Greetings and salutations to one and all. Where did this year go?! Geez.

We are in full Buffcon mode now so from now till D-Day (Apr. 6th, 2025), we will be busy planning, coordinating and advertising. I can't stress enough the need for volunteers and the more volunteers, the smoother the show will run. We'll need help at the door (admissions, model registration), morning table setup/breakdown after show, helping vendors set up and pack up, to judging. If you have not judged and would like to, you can come talk to anyone of us on the eBoard, myself or anyone of the following: Bob Butry, Frank Blonski, Bob Conshafter, Brian McFee and Randy Richardson just to name a few. Also, this month we'll start collecting donations for the show's raffle which is always a huge success. We are looking for model kits that are still sealed or open but for the latter, the contents of the kit have to be complete and preferably still sealed. So, what are you waiting for, go through your stash and see whatcha got to offer!

IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - December 17, 2024

NOTE: CANNOT ACCESS FACILITY BEFORE 6:50PM

7:00 PM to 7:10 PM - Place models on tables with description forms.

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.

The monthly general club meeting will be on Tuesday, December 17th at the Williamsville Youth & Recreation Center, 5005 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221, starting at the usual 7:00pm. Parking and entry to the building is in the back. This is our annual Christmas Pizza Party meeting, with free pizza and wings to all paid-up members. You're welcome to bring along a dessert to share. There will also be a 50/50 raffle held at the meeting to help raise funds for the club. Directions:

Revisions to the club constitution were proposed by Dick Schulenberg last month. Minor corrections have been made, and the updated document is available HERE. The vote to accept the revised constitution will be held at the December general meeting.

Dues for 2025 are now due, and can be paid at the upcoming December meeting. Full year dues are currently $20 for adults 18 and over, $5 for juniors age 11-17 and free for under 11. If you joined the club after November 1, your paid dues are applied to 2025 for the full year.

Member Tim Carson passed along some information of interest to the club:

To keep our club mailing list up-to-date, if you are a member of IPMS Niagara Frontier and have recently changed your email address or are not receiving the club newsletter and meeting emails, please contact our website coordinator, Larry Osolkowski, and pass along your email information. Thanks!

A link to the current Sprue and Glue News has been included in the Newsletter Blast emails provided by National IPMS. For those readers from other chapters, and anyone else who might be interested, our website has a Newsletter page with buttons to select any of our newsletters from the current year. There is also a button on that page to access the Archive page, which has links to all of the newsletters published since September 2007.

A NOTE TO NON-MEMBERS

The minutes from the November 2024 general meeting are included below. Thanks to our Secretary, Al Germann, for the meeting minutes.

November 19th - President Mike Butry led the meeting.

• Old Business:
  • Discussion on draft changes to the club's constitution. Voting to adopt this will be at the December meeting. Our pizza party will again be at this meeting.
  • Mike spoke about the upcoming model train show at the Erie County Fairgrounds where we have a table for club promotion. This will be November 23 (Saturday) and 24 (Sunday). Club members will be need to staff the table but you can bring a model to work on and, more importantly, bring a couple to show and discuss.
• New Business:
  • None.
• BuffCon #40, April 6, 2025:
  • Al G. provided update on current models available for the BuffCon raffle and requested members to consider donating kits in their stash or at any upcoming events.
• Miscellaneous/Open Floor:
  • Discussion on recent show in Cleveland.
  • The Toys for Tots drive collection at this meeting. This allowed time for the collection and distribution by the U.S. Marines.
  • 50/50 raffle was run at this meeting with the tickets sold resulting in a $65/$65 split.
  • The discussion for the models on the tables went around the room where people sat.

To promote greater transparency regarding the operation of the club and the EBoard, action items from the current month's EBoard meeting will be published in the newsletter. These will not be detailed minutes of the meetings, but highlights that the general membership should be aware of.

December 9 - President Mike Butry led the meeting, held at Section 8 Hobbies.

