...or News from the Nameless One
When I started high school back in '92, I had already had about 6 years worth of modeling under my 26" inch belt. I had already begun to build ships, cars, and (oddly enough) planes to excess, much to the chagrin of my ever space-conscious mother. She, like many of my family, saw my plastic masterpieces as toys that should be "put away" once I was done "playing" with them. I had not yet become aware that a full community of serious modelers was right at my door-step.
However, my freshman year homeroom advisor was one John Zachritz (yes, the tall dude with the aliens and Gundam models) who actually built models AS AN ADULT! Not only did he build, but he had magazines, kits and a small after-school club for students that were afflicted with our mutual styrene-diction. I and several other noodley-armed, pubescent nerds would spend many an afternoon assembling (poorly) kit after kit for display in our respective Star War and Pokemon laden dens of geekitude.
Life was good.
That same year, Mr. Zachritz secured the school van and a small stack of permission slips in an effort to take our small band of modeling ziltches to this thing called a 'model show.' This 'model show' was to take place in a hotel in the Falls where there would be a model contest and a vendor room with kits for sale! I honestly wasn't sure that I wanted to go and spend a Saturday under school-law. However, after having been handed a flyer for this 'model show' I knew that I was certainly going to attend.
Being a teenager in America in 1992, my literacy skills were rudimentary at best. But I knew from the very eye-catching, hand drawn P-40 on the flyer, (by the very talented Mike Miodonski) that this "BuffCon" ...thing... was going to be well worth the money I begged off of my parents. (Again, life was good.)
Once we got in the door of my first BuffCon it took all of fifteen minutes to spend every dime that I brought with me. Being now bored and broke, I decided to check out the contest area. It was at this point that I fully realized, yes, this hobby is legitimate. It is real and worthwhile. Adults and children alike are indeed better people for spending their free time and energy on such a venture as scale modeling. There were dioramas of tanks, planes and ships. There were battle scenes and science-fiction characters rendered in perfect 3-D miniature. Most influentially: they were all better than ANYTHING I had ever seen, much less done. My squadrons of planes and space-craft, my fleet of warships and whatnot were garbage next to the stuff I beheld on those tables. However, instead of being discouraged...
I wanted to be able to do that.
I wanted my planes to look as real as the landing Kingfisher that I saw. I wanted the rust on my tanks to look just as tetanus-giving, I wanted my tires to look like real rubber. Furthermore, I wanted to be a part of it: BuffCon.
Well, after I allowed myself to be distracted long enough with cars and girls... That's another story for another day... I did become a part of it. My hormone-addled little 14-year-old brain couldn't have conceived how involved I would become by age 32: President of the club that put on that very same 'model show,' and chairman of the show itself. Call me sentimental, but you know what? I still look forward to our 'model show,' the same way that I did when I went to my second and third BuffCon. Kind of sappy, isn't it?
Well guys, we are officially less than a month away from another BuffCon. I'm sure that it will have the same effect on someone.
As usual, we are going to need the whole club to help out. At the forthcoming meeting, I'll be passing around the sign-up sheets again. We had quite a few sign-up last month (thanks to those who have!) but we can always use more judges, security folk, and set-up/move-in guys. Please volunteer early and often.
I will be taking final orders for the new club shirts. I'll have the sample pictures and order sheet to pass around. If you are ordering or have ordered a shirt I will need the money in hand at this up-coming meeting. The prices are $10 each t-shirt, $25 each sweater, and $20 each polo. I'll have the shirts available the day of the show at the Section 8 Hobbies table. Please see me with any questions or concerns.
For this month's meeting, in preparation for BuffCon we will be doing a judging seminar. For those who are interested in judging, are judging, or looking to see what judges look for when handing out awards, you won't want to miss this. Please feel free to bring in a project that you'd like to have gone over before the show. Can't hurt, right?
That's all that I have for now, kids. See you at our next meeting at 7PM on March 21st in the Harlem Road Community Center. The next e-board meeting will be at Bob Raithel's house at 7PM on March 28th.
See you soon!
Justen Hanna
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA #45680
Notes from the February 2011 Meeting
The February Model Table was moderated by Matt Keysa.
We started off with a pile of IPMS Journals offered for the taking by Bob Conshafter.
Thanks Bob!
