Well, this is my last column as President of the club. It's been a great 18 months (except for
the COVID interruption). I've really enjoyed all of your support, especially that of your talented
E-Board, and I look forward to attending the meetings again as a general member. I hope I've made
some improvements to the meeting structure during my tenure and I need to especially thank Al
Germann and Tom Faith for all their efforts with the presentations and club break-out sessions. I
hope this was just a step in improving our meetings and I know the new E-Board will continue to
introduce new ideas.
May 5 was the last day to accept nominations for officers and E Board members. As it turned out, we had enough volunteers for each position with no opposition in any position. As a result, based on Robert's Rules of Order, the President can ask the Secretary of the club to place his vote to accept the unopposed slate of candidates. I did this and Al Germann obliged with his vote.
The new E-Board, which will take effect on May 15, 2020 includes the following:
| President | Mike Butry |
| First Vice President | Ed Button |
| Second Vice President | Larry Osolkowski |
| Secretary | Al Germann |
| Treasurer | Tom Faith |
E-Board members:
Bill Borkowski
Tom Brown, Sr.
Maryann Germann
Jim Greenfield
Paul Hines
Dan Price
Thanks, Mike, for stepping into the President's spot and Tom Brown for the E Board slot.
Best wishes to the new E-Board for continued success of the club.
On another note, I only received one entry for the Tony Bartozek challenge, so I think it would be best to hold off on this until we start meeting in person again, if the new board agrees.
I hope we get to meet again soon. Thank you again for your support and stay safe.
Looking forward to NoreastCon in October!
Rich Bernecki
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 11470
IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - May 18, 2020
Due to restrictions caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, the May general meeting has been cancelled.
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.
Club member Brian Yurko has started a group on a new social media app called Telegram. This app will allow club members to join and chat about modeling and club activities. The app can be found at Telegram, and is available for PCs, Macs and Android and Apple phones. If you install the app, visit this page to join the IPMS Niagara Frontier group.
A NOTE TO NON-MEMBERS
IPMS Niagara Frontier is a group of people from the Western New York area who enjoy the hobby of scale model building. We have about 80 members with 40+ attending each monthly meeting. Our club meets at 7:00pm on the third Monday of every month at The Knights, 2375 Union Rd., Cheektowaga, NY 14225.
A typical meeting starts with a short session related to club business. This is followed by "Show & Tell" - many members bring in their current work in progress to share experiences with other members. There is usually at least one model-related demonstration by a club member at each meeting. Meetings are free to the public. If you are in the Western New York area we would love to have you drop in to one of our meetings and say hello. We welcome modelers of all skill levels - from beginner to expert.
Our annual BuffCon event held each year in April continues to be one of the largest shows in this part of the country.
As a community-oriented club we also gather toys each Christmas for the "Toys-for-Tots" program and are proud of our support of this worthwhile program.
A brochure that describes the club and its activities can be found HERE.
There are no minutes from the April 2020 general meeting, since the meeting was cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic group restrictions.
To promote greater transparency regarding the operation of the club and the EBoard, action items from the previous 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.
There are no minutes from the April 2020 E-board meeting, since the meeting was cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic group restrictions.
Unfortunately, we've run out of material for member profiles, and haven't been able to get photos due to meeting cancellations. We'll get back on track when meetings start up again.
Some Favorite Model Building Practices
by Dick Schulenberg
Every model builder develops a set of tools and practices that we do that make our models easier to build, cleaner or reduce aggravations. Here are a couple of mine that are a little bit different.
1. One of my most used unusual tools is a clutch type drafting lead holder. This is what it looks like: leadholders.
Alvin makes good ones, and you may be able to find them at Office Max or Michaels. You don't need an expensive holder, just be sure it has spring loaded jaws like the examples in the link. When you push the button on the top, the jaws open up to accept up to a 2 millimeter (.080 in.) diameter stick of pencil lead, and maybe a little more. The jaws close down to about 1/32 in. That makes it the perfect tool to hold the ever useful round toothpick comfortably for all kinds of tasks, just like a pencil. I use the combo to help position parts and decals and apply glue in tight spots. It's a big help for rigging in directing the wires where you want them to go and, with the toothpick cut to a chisel point, it makes a safe paint scraper for clear parts. I also use the lead holder to grip and hold small parts for filing and painting.