• Old Business:
  • Treasurer Tom F. provided summary of financial status which is in a good position for this time of year. Deposit for the hall for BuffCon was made. Payment for the hall for the general meeting was also made.
  • Discussed recent attendance at the NMRA model train show at the Hamburg Fairgrounds which went well with promotion, handing out flyers and meeting people in attendance. Mike stated the train club is interested in exchanging website for each of our clubs. Mike has action item to follow through.
  • Dick S. sent in his talking points in a recent email which was getting finished flyers to Section 8 and other local shops in the next week so we don't miss the Christmas rush. This is our best chance to catch local casual modelers attention.
  • No update on library but plan is the same for our display in March.
• New Business:
  • 50/50 raffle for general meeting is switching from Al to Justin S.
  • HeritageCon was discussed and recent email request for sponsorship.
• BuffCon #40, April 6th, 2025:
  • Flyer was discussed and Al G. has action item to make minor revisions. Also to start drafting flyer for #41 in 2026. Theme for #41 needs to be determined and Al suggested "between the wars".
  • Tom F. has action item to have flyers (500) printed.
  • Mike has action item to follow up with contacting person for coverage on a modeling podcast.
  • Short discussion on some feedback received on the general admission price. No changes planned.
  • Discussion about the models on the tables and the potential for an accompanying article for the newsletter or website to review a particular model more in depth.
  • Demos were discussed again with Steve W. stating he will perform one on panel line washes for January and Justin S. in February on scribing panel lines.
  • Short discussion on the categories at the national level. Particularly the out of box. No change for our club.
  • December meeting will include the voting by members to adopt the revised constitution and also include pizza and wings along with drinks. Members are welcome to bring in a dish or desserts.
• Miscellaneous:
  • None.

Tom Brown Sr. brought in a couple of items. The first was a 3D-printed eagle globe and anchor (the USMC emblem), printed by Section 8 Hobbies. Tom said he hasn't decided on a finish yet.

Tom's second item was his start to his next buffalo for the "Cut the Herd" people's choice award at next year's BuffCon. Tom asked everyone to buy a Buffalo and get to work. He said he wants some competition this coming show.

Austin Stegall displayed his Tamiya 1/35 M4A3 tank. It was finished in white and olive drab, with chipping added for weathering. Austin said he had no problems with the kit, and he likes tanks.

Paul Hines continued with his maritime theme this month, showing us three paintings of small sailboats. He said all three are "sloops", meaning one mast, a main sail and a head sail. Paul said the gray boat with crew of red shirts also has a large sail called a "spinnaker", like a balloon. He mentioned "I always enjoy painting the water and the splash made by the boats. The painting with the boat anchored off shore caught my eye with the play of light on the water and woodwork of the boat. Next month - something special!"

Al Germann showed us a couple of models. The first was his progress on his AMP 1/72 Victory 357 Hawk Ekronoplan. He used Rustoleum Chrome along with Vallejo and Tamiya paints, with washes added for weathering. Al built it out of box, and mentioned that there were some fit issues. He picked the subject because it's Diesel Punk and it looks cool.

Al's second model was an AMT 1/25 Ford LNT-8000 Snow Plow. It was finished with Krylon Popsicle Orange paint, along with Vallejo and Tamiya paints for the interior. He added weathering with washes using Vallejo Black/Brown and Light Gray, and added an arm rest to the inside of the driver's compartment. Al said the instructions were poor and there were some fit issues due to the kit being old tooling and a reissue. He picked the kit because it looks cool and it's a good subject for weathering. He plans on adding salt in the dump bed.

Tim Jacobs showed us his Monogram 1/24 Skoal Bandit NASCAR race car model. Tim used Duplicolor paint that was very close to the actual race car color, and built the model out of box. He said the model went together well, and is over 20 years old. Tim loves NASCAR.

Tim also displayed a Revell 1/25 Cartoon Network stock car. He used True Match colors made for NASCAR models. Tim built it box stock except for adding a radio antenna, and said the build went well.

Larry Osolkowski had a couple of items on the table. The first was his ongoing progress on the old Monogram 1/25 Porsche Indycar. He finished painting the floor pan and bodywork in gloss white, masked and painted the lower front suspension (part of the floor pan) in semigloss black, and started assembling the chassis. The seat, dashboard and fuel tank are mounted, and the engine is almost ready to glue in place. The front wing was separated into the main element and upper elements, and photo-etch end plates were substituted for the rough original plastic.

