BIG MONTH PREZ SEZ Mk.II.....The Big Stuff
Well, model dudes and dudettes, March is a big month for us. It's time to tie-up all the strings, dot all the "i's" and cross all the "t's" for BuffCon 27! So, let's get to it.
Our next very important club meeting will be March 15, 7 pm, in the basement classroom of the Harlem Rd. Community Center. Note that we are back on our 3rd Monday of the Month meeting schedule. For our E-Board members our next meeting is on March 22nd, at my studio again, 7 pm.
At our general club meeting we will be doing the ever popular IPMS judging seminar for youz guyz who plan on judging at BuffCon. The seminar will be conducted by our new Chief Judge Bob Raithel and our most excellent Chief Judge Emeritus Tony Bartozek. We will discuss the broad overview of IPMS judging and then the finer points so, when judging, we get it "right"! To that end we request that members bring finished models to the meeting for discussion. These models can be past entries or something you plan on entering at BuffCon. Maybe you can get some pre-show comments so you can "fix" some of the issues the "real judges" at the show might see!
In regards to BuffCon 27, Show Chair Justen "Jason Jimmy Johnny" Hanna will be passing our BuffCon work detail sign-up sheets around again. Just like voting in Chicago... sign-up early and often:)!
Also at our March meeting, Stan Keysa will be presenting his "How to build Diorama trees", using wire, CA glue, paint and Fairy Dust:):):)! Stan made terrific looking trees for the Fort Niagara diorama, so all of our diorama builders need to see Stan's presentation! In keeping with the "Creating/Building Dio Trees" theme, in April I will do my "Scratch-Building Fir Trees" (tentative at this point). Of course, in April we will have our post-BuffCon Pizza Thank Youz Guyz Party, and election of 2010-2011 officers.
Chuck Nichter - how are you Brother? We miss you! Who's gonna make sure Danny runs the Kitchen with an "iron fist":):):)? We all hope to see you soon and well! Speaking of seeing someone soon - Ernie and Tim, your absence has been noticed. I hope we see you in March!
The Littler Stuff....
1. Justen tells me that we still have un-sponsored categories for BuffCon - wink
wink nudge nudge hint HINT!!!!:)
2. Frankie Blonski is doing a very sweet IPMS Niagara Frontier Membership flyer.
He needs good club pictures, either digital or hard copy. If you have an image(s)
that you might think is appropriate please bring it to the meeting and give it to
Frank for consideration.
3. At our March meeting, we start nominations for the April election. If you would
like to nominate yourself or some one else (ask the person first) for either an
Executive Board slot or to one of the Executive positions, please tell Tom Faith
because he will create the ballots for the vote in April.
4. Bob "the Shaft" Conshafter will have some final words about the recently ended
2010 Kid's Modeling Classes. The club thanks you, Bob, for an excellent job!
5. Did you pay your dues yet?
6. Have you taken advantage of the Club's "pay 1/2 the freight" National IPMS
membership offer?
7. We'll discuss the WELL*CO*M*E XIV, Guelph, Ont. show.
8. Paul Hines might be able to bring a couple of the most excellent new trophies
that he and Tony Martin Awards have come up with.
Well that's it for now (I hope) - see youz allz Monday!
IPMS Prez Bob C.
Our model table moderator was Dan Marafino.
We started off the model table discussions with an experiment in frustration -
the Table From Hell! Members were asked to bring in a model that just couldn't be
finished - and an explanation of why this was the case.
We started off with your humble correspondent's Revell Me-210 in 1/72 scale.
The build went fine, but the kit's preposterous canopy design defeated all
attempts to complete the model. The canopy consisted of three pieces that didn't
fit to each other or to the plane's fuselage. It also kept collapsing and had panes
of glass that were about 2 scale feet thick. Just awful!
Next was a Dick Tracy Space Coupe from Bill Borkowski. This Polar Lights kit
was Bill's attempt to get back into the hobby four years ago! He tells us that the
kit is a disaster - nothing fits, although it seemed okay when he built it as a kid.
So he decided to fix it by scratch building an interior. Bill reports that he comes
back to the project from time to time, but he doubts he'll ever finish it.
Bob Collignon brought a Canadian Chevrolet C-8 Radio Truck. It's based on a
very old kit and the resin cast parts simply will not go together! Bob thinks that
by tacking it together with wall putty, he may be able to get a grip on the way
the model is supposed to be assembled. He's already put considerable time into the
kit; all, apparently, for nothing.
Justin Hanna had a green 1/48 Douglas Dauntless A-24 from Hasegawa to which he
added a Verlinden detail set. Nothing fit because the detail set was for the Accurate
Miniatures kit. Justin spent 80 or 90 hours trying to make it work before retiring
the kit to a box on the shelf.
Our final model nightmare came from Andre Theirault, who brought two ships - an
aircraft carrier that had no decals for the flight deck markings and another ship
that had plastic railings which were impossible to install. A subsequent issue of
the kit has photo-etched railings.
On the regular monthly kit table, we started with 2 figures, which Bob Collignon
converted from a DML figure set. Bob replaced the boots, hands head and equipment on
the German figure with resin parts, and on the wounded French soldier he replaced the
feet, sculpted a scarf from Aves Sculpt, and hollowed out the helmet so that the
resin head would fit better. These figures are to be used on the Laffley diorama that
Bob's been working on. He added more detail to the armored car, including new French
gas cans on the fender, an English water can sunglasses and a few bottles. Bob used a
new hair-spray weathering technique which he will be doing a demonstration on in the
future. In addition, Bob made some changes to the base including changing the shape
of the wall and making a smaller filial for the top of the column.
