...or News from the Nameless One
Well, folks, that time of year is nearly upon us again. Inching ever nearer is our club's most important annual event. Of course, I speak of Buffcon. (April 15th.... just making sure)
As our most important annual event (fiscally and socially,) we really need "all hands on deck." This is our last general meeting before the big day. If you have not yet signed up to help out one department or another, I will have the sign-up sheets available again this month. Please sign up early and often as there is opportunity to help out with more than one show aspect. One of the most alarming things that I noticed was the lack of anyone helping out with the raffle. The raffle is a big component of any good show and it's an important money-maker for us. We really need 2 or 3 folks throughout the day to run the raffle counter by selling tickets and handing out prizes. The more folks that help out with this, the less time each person will have to spend behind the bar. Remember folks, many hands make light work. Speaking as someone who's worked the raffle before, it's really simple and fun. If you can, please help out.
Also this month, we have our annual electoral nominations. If you would like to nominate yourself or a friend for office, please notify either Tom Faith or Dick Schulenberg to be placed on the ballot. Please recall that this year the offices of President, 1st Vice President and Treasurer will be vacated. There will also be a couple of E-board spots left empty. A copy of our club's constitution is on our website if you'd like an idea of the rights and responsibilities of each position. Or, feel free to ask the current incumbent. We'd be happy to explain and discuss the role of our respective offices. If you've ever considered "stepping-up," now is your time. I promise that you won't regret it.
Out next meeting will be on Monday, March 19th at 7pm in the basement of the Harlem Road Community Center. Again, if you'd like to have a completed model looked at from a judging perspective please bring it in for our pre-Buffcon judging seminar. We've done this seminar for a couple of years now and folks always take away quite a bit of knowledge.
Our next E-board meeting will be Monday March 26th, 7pm at Joe Szczygiel's house.
See you all on the 19th!
Justen Hanna
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA #45680
Notes from the February 2012 Meeting
President Justen Hanna reminded everyone that your 2012 dues are due now, just in case
you forgot. Justen also reminded us that club officer nominations come up at the March
meeting so think about how you can be a part of the leadership group. There will be more
info coming.
Bob Conshafter gave us a wrap up report on the recent Kid's Model Building Class. Even
though the group was smaller than usual, the class was quite successful and the kids and
parents all seemed to have a good time.
John Dougherty brought in the current copy of the local edition of "Show and Cruise News"
which had a 2 page photo spread of models from last year's BuffCon. Great PR and thanks for
bringing this in, John.
It's almost BuffCon time and the job sign-up sheets went around. Hope you signed up for
something.
Bob Collignon finished up his excellent shrubbery demo, sharing some great and simple
techniques. Thanks, Bob.
There was lots of good stuff on the display tables. Steve Weller walked us around the tables.
Dave Armitage started us off with a number of interesting items. First was a WWII Russian winter diorama featuring two of the new Trumpeter Aero-san propeller driven snow sleds, a T-26 light tank and various figures. Neat. Next was a Civil War CSS David steam-powered submersible complete with a spar torpedo, followed by another Civil Warship, the CSS Tennessee from a new Old Steam Navy kit that Dave built for kit box lid photos. Finally was a "one kit-two versions" build of an older Campbell Scale Models HO scale kit as well as a Timberline general store.
John Zaranek brought in his completed 1/72 Airfix Vickers Valiant jet bomber in the RAF
white anti-flash scheme for the 1950's Christmas Island nuclear tests. A big and impressive model.
My same scale DeHavilland Vampire in French Aeronavale markings looked tiny by comparison.
It's built from the old Heller kit brush painted with panel lines lightly cut into the finished paint.
Jim Wolfe brought in his in progress Tristar 1/35 Panzer IVD. A nice model with lots of
tiny parts. It's mostly painted but not quite finished.
Al Germann brought in a 10 year old model in response to a question about displaying a
model in action. His is a 1/72 Ki84 fighter with its wingtip just grazing the sea. The sea
is a model railroad plastic water sheet with the model cantilevered from it. Pretty cool
unless you're the pilot.
Brian McFee showed his 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire VB in desert camo, flying from Malta. He
just finished this model and is very happy with it.