2. Masking clear parts for painting is nothing but a total pain in my opinion. Commercial masks are certainly helpful, but not always available so we're stuck with doing it ourselves using tape and masking fluids. Tamiya tape in sheets and on tape dispensers, including some narrow width, really flexible white tape, is a godsend as are the very fine (under 1 millimeter wide) Micron Masking Tapes from Aizu and others that you can find at Section 8.
Masking fluids are another thing altogether in my experience. I've tried a couple of commercial masking fluids but they have been more difficult to apply than seems necessary and don't always come off cleanly, especially if they have been in place for a while or are old. I would never use them on a painted surface. What I've been using for a long time now is Elmer's School Glue, an easily washable and non-staining version of Elmer's Glue-All, the familiar "white glue". I tape the outlines of the clear area to ensure a sharp paint line and then fill in the rest with School Glue. Typically I'll apply the glue with a toothpick (see above) with a single, rather thick layer of glue, positioning the masked area so the glue doesn't run off. The toothpick lets me push the glue into corners easily without overrunning the tape. The glue dries to a dull finish, and you can easily see missed spots. You don't want a real thin layer because it's harder to get off, but a real thick layer doesn't help. Once your painting is all complete, you can pick the white glue off with a pointy toothpick (see above), starting in a corner, and it will come off cleanly, usually in a flexible sheet. Any residue will wash off with water. I tried some of the yellow woodworking glue but it's harder to get off since it's a more brittle. I've used the School Glue without taping for really difficult areas, spreading it with a pointy toothpick (see above) and letting the surface tension of the glue build up the edges. You may need to use a chiseled toothpick (see above) to clean up because this method is not as good for edges as the tape is. Give it a try.
3. Something I've been experimenting with that seems to be working well is the use of Liquitex Super Heavy Gesso as filler for fine gaps like at wing roots and such. I bought the Super Heavy Gesso at Michaels to use to make sea bases for ship models like the submarine I brought in last fall. It's a heavy, very fine white acrylic paste filler used to prep artists canvases for painting. I work it into the gap with a toothpick (see above) or a brush and wipe off the excess with a just-damp Q-tip. You can sand the hardened gesso, but the idea is to avoid sanding. It takes Tamiya primers and various acrylic paints just fine. I'm going to try it as a panel line and rivet dimple filler, or at least minimizer, and will let you know how that works.
4. The ultrafine .005 inch thick saw blades that Section 8 sells are just the thing for removing fragile parts from sprues. They're like a double edged razor blade but with barracuda teeth. You need the matching handle that makes it safe to use them, but they are so nice and so useful. You still need to be careful with them, even with the handle, because they are super sharp and will cut skin like a knife. Don't ask how I know.
My Projects For the May Meeting
by Dick Schulenberg
Here's the 1/72 AZ Models Douglas X-3 I showed under construction last month. It's all out of the box. The wings are Tamiya spray-can Aluminum, while the white is Tamiya spray-can Fine White Primer. The final finish is Tamiya spray-can Semi-Gloss Clear. I've wanted an X-3 in 1/72 for a long time and really like how this turned out. There was some fitting and fiddling to get there but it was worth it.
I'm working on another 1/72 AZ kit now, their Curtiss P-40E in pre-war Air Corp markings. It's another
nice kit that also requires some fit work. The clear parts seem to fit nicely. I'm in the middle of
painting it with Polly Scale acrylics, two coats on the underside and one on the top so far, brushed on
over brushed on Vallejo White acrylic primer. First time I've used the Vallejo primer and so far, so good.
It brushed on smoothly with a wide flat brush. Didn't cover with an even coat but I don't think that
matters. I'm going to attach the small windows behind the cockpit with some Future floor polish. The plan
is to use the 1941 War Games white cross markings.