A JACSS Accord Racing automobile was brought in by Larry Osolkowski. The 1/24 scale Tamiya
kit is in-progress and Larry shared some of his techniques for handling small parts by using
alligator clips and using double sided tape and blue-tack on the end of a short length of
wooden dowel. Great idea!
Lucas Wolfe showed the Frankenstein Flivver model he built in the Kid's Class. It has a
cool paint job and an eye-ball yo-yo! The young modeler's favorite feature was Frankenstein's
jet-black hair. Nice job, Lucas!
Tom Brown brought in Elvis Dumbledor busts - one in plaster, the other in resin. The
"Harry Potter" character is part of a kit that includes silicon molds and plaster to make
home-made character busts. After casting the resin mold, Tom used additional resin to fill
the air bubbles.
Jim Wolfe displayed a KV-1 Russian tank. He is trying out different weathering
techniques including an oil glaze technique he found in on of Steve Zaloga's books. Jim
likes the method, but reports that the paint takes a long time to dry and seems to attract
lint. Illya Grinberg translated the inscription on the turret as reading: "For Stalin!"
A Sherman "Jumbo" tank was shared by Bob Collignon. It is a resin Formations kit in
1/35 scale with lots of different parts from different sources added. Bob says it's a
good kit, but that he's re-done everything on it two or three times. He plans to add
figures in the hatches and make it part of a diorama.
Paul Hines showed his 1/144 Revel-Monogram Fletcher-class Destroyer which he built
95% out of the box. The biggest challenge with this kit was building the multiple deck
layers, figuring out the camouflage scheme, and then taking them apart to paint and then
re-assemble them. He solved the problem by attaching ¼ inch wooden pieces so he could
take it apart, paint it and then put it back together. The light gray color is airbrushed
and the dark gray was applied with a soft hand brush. Paul discarded all the photo etched
parts and used brass wire for the railings. He also drilled out the guns and added flash
shields to the gun turrets.
Frank Blonski had his in-progress 1950 pick-up truck on hand. He has made changes to
the rear tail lights. Here is Frank in his own words:
I took the resin forms I had made to try making all the holes the same shape and used
them to form new pockets. I made 4 rectangular tubes out of Evergreen channels and strips,
keeping one end flush. I ground out the entire tail light section to make a large cavity,
then put a piece of .015 thick sheet in the cavity to make a smooth mounting surface for
the tubes. I used the small holes for locating holes with the resin piece as a guide to
position the tubes. Using an adjustable protractor purchased from 3 Guyz, I set the tubes
at 80 degrees. After all the tubes were glued in place I packed some homemade glue putty
in the voids around the tubes. When that was good and hard, after 2-3 days, I cut off the
tubes flush with the back and sanded smooth. I took a bunch of pictures during the whole
process which I was thinking of doing a little how-to article for the web site.
Frank also brought a railroad car. But let's let him explain:
1/64th (S-Scale) Lehigh Valley Train Decals.
This is a project I started a few months ago, that I sort of talked my self into. A
guy at work is into 1-64th Scale trains (S Scale) and has a layout in his basement. He
was at a couple of our meetings in the past. One day we were talking about how he was
unhappy with the decals that were available aftermarket for his Lehigh Valley train he
was trying to replicate. I thought I could help him out and re-draw the decals he needed.
He sent me a ton of reference pictures and a painting blueprint that had all the dimensions
for the stripe layout. I used Corel Draw to create the art work. The sheet at the meeting
was the proof drawing before we go to actual decal paper. There are few changes to be made
before the final print.
Thank you, Frank, for making my job easy this month!
Ernie Yuhnke brought some 54mm figures. They include: A Verlinden British Lancer
from the Crimean War, a Marlboro Wars Englishman from New Hope Design, an Aide de Camp
of Mirat-Napoleon's brother in law from Historex, a 42nd Highlander Piper also from
Historex, Christopher Columbus-an IR figure, Mocarex Coffee figures from the Revolutionary
War, two figures making up a scene of a young man being abducted into a press-gang from
Pheonix Models, and a soldier picking up his girlfriend in winter-a Sarin Model. Nice
work, Ernie!
