Duhhhhh da duh dum......duhhhh da duh dum dummmmmmm (that's the iconic theme from the TV show "Dragnet). Why am I opening with the Dragnet theme? Because the annual Tony Bartozek Memorial I'm Not A Scale Modeling Loser Challenge entries are due at the meeting on Monday. Yep, we all had four months to complete our entries and now it's time to pay the piper, separate the wheat from the chaff, the men from the boys - pick your cliche. Will YOU be deemed a modeling hero or forever shunned as a LOSER?

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.

Model tables from the August meeting:

Brian Yurko showed three of his vintage builds from the 1990's: an Academy Bf-109E, a Matchbox Comet A-34 and a Hasegawa Spitfire Mk. I. Brian said that these models were some of his first examples of airbrushing and weathering and had been hanging from the ceiling by threads.

Clint Keidel is continuing work on the Monogram boxscale Midget Race Car for the challenge. This is an old kit and does not have a lot of detail. Clint has added nerf bars, grill, dashboard, fire wall and suspension parts from scratch amongst many others. He's using paints from Tamiya, Vallejo, Testor's and artist oils for the leather seat.

Brian McFee had his Revell 1/48th scale F-15E Strike Eagle on hand for the meeting. He's painted it with Tamiya Dark Grey paint.

Tim Grieve brought in three of his models this month. The first is the Monogram AT-6 Texan model in 1/48th scale. Tim explained that this is the last kit in his stash (how is that possible?) and wanted to do the trainer version. The paints he used from the Testor's line include red, olive, black, flat black, silver, green, yellow, zinc chromate followed by a clear dull coat. He also found that the canopy is a "pain" depending on how you want it positioned.

The second one is a Revell 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A. Tim says that he likes the kit because of it's looks and good fit and decals. Tim added a hood prop and radio antenna to the base kit.

The third is a Lindberg 1929 Mercedes Benz SSk in 1/24th scale.

Larry Osolkowski again brought in his Tony Bartozek entry in progress, a 1/24 Autokit white metal kit of a 1934 E.R.A. race car. He custom-mixed the appropriate color (more or less) from Tamiya acrylics, and got some paint work done along with some subassemblies.

Larry also showed us a recent acquisition, a 1/24 Le Mans Miniatures Audi R8 in the "Crocodile Dunde" livery that won a race in Australia in 2000. Larry said he's wanted this kit since it came out in 2000, but couldn't locate one until recently. The entire body will be covered in decals to reproduce the crazy paint scheme.

Dick Schulenberg had his 1/350th scale RMS Lusitania model ship by Gunze Sangyo for the meeting this month. Dick added a Gold Medal Models photoetch brass detail set to the base kit and ship's rigging from invisible sewing thread. Dick explained that he rigged the ship using the same techniques as you would a biplane model which is making turnbuckles and eyelets from scratch. He used Tamiya rattle can paint for the hull and the rest with Vallejo acrylics. He says that this is a "clean" build for the Buffalo library World War I exhibit.

Bill Borkowski's model for the challenge is the Airfix 1/32nd Aston Martin DB5 model kit. Bill explained that this an older kit and the parts either didn't fit or were warped. He did add scratch built door panels, tail lights, reworked the dashboard mounting and modified the head light lenses so they'd fit. Bill used paints by AlClad and Tamiya for the finish.

Maryann Germann has a couple of figure projects going this month. The first is her 1/12th scale "Mother of Dragons". She is mounting it on a wooden base and inserting metal pins into the figure to pose the dragon onto it.

The second is a Tamiya 1/16th scale German Infrantryman from WWII. She explains that she is practicing her camouflage uniform patterns on it.

Al Germann also has two projects this month. The first is his challenge entry, the Revell Fairchild F-27 with a scratch built interior rear door and cockpit wall. He said that the molds are 1959 vintage so have fit issues and sink marks that need to be addressed. The paints used are from Tamiya in spray cans.

His second kit is a VW Type 825 Pick-Up Truck in 1/35th scale by Special Armor. He intended to build it out of the box but unfortunately, he broke the resin bed when he dropped it. Repair attempts were unsuccessful, so he's going to cover it with a tissue paper tarp.

Tony Gliszczynski's entry for the contest is the Russ Davis Ford Thunderbolt. Tony explained that his first body attempt went badly, so he resorted to Plan B: Rustoleum Apple Red.

