paul said he did a lot of automotive art this past year so he thought he'd change over to aviation art. He enjoys both.

Paul also had a selection of earlier paintings for sale.

Alan Gryfe displayed a work-in-progress, a 1/87 GMC "Classic" bus kit-bashed from a Busch GMC "Fishbowl" and a Wiking Mercedes O-305. Although the model hasn't reached the paint stage yet, Alan shortened and grafted the top half of the Mercedes onto the bottom half of the GMC. He noted that the Mercedes is 1.5mm narrower than the GMC, making things interesting. Alan said that he drew the scale plans himself, and is thinking of adding a lighting kit. Alan is interested in buses.

Anthony Gliszczynski had two models on display. Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos of the first one, a Spitfire Mk. VIII that will be painted as a racer, built from a kit from last year's Secret Santa. The second was a 1/35 M-42 Duster Fire Support Vehicle. Anthony finished it with Tamiya paints, and used Mig oils for the weathering including dust and dark mud. He added metal tracks and metal gun barrels. He said he's just started using Mig oils, and built the model because it was a vehicle used in Vietnam where he was stationed. It was a fun build.

There were a few unidentified items on the tables. Please make sure that Larry Osolkowski gets your info sheet before you leave.

The annual Christmas meeting pizza party was enjoyed by all.

Our regular annual collection for Toys For Tots was received by the representatives from the US Marines.

The club swap meet was well-attended with lots of goodies available.

Finally, some around-the-room photos.

Thanks to Rich Bernecki for passing the microphone around for the tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photography.