Greetings! It's finally summer and we're all busy with nice weather activities - yard work, gardens, home
improvement projects, parties and barbecues and all that other good stuff we can't do most of the year. How many
of us continue to model during the summer months? I enjoy this hobby immensely and I always find time to work on
a kit or two even though it's really nice outside. Right now, I'm working on five projects: two Royal Navy Sea
Harriers (one is an old Matchbox kit and the other is from Hasegawa), an Airfix Royal Navy Buccaneer and a French
Navy Super Etendard by Minicraft. All are in 1/72 scale and all have their own challenges. The one that is giving
me the least amount of grief is the Hasegawa Sea Harrier. It's an older kit, but is a real joy to build. The
decals were a bit yellowed so I taped the sheet to the kitchen window for about a week and the ultraviolet rays
from the sun (it's summer!) bleached it out effectively. The Etendard is a nice little kit as well and the Matchbox
Sea Harrier is too, but the panel lines look like trenches they are so out of scale. I decided to try and fill them
with putty and will rescribe some finer ones, just to see how that works out. The Airfix Buccaneer is the one that
is turning into a real "putty bomb" - the fuselage halves fit, but there is much sanding and filling to do. The
wings are thicker than the roots and are in dire need of thinning just so they match up correctly. The "Brick" as
the Buccaneer is so nicknamed has a strange looking speed brake attached to the aft fuselage and sticks out past
the rudder; this barely lined up to the fuselage and really tried my patience, but I'm sticking with all of these.
I think I want to collect every Royal Navy aircraft that ever flew, which is why I'm working on these. Plus, I have
a "thing" for Harriers in general, just like some folks build Sherman tanks and Pontiac GTO's as if they aren't
going to make them anymore.
During these "Gentleman's Scale" builds I discovered a new "filler" to help correct gaps and smooth out the
joins: super glue (cyanoacrylate) and "microballoons". Despite my pride in my ability to be patient, I really
don't like to wait for traditional putties to cure. During a search of internet modeling forums, I found that
applying super glue to a seam and pouring Microballoons over it immediately, results in a filled gap that can
be sanded smooth and polished in minutes. I also tried using superglue with talcum powder and that works pretty
well, too. It just goes to show that a little research and the willingness to try different techniques can result
in learning something new and may even improve my modeling. Microballoons are very fine "beads" of resin (I believe)
that looks like a powder. They are very lightweight and can be dispensed right out of the bottle's pour spout. I
like a bit more control so I dip an old paintbrush into the balloons and tap the brush with my finger over the
freshly applied superglue; instant curing and can be wet-sanded immediately to your desired degree of smoothness.
I feel a demo at a club meeting coming on!
Speaking of demos, Justen Hanna will be showing us how he accomplishes some really cool paint chipping and
scratching effects to the paint of our models by using a top-secret formula. You MUST come to this month's meeting
to see how that's done! Master modeler Tom Faith will demonstrate his weathering techniques by using "oil paint
crayons" at this meeting as well, so this is one you definitely won't want to miss.
The 2013 Tim Hortons' Challenge is well under way and those who've entered have two months to go before your
entries are due to be completed. The teams are going to be divided into "Old" and "New" categories. If you have
been a club member for over 20 years, you're on the "Old" Team; less than 20 years, you're on the "New" Team.
Remember, there is honor (and coffee) at stake here, so please complete your entries on time and don't let your
teammates down.
The teams are as follows:
--------NEW TEAM--------
--------OLD TEAM--------
Have fun and build a model!
John R. Zaranek
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 47993
Model Table Round-up for May 2013
Tom Faith brought in his multiple award winning 1/35th LCM3 Landing Craft. One of the reasons he won the
awards is due to his outstanding method of weathering it. He used "oil pastels", Floquil paints and leather dye
for the wood parts. All weathering was done after final paint was completed and covered with an overall dull
coat. After a few more shows, the craft is destined to be on display at the Buffalo Naval & Serviceman's Park.
A North American Aviation F-100D Super Sabre jet in 1/48th scale was submitted by Brian McFee as a work in
progress. He plans to finish it in natural metal with 1965 Vietnam-era markings.
Joe Valone offered up for inspection a pair of Spitfire Silver Cloud kits. He says they were a lot of work and
include metal props and landing gear.
An AFV Club F-5E Tiger jet kit was displayed by Mike Butry. He says he reproduced the rivets using pins and
vacuum-formed his own jet intake.
Mark Gadek presented his Revell Heinkel He-111 Medium German bomber from World War II. He used Vallejo acrylics
and Eduard photoetch accessories in the cockpit. He also pointed out that the tail swastika markings did come on the
decal sheet for those kits exported to the US and not in those sent to other countries. (NOTE: Revell Germany kits
typically do not supply swastikas on their decal sheets because it is illegal to display a swastika in Germany. This
is interesting because Revell Germany never supplied them in any kit before.)
A 1926 Ford Rat Rod was shown by Mike Martinez. He added 1969 AMX body parts to come up with a unique creation.
Paul Hines gave us yet more of his impressive pencil dust drawings (Paul is on vacation from modeling for a
while!). He said he uses varying degrees of white paper for each drawing to catch the brightness. Check out his '57
Chevy, 1970 Chevelle, '94 Camaro and a late 1930's Ford.
Jim Lewis demonstrated his speed model building prowess with his Testor's 1930's "Mystic Maroon" and 1971 Chevy
Monte Carlo. Jim says he gets his cars completed in just over a week! The "Mystic Maroon" has a heavily modified
suspension and he moved the stenciling. The Monte was painted using Courtney Orange nail polish and uses Pegasus
wheels.
Larry Osolkowski brought in another addition to his increasing collection of Mini Coopers: a Fujimi kit of a
Mini Cooper S with the John Cooper Works kit.
A nice model of an M-12 155mm Gun Motor Carriage was on display; unfortunately, no information is available
on the builder.
A couple of other new kits were brought in for our examination.
Matt Klukowski brought in a portfolio of his photographs.
The Tim Hortons' Challenge is under way, and photographs were taken to be used as
evidence against the perpetrators. The first suspect is John Zaranek with his BAE Sea Harrier.
Next is Jacob Gadek with his Ford Tri-motor.
Next we have Mark Gadek with his PZL-37.
Next is Mark Budniewski with his 1971 Chevrolet Racer's Wedge/Pickup.
Renaldo Hanna will be building some Velociraptors.
Samantha Hanna will be making her Warhammer 40000.
Next we have Matt Klukowski with his '73 Mustang Mach I.
Brian McFee will be building an F8F-2 Bearcat.
Matt Krygier will be building a Captain America.
Frank Blonski will be building a '66 Chevy SS-396 with some help from his friends.
Tony Gliszczynski will be building a '50 Ford F-1 Pickup.
Tom Brown Sr. will be building some tiny guns.
Tom Brown Jr. will be building a DKM U-boat.
Not to be outdone by Samantha, Justen Hanna will also be making a Warhammer 40000.
The "Rommel's Rod" is being built by Tony Bartozek; Matt Keysa was just "displaying" it for Tony because Tony was unable to attend.
Bob Collignon will be building a Mk III Land Raider.
Tom Faith will be building a Soviet Armoured Aerosan NK-26.
Finally, some around-the-room shots of the meeting and the tables.
Thanks to Bob Colignon for the photography.