Larry's second item was a new kit ordered from Grand Prix Models in England - a Tameo 1/43 Red Bull RB8 Formula 1 race car from the 2012 season. The Tameo kits are the benchmark for 1/43 white metal models, with incredible detail in the cast parts, photo-etch suspension bits, pre-finished tires, superb instructions including color reference photos, and two decal sheets so you have spares if needed. This will go into the stash for a future build.

Jim Greenfield displayed an ESCI 1/35 T-55 Russian tank with a resin Iraqi Enigma conversion. He used Tamiya, Citadel, Mission and Vallejo paints, with weathering added using dry brushing and washes with AK pencil highlights. Jim added a scratch-built interior and a metal Aber barrel. He mentioned that the resin conversion parts had a lot of pinholes, but the build was a fun challenge.

Jeff Keenan brought in a D&D Nolzur's Young Silver Dragon (no scale given). Jeff used a variety of paints, including Vallejo Model Air Silver and others, Vallejo Model Color metallics, Army Painter, Apple Barrel and other craft paints. Washes were done with Tamiya black panel liner and Citadel Agrax Earthshade, and Green Stuff Chrome was used for the talons and teeth. He mentioned that the wings were vertical, so he heated them up and bent them down to a more natural position. He added dirt and static grass to the base, and used washes and drybrushing for realism. Jeff said the plastic was relatively soft, so details were also soft, which made painting a little more difficult. He picked the subject because "who doesn't like dragons?" Jeff found the kit at a game store in Boston, MA. He also displayed a couple of in-progress dwarves that he's been working on.

Tom Roberts showed us his Revell Pontiac NASCAR race car in the Petty Brickyard paint scheme, as driven by John Andretti. He used True Match Petty Blue basecoat/clearcoat paint, applied with an airbrush. Tom built the model out of the box, using Slixx decals. He said he picked the subject because his wife liked John Andretti.

Dick Schulenberg displayed a Combrig 1/350 Imperial Russian Navy Cruiser Novik from 1902. This was an all resin kit, finished using Tamiya spray white primer and Polly Scale for everything else except a final Vallejo flat clear coat. He added .004 and .008 wire for rigging, attached with Testors Clear Window and Canopy glue with Gators Grip on top. Dick said the kit parts were fine, but the instructions and drawings were a bit vague, and outside references were helpful, especially for colors. He mentioned that ships from this era are very interesting to him, and the cruisers are really sleek looking. Dick also said that this kit was one of the first kits from Combrig, and they now have almost 700.

Ted Szczesny brought in two truck models this month. The first was a Testors "Big Rig" Ultra Metal Series Die Cast Model kit of a Peterbilt 378 in 1/28 scale. He used some Tamiya acrylics for touch-ups, and a little E6000 and CA glue as well. Ted said that the instructions show 5 different screw types, but he counted 10. All parts are sealed in numbered plastic bags or wrapped in bubble wrap; the numbers are just for packaging purposes, not for building, and after 10+ years in storage the bubble wrap damages the paint. He picked the subject because he is a former diecast collector, and couldn't resist a build-your-own diecast truck. Ted also mentioned that several (7 or 8) different kits were released at the turn of the century, in the early 2000s, and they are still available on eBay for aroun $100. He said to be aware of bubble wrap damage on some painted parts after long term storage. There are around 100 parts per kit, and some gluing is necessary.

Ted's second model was a Piececool T909 Tractor Truck, made from a Metal Earth-style kit (laser cut metal parts on flat sheets). Ted said there were 308 parts used on the truck. He used Tamiya acrylics for touch-up, and some CA or E6000 glue used for repairs and assembly stabilization. Ted mentioned that metal bending and folding is made easier with a few specialized tools, and some parts were extremely small, requiring continual use of 2.5x Optivisors. He said the parts do not easily pop off of the metal trees, and require a good pair of nippers to separate them. Ted said he picked the subject in a psychotic moment, or needing $20 more for free Amazon shipping - possibly both. He added that re-bending on the perforated bend lines is not recommended - the parts will break easily, so one full bend is all you get.

Jim Wolfe brought in an old diorama of a war scene.

Brian McFee displayed his first attempt at a car model.

There were quite a few unidentified objects on the tables.

There were some magazines free for the taking.

The representatives from the US Marines were at the meeting to pick up the club donations to the Toys for Tots annual charity drive.

Finally, some around-the-room shots.

Thanks to the members for handling the model tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photos.