At the May meeting, we began the Tony Bartozek "I'm Not A Modeling Loser" annual competition. We had 27 members sign up to participate in the challenge - great job! Please remember that the models need to be completed and presented at the August meeting (or a meeting before August) to count.

IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - June 17, 2019

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

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 June 2019 newsletter of the IPMS Patriot chapter is available HERE.

Any member who needs a club name tag should see Paul Hines at the meeting. We will be ordering name tags in the near future.

The Tony Bartozek "I'm Not a Modeling Loser" challenge entrants are shown below.

Tom Brown Sr. - Pyro Pistol

Sorry, no photo

Michael Szadek - HobbyBoss 1/48 US M4A3 Tank

Bill Borkowski - Matchbox 1/72 Norseman

Frank Blonski - 55 Jukebox Ford

Brian Horton - 55 Chevy Bel Air

Joshua Keenan - DML SU 27 Flanker

Todd Habscheid - RockTroll Bones Collection

Jack Rudollph - Vosper 1/35

Alan Gryfe - 1/87 ModelPower Wonder Chair Factory

Brian Yurko - Monogram 1/72 Bearcat

Jeff Keenan - 1/144 F/A 18C Hornet

Dan Price - Leviathon Dreadnaught

Rod Adam - Trumpeter 1/48 Wyvern

Tom Faith - Holt Tractor

Sorry, no photo

Team 2 contains the following entrants:

Dick Schulenberg - Anigrand 1/144 Experimental Century Series

Mark Budniewski - MPC 1978 Dodge Pickup

Dan Marafino - B-25G Italeri

Matthew Krygier - Polar Lights Wolverine

Al Germann - Yamaha 500cc Racing Motorcycle

Maryann Germann - Kamen Rider 1/6 scale

David Krygier - In the Pinch of Peril

Michael Hall - ? Caster

Eugene Paveljack - German High Velocity Anti Tank Gun

Dave Armitage - Loft Bedroom 1/12

Larry Osolkowski - 67 Fairlady 2000GT

Tim Grieve - AC 123K Black Spot

Sorry, no photo

Clint Keidel - HobbyBoss 1/48 P 38L-5-LO

Sorry, no photo

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

May 20th - President Rich Bernecki led the meeting.

• Old Business:
  • Rich called for motion to accept previous meeting's minutes. Gene motioned, there was a second. Floor was open for comment, there was none so voting took place and membership accepted the minutes.
  • The Tony Bartozek "I'm not a modeling loser" challenge will start at this meeting. Entrants will be randomly categorized into 2 teams. There was an offer to reuse last year's trophy. Photos of entrant and their model will be taken during break.
  • Tom Faith reported on pursuing club shirts. The club will have some contribution with regards to the cost to members. Price is likely to be in the $25 range and these will be of good quality.
• BuffCon #36 from April 7th, 2019
  • Tom F. provided an updated financial report that included a profit that was down a little compared to recent BuffCon shows.
• New Business:
  • Upcoming show is TorCon in Canada.
  • Rich discussed an email he received from a woman looking for someone to restore a model of a lake freighter and to build a display case. Any member interested should speak to him.
  • There is a request to the club for models for a space model display. This will be discussed again.
  • There will be no E-board meeting until September. General meeting schedule will continue over the summer months.
  • Club member Dave Armitage offered to host a field trip/summer picnic for the club members at his house in Batavia. Dave has a large collection of vintage cars and a very large collection of scale models. This was discussed and approved by the E-board and is now being presented to the general membership and to allow expenditure to cover some of the food cost. The club does have IPMS insurance coverage for an event like this. There were motions and seconds and time for discussion and voting followed approving interest in the picnic event, approving expenditures, date of Saturday July 20th and that the food will be a lunch format.
  • The floor was open to questions and comments and Gene asked about the club having to put money up front to co-host NorEast Con in 2020. It was stated that there was a $1,000 deposit to reserve the same venue and this cost was split with the Rochester IPMS club. Also Tom F thanked all members that helped with the recent AMPS show.
• Members' models on the tables were presented via "passing the mic".
• Demonstration on How to Build Better Models Faster was presented by Al Germann.

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.

May 13th - President Rich Bernecki led the meeting.