Matt Keysa brought a Warriors 1/35 scale US Army Infantry 2nd Armor Division which
he will paint in the short-lived camouflage pattern that closely resembled a pattern used
by the Germans. The sculpting on the figure is superb! Matt has added various after market
diorama details to the figure base. The project has been underway for a long time and Matt
has to finish the ground work and painting for it to be complete. Matt is looking for a
1/35 scale M1 Garand to replace the broken one from the figure.
Matt also had a Japanese Tank and Infantry gun and crew figures from a war-gaming set
that was given to him years ago. The railroad tracks on the base are N-gauge. The scale of
the figures and armor are unknown. He added a scratch built bridge and telephone pole to
complete the scene. Matt hopes to have both projects completed by BuffCon.
A real-space astronaut was shared by Ed Button. The Revel model was started a dozen or
so years ago. He has since removed the head and used Milliput to re-sculpt the helmet and
the head except the face, which looks like Neil Armstrong. Ed added connectors to the front
of the suit, sculpted Velcro pieces, and added a 1/6 scale wrist watch from a Dragon Figure.
Dave Armitage brought a locomotive model that he restored. It's supposed to be "The
General" but it was missing a lot of parts. The tender was also a mess, so he tore it apart
and rebuilt and painted it. Dave plans to incorporate the train cars into a diorama.
Dave also had a control tower in HO scale. He used two kits to make the model and added
scratch built railings. He then built a rudimentary interior and added angel hair light
bulbs to illuminate it.
Always a prolific modeler, Dave had a trio of antique aircraft on hand as well. There
were a 1/72 scale Junkers D-1 from Rodin, and two very old Renwal kits of an Antoinette
and a Farmin also in 1/72 scale.
A 1/35 scale T-36 tank in winter camouflage was another model Dave brought. The
manufacturer is unknown. Dave painted it green and slopped white on it for camo. He
put baking soda on the muffler and then painted it to simulate rust.
Dick Schulenberg displayed a 1/72 scale A2-D Sky Shark in a conceptual variation.
The turbo-prop engine didn't work, but makes for a cool-looking model! Dick used a
1956 color scheme.
The vertical take-off Pogo was another experimental aircraft that didn't succeed.
The rocket pods were taken from a old kit of an F-89 Scorpion. Very nice conceptual
designs!
John Zaranek displayed an M1-63 Air Self-Propelled Gun in 1/35 scale from Academy.
He reports that the kit went together easily and hopes to have it finished by BuffCon.
John added solder for radio cables and used Tamiya paints for the finish, using
Japanese army green as a base coat, mixed in some Buff, and then applied a lighter
shade to the panels.
John also had a Sea Gladiator biplane in 1/48 scale from Rodin. The model has
been in progress since summer and John ran into some paint adhesion problems which
necessitated stripping the paint with Polly Scale Easy Lift Off which worked pretty
well, although it caused some problems with parts falling off. After applying Polly
Scale Plastic Prep, the new paint job went on with no problem.
John Zachritz brought in a Japanese Flying Boat in 1/144 scale. The kit is
pre-painted and has only a few parts, which John likes! He also had two sci-fi
flyers on hand, also in 1/144 scale from the Area 88 series.
Illya Grinberg shared a 1/72 scale German Opel Blitz truck from Fujimi. The
model is nicely modeled, but Illya replaced some parts that looked "toyish" and
has purchased a photo-etched set to add detail. Rodin has a nice engine kit, so
Illya has opened the engine compartment and installed the engine.
A 1/72 scale Tiger Tank from DML was shared by Mike Butry. He scratch built
the mud skirts and did the weathering with oils. Mike used a powder that is a
component of a two-part glue for the snow effect.
Brian McFee displayed his 1/35 scale SAM rocket launcher which he painted
with Russian Armor Green. Illya Grinberg offered some photo reference so that
Brian can properly finish the missile.
Dan Marafino shared some paintings he's done with acrylics. They include an
illustration of Buzz Aldrin, an F-4 Fighter Jet, and another painting of jets.
Finally, some photos of members around the room and the model tables.
YOUR 2011 DUES WERE DUE IN JANUARY!
Your club dues for the 2011 calendar year were due at the January 2011 meeting.
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.
Extension of our Special Offer for All IPMS Niagara Frontier Members
We had a good year at BuffCon so the Executive Board has determined that we can extend our special
IPMS USA national membership support offer through the end of April 2011.
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 until BuffCon 2011. 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.
