Due to circumstances, there wasn't enough time this month to get the usual column from our esteemed
president, so I'll take this opportunity to mention a few thoughts I've had recently.
Having given a demo at the last club meeting that was related to online forums, it reminded me of
some observations I've had about discussions I've seen on some of these forums. This may be a viewpoint
that is more common in the automotive forums, but I've seen a fair number of comments about "car guys" not
really being accepted by IPMS clubs and shows. The usual remarks are along the lines of: IPMS is all about
armor and aircraft, and these guys don't care about anything else. I always find these remarks odd, since
in my experience nothing could be further from the truth.
Perhaps the biggest attraction of this club to me has always been the friendship and fellowship of this
group; the willingness to accept all forms of modeling, and exchange techniques, tricks, and appreciation of
well made models no matter what they are. Sure, there are sub-groups that focus on their particular interests,
and there's always a little good natured ribbing between these groups, but everyone seems to understand that,
in the end, we are all modelers sharing the same hobby.
In a way, I suppose it's a bit disheartening that other clubs can apparently be so exclusionary, but I
guess it gives me more appreciation of what we have in the IPMS Niagara Frontier chapter. This club really
is exceptional!
On another note, I'd like to give props to Ed Button for his contribution to this newsletter. Ed has
raised the bar for the model table moderator at the club meetings by not only doing a great job moderating
the comments at the tables, but taking notes at the same time and providing a nice write-up. This strikes
me as a great way to approach this task, and an improvement over trying to delegate the note-taking to another
person. In no way is this intended to diminish the regular contributions of Dick Schulenberg and Bob Raithel
(among others) in past newsletters, but this approach does make my job easier. Now the only trick is to get
volunteers to do the tables at future meetings.
John's column should be back next month. See you at the meeting!
Larry Osolkowski
2nd Vice President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 40566
Model Table Round-up for February 2013
Paul Hines shared three pencil drawings of sports cars he has recently completed. The artwork takes him
approximately twelve hours a drawing.
Mark Gadek brought in a 1/32 scale Revell of Germany Heinkel 219 A-7 UHU that he is currently working on.
Mark obtains the subtle varying shades of gray panel by preshading not only the lines between panels, but
masking certain panels off and painting them a white base prior to applying gray over all the surfaces.
Tom Faith discussed his recently completed Marine Landing Craft modeled after those used at Iwo Jima.
The 1/35 craft is loosely based on the 1/35 Trumpeter WWII US Navy LCM kit, where he used the kit's landing
ramp and hull. The rest is scratch built using Evergreen and photo-etched brass parts.
Bob Raithel shared his progress on a 1/35 Armored Aerosan NKL 26 Snow Mobile manufactured by Trumpeter.
Bob also brought in a fun build he has undertaken which aims to produce a model rocketship using only
recycled-used items.
Justen Hanna brought in his out-of-the-box build depicting a 1/48 Fokker E.V. The kit is an Eduard
Weekend Edition. Justen has had great success using artist oils to achieve the colorful paint patterns.
Justen also showed us an assembled 1/48 Skunk Models MQ-9 Reaper "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." He comments
that the kit's parts fit well, and although the wings and stabilizers are very thin in profile, none of
these parts were found to be warped.
Brian McFee brought in an open kit to show us his next project - a 1/48 Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 produced by
Trumpeter. The plane will represent a Korean War era flight.
Brian also showed us his recent progress on a 1/48 Hasegawa F16CJ Fighting Falcon.
Cindy Klukowski was a first-time attendee (welcome!) Cindy likes to build cars, and brought us a
diorama of a weathered 1971 Plymouth GTX (1/25 scale Revell). Cindy used AK Interactive Rust Effects
to achieve the convincing weather appearance.
Ilya Grinberg brought to the meeting two superbly detailed vehicles (1/72 scale) - a US Jeep and a
German Kubelwagen (a Dragon kit) - painted to represent captured vehicles impressed into Soviet service.
In addition, Ilya brought in a 1/72 scale Soviet Anti-Aircraft gun. The articulating gun was assembled
with no glue!
Joe Szczygiel shared with us his progress on a scratch-built military construction vehicle he has been
working on. It has come a ways since we saw it last month. The model is fully articulated, with moving buckets,
arms, and hydraulic cylinders.
Mike Martinez is working on a 1969 AMC Javelin model that I believe is going to be used to build a
rat-rod. Mike has obtained that really weathered look by applying acrylic paints by brush. Good job!
Tom Mooney is working on a Tamaya Tiger I tank (1:35?). Tom is modeling the tank after the one used by
Michael Whittman - one of Germany's top scoring panzer aces during the Second World War. The tank is painted
with acrylic paints, and weathered with chalk.
Larry Osolkowski brought in an in-progress 1:32 scale Mini cooper. Larry has been busy converting the
vehicle from right-hand drive to left-hand. Larry SAYS he is not going to install custom made rotors, calipers
and springs... but we have a couple of months to see what happens.
Tony Gliszczynski wowed us with a working lightbar that he custom made from (Christmas) lights?! The
lightbar sits upon a '29-T bucket rat rod being built for the club challenge. The 29-T's frame has been
lengthened, and overall, the project is about 78.3% done.
Jacob Gadek brought in his completed Green Goblin supervillian model (produced by Moebius Models).
The kit is a large 1:8 scale and Jacob's work is impressive. The supervillian rides on a metallic saucer
that looks to be made of actual metal. To achieve this effect, Jacob used Rub&Buff metallic finish.
Matt Klukowski brought in two vehicles this month. The first one is a Ford Woody that Matt built as a
rat rod; the second is a Ford Victoria based on the old 1:25 AMT 3-in-1 kit. Matt has achieved realistic
rust/weathering effects by applying Humbrol Rust and AK Interactive Rust Treatment.
Jim Lewis brought in his 1966 Ford Fairlane resto-mod based upon the AMT kit. Jim's scale ride exhibits
a perfect metallic green paint job, and wheels obtained from a 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo.
Tom Brown brought in a Wilesco scale working steam engine that he recently obtained. One fills the
boiler with water, and using solid fuel blocks as a heat source, steam is generated which is released
to operate a steam whistle or a piston-powered flywheel.
Bob Colligon found a neat pre-war scrapbook that someone carefully collected images of US airplanes
serving typically in the years leading up to 1942. The scrapbook is bound in leather.
Here are some additional shots of items on the modeling tables.
Club President John Zaranek begged and pleaded for member help at BuffCon.
Larry Osolkowski gave a short demo on using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for uploading images to
storage space on the club website. These image files can then be posted on online forums. Since there
is no additional cost to the club for the storage space, we should make use of this benefit. If club
members are interested in setting up a personal account for storage space, contact Larry for details.
A tutorial will be posted on the club website on how to use FTP.
Finally, some around-the-room shots of the meeting.
Good meeting all around and good to see you all.
Thanks to Bob Colignon for the photography.