• BuffCon #36, 2019:
  • The event overall was considered a good, well run show. Additional comment was the vendor room had good feedback. This is in part due to "no sales" before opening time and allowing vendors to set up. Also vendor door security.
  • Larry stated he was disappointed in the judging/awards of the auto categories as they were not in line with other recent local shows. Tom Sr. has action item to review and analyze who were the judges. Dick suggested a future demo presentation should be on judging as this will lead to better and more consistent awards.
• Old Business:
  • Rich led a discussion on an offer from member Dave Armitage on having a club field trip/picnic at his house in Batavia. Dave has a large collection of vintage cars and a very large collection of scale models. The club can offset cost for food as a picnic event. Larry O. motioned to pursue this. This motion had a second, was discussed and approved to continue to pursue. Dick has action item to verify club insurance coverage for the event. Rich has action item to present this to the general membership at the next meeting.
  • Club shirts were discussed again with updates and discussion followed including that the club can cover some partial cost to members. Tom F. has action item to bring samples and pricing details to an upcoming general meeting.
• New Business:
  • Tom Brown Sr. suggested a presentation like the demonstration presentations to show the history of the club and our members. Al G. has the action item to talk with Tom on this.
  • Rich B. read two emails he received on behalf of the club. One was on requesting someone to help with restoring an older ship model of a lake freighter that now belongs to a family member of the writer. Rich provided some additional details and has the action item to present this at the next general meeting. Another email was from someone in Michigan on a large model kit collection from a family member that recently passed. Dick S. and Dave Schwab are best candidates to locate and contact a club in Michigan on this. Rich has action item to follow and reply to the email.
  • Tom B. Sr. pointed out the need to replace E-board member Tom Brown Jr. as he is serving in the US Marines and will not have time to actively participate with his position in the club. There was a discussion on possible candidates with Dick nominating Dave Price as a preferred replacement. Dave recently contributed to the explanation, suggestion and expansion of the Gundam and War Hammer categories. Rich has the action item to follow up on this.
  • Dick stated he received a request of a newer member to the club and was in need of his club nametag. Larry has action item to include a statement in the newsletter for anyone else in need of a nametag to make that known in order to place one order for all that are needed.
  • Club member Steve Weller was in attendance and requested extra time during the presentation of member models presented on the tables during the general meetings. Rich provided existing guidelines that the available time for description and questions and answers is based on the amount of models at each meeting. This is a compromise of allowing helpful discussion and ending the meeting at a respectful time for members. Rich will make a statement to clarify this at the general meetings as done in the past. The "round table" discussions are a perfect venue for members to Q&A time on models being presented. At least at the meetings with round tables discussion format is scheduled. Tom F. has action item to promote the round table discussion as he sees appropriate.
  • Rich led discussion on further review of the BuffCon categories as compared to model sales. Section 8 Hobbies may provide some statistics on this. Tom B Sr. has action item to lead this review to the appropriate extent.

Member Name: Dave Schwab

What kind of modeling? What scale?
1/72 U.S Aircraft, U.S. Space Program and 1/144 Airliners that flew into Buffalo, NY.

Member Name: Patsy Schwab

What kind of modeling? What scale?
Figures - any scale. Sci-Fi, Cats, Super Heroes and Roman Soldiers.

Model tables from the May meeting:

Rod Adam displayed his 1/350 ICM SMS Iconig ship. Rod used Tamiya paints with chalk pastels for weathering, and added some photo-etch details. He said it was a terrible kit, but he built it anyway because he likes WWI battleships.

Nick Carluccio brought in an original 1/25 AMT 1962 Chevy. He said he bought it as a glue bomb off of eBay, stripped the old paint and refinished it with Testors One Coat Deja Blue Metallic.

Tim Grieve had a 1/72 Hasegawa F-104G for us to examine. It was finished with Model Master paints, with no weathering or modifications. Tim mentioned that the decals were very thin and would disintegrate easily, which made their application a challenge. Tim likes 100-series aircraft.

Paul Hines showed us another collection of automotive paintings. This group comprised a Pennzoil Indy car, a 1927 Model T Woody, and a Hi-tech 33 Coupe. Paul said he will be doing some classic and vintage cars next.

Michael Szadek had a group of models that won some hardware at the Amps show. The first was a 1/35 Tamiya Duck Ford G.P.A. Jeep. He used Tamiya paints, with Mission paints for weathering. Resin cast stowage was added along with Archer transfers and kit decals.

Michael's next item was a 1/35 Tamiya M8 Howitzer. He finished this one with Mission Models paints for general painting and weathering. He again added resin cast stowage and Archer transfers.

Michael also had a 1/35 Tamiya Jeep on display. It was finished with Tamiya paints and Mission Models weathering, and had similar additions to his other models.

Michael's last model was a 1/35 Tamiya Jeep with an Italeri trailer, finished and detailed with the same paints and additions.

Larry Osolkowski brought in three items. The first was a new kit in 1/24 from Revell, the Ford GT Le Mans race car. Larry said this looks like a nice kit, with engine and good detail. He also had some matching decals from Studio 27 for the Castrol retro paint scheme that Ford used at this year's 24 Hours of Daytona.

Larry also displayed a restarted old project, a Revell-Monogram Babylon 5 Space Station. He said this was a typical old Sci-Fi kit, with lots of sink marks, large seams and soft detail. He spent a lot of time closing off the backs of hollow parts that would be seen on the finished model, and started some tricky paint masking. This one will take a lot of work.

Larry's last item was his entry in the Tony Bartozek challenge, a 1/32 Arii '67 Fairlady 2000 GT. This car was sold in the US as the Datsun 2000 Roadster, and Larry owned one back in the 70's. He mentioned one oddity with the kit: the name on the hood of the model body is spelled D A T S A N. Larry didn't know if this was just an error or a copyright issue, but he found a way to fix it with a set of photo-etched letters. He got these on eBay, and they could be used for a variety of applications. For those who are interested, they can be found HERE.

Larry also brought in the usual stack of modeling magazines, which disappeared rapidly.

Dave Armitage brought in a collection of models that included some vehicles, some figures, and some buildings/rooms. Unfortunately, the description sheets were not available.

There were a couple of items on the tables without description sheets, or with sheets that were not collected. Please make sure you fill out sheets and get them to Larry Osolkowski before the end of the meeting.

Al Germann presented a demo on Building Better Models Faster. One of his tips was to use a table tripod easel to hold instructions while working on a kit.

Finally, some around-the-room photos.

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