Rod Adam is working on his entry, too, the Revell 1/388th scale "Great Eastern" ship kit. He made quite a few modifications to the kit and built his own parts. He's discarded all the cable-laying gear and made five funnels from styrene rod and paper sails finished in watercolors. These modifications returned the ship to it's original passenger liner design. He added lifeboats from a Queen Mary ship kit, photoetch ratlines from Alliance Modelworks, Eduard passenger figures and black and brown E-Z Line for the standing rigging. Rod says he bought the kit for $40 versus paying $200 for it on EBay - very thrifty.

Mike Butry is nearly finished with the Tamiya 1/48th scale German Light Tank 38(t). He says it's built mostly out of the box except for the main and mini guns tarps made from tissue paper. All he needs to do to finish it is make the base. He used paints by Tamiya and Model Master along with oils and weathering powders.

Mike is also working on a Hasegawa P-40N fighter in 1/48th scale. He's using a variety of paints, oils and drybrushing techniques for this project, which he says will be mostly out of the box.

John Zaranek is continuing with his contest entry, the Zvezda 1/350th scale Imperial Russian battleship, "Borodino". He's adding photoetch brass details from White Ensign and modified the funnel spark screens using brass tubing, sewing thread and punched plastic disks to improve what the kit provides. He base coated the deck with "New Wood" by AK Interactive acrylic followed by Van Dyke Brown artist oil paint, wiped off with cotton buds for a wood grain effect.

John is also working on a kit by a relatively new company, Merit - it's the J2F-5 "Duck" as flown by the US Navy during WWII. John suspects that this company is affiliated with Trumpeter and Hobby Boss because of the instruction sheet and decals - very, very familiar. He's using a fifteen year old bottle of Polly Scale "Interior Green" for the inside of the airframe and cockpit. He's planning on finishing it in the US Navy's Atlantic fleet color scheme.

Paul Hines' aviation art this month features "The Hunt Begins" of three German Albatross fighters; "Flying Over The Motherland" of a German Fokker Triplane, and "Up And Away" of a Sopwith Pup of the Royal Flying Corps.

Tom Brown, Sr.'s challenge entry is a subject called "Mount Freedom". Tom took a plaster cast kit of Mount Rushmore and converted the president's into members of the US armed forces: a US Marine sergeant, a US Air Force captain, an army Green Beret and a US Navy sailor featuring the iconic "dixie cup" cover and neck scarf. Some of the modifications included grinding off Teddy Roosevelt's spectacles and making head gear for all out of plaster. He used black spray paint followed by two shades of gray dry brushed over it to replicate the look of stone.

John Zachritz deluged one table with his work this month with 10, count 'em, 10 projects! So, strap in and here goes...

Second, is another technique: using typewriter correction tape from an office supply store. When applied to small seams on models it can hide them without sanding.

Third, he's built the Meng KV-2 tank straight from the box and has added a cartoon figure from the anime series, "Girls Und Panzer".

Fourth, he's finishing one of Tony Bartozek's uncompleted 1/35th scale German Hetzer kit. John has portrayed the model in a scene as if it's "bursting from cover" and the camouflage net flapping in the wind. He's attempted to portray the bushes tumbling over the top to suggest motion.

Fifth, a pun he's seen on the internet: "UFO Caught On Tape".

Sixth, another technique of using eye make-up on a dinosaur "frill" with unsatisfactory results. He's going to try it on a model hummingbird next.

Seventh, a diorama entitled, "Too Far Back" inspired by a novelty tee shirt. He used drywall putty to sculpt "surf" on a plastic oval. While still soft, he created footprints and skid marks. He applied a matt finish sprayed to the DeLorean to show the frosted effects of time travel. He brushed on waves/wet sand with Testor's GlossCote, sprinkled with sand blaster medium to represent crushed shells.

Eighth, built a U-Wing and an A-Wing, both by Revell. He used the lights and sound straight from the box with washes, weathering and painted engine details.

Ninth, created diorama bases from burnable CD cases, speaker grill and and old board game.

Tenth, Assorted diorama materials used from plastic dinner/snack plates, talus/gravel swept up from the end of the driveway, vermiculite/permlite, etc.

More free magazines were on offer.

There were a few other items on the tables. Please remember to fill out an information sheet and make sure that John gets it before the end of the meeting.

Finally, some around-the-room photos.

Thanks to Mike Butry for doing the tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photography.