John Zaranek showed us his Challenger Tank in 1/35 scale. Since he last showed
it, he gave it a coat of Future, added decals, gave it some oil washes and
airbrushed some highlights. He ran into a problem when he gave the model a coat of
Polyscale flat, which drastically lightened the color. A discussion about paint
thinners ensued, with plain water emerging as the preferred thinner for Polyscale
paints. To solve the problem, John sprayed another coat of Future, which helped
darken the finish somewhat. He plans to add pastels to finish the Challenger off.
A German Protze truck in 1/35 scale was displayed by Eric Hildebrand. Eric
likes the look of this Tamaya kit, and has gotten it to the point where he is
applying washes. Eric reports that the kit went together smoothly and that some
of the parts are re-tooled from the older version of the kit. Eric hopes to have
it completed by Buffcon.
Tom Faith says he could have put the gun from his 2 cm Flak gun sled trailer
on the "Model From Hell" table, as he's been working on it on and off for about
four years. The gun is so small, that there is no tool in his arsenal small enough
to hold the pieces. Also, the gun shields had to be built around the main part of
the gun instead of building the gun around the shields. The sled is built using
reference from the Auburn World War 2 Museum, and although Tom had a kit of the
trailer, he scratch built his model from scale lumber. He added brass details,
doors, and lots of extra stuff. The original gun carriage would have been horse-drawn.
Mike Koenig brought in two resin figures made by Nemrod. These are Mike's
first resin figures.
A PT Boat in 1/35 scale was built by Paul Hines as a fun subject to tackle.
The two-tone Pacific theatre color scheme was produced using Flo-Quill railroad
colors. Paul added details to the life raft, scratch built windows, stretched sprue
antennas, and hollowed out the gun barrels. He also modified the torpedo tubes,
added a paper flag on the rear of the model, and metal drive shafts on the propellers.
Larry Osolkowski brought his Formula One car which is an on-going project that
he hopes to complete by Buffcon. He is at the primer stage currently, and has
assembled the brakes and wheel centers. He also showed Hasegawa's carbon fiber
texture which has been imprinted on bare-metal foil. He hasn't tried it yet, but
he says it holds promise as a cool finishing effect.
A discussion about using solder on white metal parts ensued, with Bob Collignon
recommending Tick's solder to attach parts.
Ilya Grinberg showed a Gas MM 1941-42 simplified construction, open cab truck in
1/72 scale. He used photographs taken in Moscow at an auto show as reference. Ilya
used the limited kit material available to start construction, and added scratch-built
parts. He is completing the model with specially built parts from custom fabricators
in Europe. Some of the parts were designed using 3D modeling programs, which allows
Ilya to check the accuracy before the part is made. The metal parts are made in
Bulgaria, the resin parts are made in the Ukraine.
A collection of figures purchased at the Dollar Tree and some resin figures were
shown by Tom Brown. The resin models were used by Tom for Jim Johnson's painting
class, with his "Annie Fannie' bust being his first oil painting project. His
subsequent "Poo-Poo Pirate" has a scratch built base with wooden gold coins. The
remainder of the figures came from Dollar Tree, and feature an American Heroes
collection. Neat models at a reasonable price!
Brian McFee's Osprey was inadvertently placed on the "Model From Hell" table.
Consequently, the kit has been relegated to Model Hell and may not be completed. Ever.
We welcomed Nick and Kelly Thompson who came along with their Dad. Nick is a
mentor for the Kids' Class and Kelly has been attending the Kids' Class for the past
four years. Welcome all!
Joe Szczygiel did a great demo on using Microsoft Paint to scale reference material
for producing scratch build plans.
YOUR 2010 DUES WERE DUE IN JANUARY
For most of you, your club dues for the 2010 calendar year were due by the
January 2010 meeting.
If you receive a mailed Dizpatch, your renewal date is listed next to
your name on the address label.
If you get Dizpatch by e-mail, your dues are probably due. Either check
with Dave Schwab at the meeting, or e-mail him at
davidsp51stang@aol.com
if you're not sure.
Everyone is now on the January to January schedule. Regular memberships are
still $10.00 per year and Juniors (under 18) are still $5.00.
You can pay the Treasurer Dave Schwab at the meetings or by mailing a check
to Dave at 28 Wanda Ave., Cheektowaga, NY 14211. Please make checks (or money
orders) out to Niagara Frontier Chapter IPMS.
Make sure that you share any updated information like addresses and e-mail
addresses with Dave as things change.
Reminder - Special Offer for All IPMS Niagara Frontier Members
We will rebate ½ of the cost for a one-year membership to IPMS USA, our national
"umbrella" organization for new national memberships and renewals occurring from
June 2009 through June 2010. The tangible benefit to this membership is 6 bimonthly
copies of the excellent modeling publication IPMS Journal.
Adult memberships are $25.00 per year and Juniors (17 years old and under) are
$12.00, so your rebates are $12.50 and $6.00 respectively.
You will be responsible to complete and submit the application along with
payment to IPMS USA. Dave Schwab has application forms. You can also do this
on-line at the National website.
You will receive a membership card in the mail a few weeks later.
To get your rebate, you just have to show your current IPMS USA member card
to Dave Schwab and he will give you money. How simple is that?
The E-Board encourages everyone to take advantage of this offer. It's a good
way to get your feet wet and see what IPMS USA is all about.