Mike Butry has a 1/48 Hasegawa SAAB J-35 Draken under construction. It's going to be
finished in the White Ghost Anniversary scheme. Mike also showed the new Meng 1/35 Toyota
pickup truck carrying a ZPU-1 antiaircraft gun mounted to the bed. It's supposed to
represent a typical Mid-East insurgent vehicle. Mike got caught up in looking it over
and has most of the frame and some other assemblies finished.
Joe Szczygiel brought in his finished 1/35 M728 engineering vehicle to give a sense
of scale to his 1/35 scratch built Husky rolling x-ray machine. This heavily armored
vehicle searches for mines, wires and other buried bad things using downward looking
x-ray technology. It's really big now that Joe has it well along. He also showed two new
1/35 modern vehicle kits; the Kinetic M-ATV and the HobbyBoss M1070 heavy truck and
trailer. The HobbyBoss model is very impressive but the Kinetic kit looks like they
over-reached themselves. Besides, the plastic tires are probably the worst smelling
parts ever put into a kit box.
Ed Button really loves older kits, especially real space stuff. He recently acquired
an original 1967 Aurora Gemini Astronaut with MMU and filled us in on the history of the
kit. He also brought in the 1973 vintage Monogram SBD he's reconditioning as a Battle of
Midway aircraft that was subsequently brought to the Great Lakes for pilot training, lost
in Lake Michigan, recovered, restored and is now in the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.
He's overpainted the red in the early war markings, drilled out the 1000 airbrake holes
and shaded the model with oil pastels. Really nice.
Paul Hines showed his completed "River Queen" Mississippi stern wheeler. It's all wood
from the Constructo kit. He used soft pastels for some subdued weathering. Quite impressive.
Frank Blonski had a couple of 1/24 car models to show us. First was his Shelby Mustang
GT350H painting project which looks to be very cool under the masking tape. Second was the
Chevy based custom pickup project he's worked on for a while. It's all ready for paint and
should be a winner.
Tom Faith has nearly finished up his tiny (but 1/35 scale) Russian Komsomolets personnel
tractor as a captured German vehicle fitted with a Flak 37. It has Fruil tracks, lots of
extra bits and is finished with oil based pastels and washes. He also brought in the 1/35
windmill kit he built for the Tim Hortens challenge three years ago. Tom replaced all the
cardstock with scale lumber and recently used Tim Hortens coffee as a wash to weather the
white paint of the windmill tower. Worked very well and smells good too. Tom also brought
in some samples of clear plastic he salvages from packaging to use as formed parts and for
templates.
Larry Osolkowski brought in some amusing items. First was a set of decals that came
with a Fujimi kit be bought recently. The decal read "SAFTY CAR" instead of "SAFETY CAR".
Larry was getting set to ask for a replacement when he got notification from the supplier
that Fujimi was correcting and replacing the decal. Not so funny, but what was, was the
packaging the decal came in. Many full kits are not shipped that well protected. Larry
also had a Buick Special station wagon he built in high school. This model is from back
in the day when kits came with lots of custom parts and we put every one of them on. A
real trip down memory lane.
Dan Marafino had a nice display of the aviation artwork he's done recently. Dan has
a nice hand and a good eye. It was nice to see so many of his paintings at once.
Ilya Grinberg brought in a review of a new book he co-wrote with Von
Hardesty titled Red Phoenix Rising, The Soviet Air Force in World War II. It's a
complete overhaul of the groundbreaking Red Phoenix Rising which was called "brilliant"
by the Washington Post when first published. The review calls the book definitive,
challenging many "official" accounts and revising misconceptions. The book covers
history, tactics and the very human drama of the brutal Eastern Front campaigns. Well
done, Ilya.
Finally, some around-the-room shots of the gang checking out the model tables
and otherwise enjoying the meeting.
Good meeting all around and good to see you all.
Thanks to Bob Collignon for the photography.
YOUR 2012 DUES WERE DUE IN JANUARY
Your club dues for the 2012 calendar year were due at the January 2012 meeting.
Regular memberships are still $10.00 per year and Juniors (under 18) are still $5.00.
You can pay 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.
Renewal of our Special Offer for All IPMS Niagara Frontier Members for 2012
We had another good year at BuffCon so the Executive Board has determined that we
can extend our special IPMS USA national membership support offer for a third year,
through the end of April 2012.
We will rebate ½ of the cost for a one-year membership to IPMS USA for new national
memberships and renewals. 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 complete and submit the application (you can get one from Dave Schwab) along with
your payment directly to IPMS USA or do it 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.