I'm still working on the 1/24 scale Dunkirk Engineering locomotive I started a while ago. Progress
is slow. The plans are pretty sketchy and leave a lot to the imagination, particularly the Vee steam
cylinders located in the cab and the whole drive train. I'm using the patent drawings for the original
to make up a somewhat convincing power system. Here's where I am now.
Dick Schulenberg
Workbench Refurb
by Larry Osolkowski
My modeling workbench sits in the basement, and has taken on a life of its own over the years. I built the basic bench many years ago when we lived in our first house, and it was designed and constructed for a different purpose. It became my modeling bench when it moved to our current house, and has been gradually collecting junk and becoming less usable over time. During the lockdown, I decided it would be a good opportunity to clean things up and make the area more usable. The bench was built from 2x4s with a particle board top, with aluminum strips around the edges to contain a masonite top. There's a large shelf unit on the left that I built in shop class in high school; apparently I did a decent job, since it's held up well. There's another shelf unit on the right that was bought from a hardware store and assembled. After cleaning up the general area (I'm not done yet, as you can see), I moved the right shelf unit over to make a space in the middle where I relocated my magnifying glass/work light.
I'm still thinking about how to organize the left shelf, which is currently a catch-all of glues,
tapes, paints, miscellaneous supplies, etc. The center area will be getting a tool organizer that will
help with small hand tools and paint brushes. I ordered it from Hobby World USA
here.
Unfortunately, it's on backorder, but I think it will work well. The right shelf is dedicated to paints
and related products. My wife says I have too many paints; she may be right. I bought some paint racks
a while back from Hobby World USA, but decided to build my own for larger bottles. It's made from scrap
thin plywood, and turned out OK.
The most recent addition was a pair of storage drawers that I made from scrap lumber. The drawers
are around 16" wide x 24" deep x 2" tall (inside), with drawer slides from Amazon and fronts made from
an old particle board shelf with a laminate finish on it. I got some plastic tray organizers from Lowes,
and they are doing the job.
I hope I've provided some ideas that you can use for your own work areas.
Larry Osolkowski
Since the April general meeting was canceled, members have sent in photos of their current projects and posted photos on the club Facebook page. Here's what we have this month.
Nick Carluccio's latest project is another eBay rescue, an original AMT 1961 Corvette,
Dave Armitage is stuck at home, no meetings, no musical gigs, lots of time to read and
build models, so that's what he's been doing.
Tom John posted his current work on Facebook, a Work In Progress on an Ultramarine Devastator
Squad Sergeant. Tom said he's still got a lot to finish up on it.
John Zachritz posted some current work on our club Facebook page. John built "Storm" (toy biz)
with grandson Tanin. John's wife said they seemed to be having fun with it!
Rod Adam showed us the current state of his workbench on our Facebook page, including Big Boy,
Endeavour, HMS Dreadnought and Elizabeth.
Al Germann finished a couple of new models this month. The first one, in Al's words: "Earl's
Cadillac is done and just finishing up the diorama of a Florida front yard that include a scratch
built mail box and a large flower pot with hairspray paint chipping effect. Car includes liquid
chrome pen, some bare metal foil, and panel line wash. A great tribute to the Jimmy Buffet song
'Earl's dead, Cadillac for sale'. Still need to add some grass."
Al describes his second project: "A quick build that actually turned out to be a quick build
was an Arii 1/32 scale of a Daihatsu 3 wheel hauler. Built straight out of box, brush paint, washes
and pastel weathering finished it off. I cut a mask from a Post-It Note for the windshield wiper
sweep and gave the rest a light spray of dull coat. I just added some palm plants as cargo and very
happy the way it turned out. "
Larry Osolkowski has made some additional progress on his Tamiya 1/20 Leyton House Formula 1
race car. He made templates and added Scale Motorsports carbon fiber decals to the underside of
the front wing, and applied the Studio 27 carbon fiber decals to the top. He also shot some color
onto the wing endplates.
Larry finished assembling the cockpit, adding the dashboard and steering wheel. He also shot
some color onto the nose of the bodywork.
Larry also spent some time cleaning and reorganizing his workbench (see article above),
and discovered an old AMT Star Trek Deep Space 9 Station kit that had been languishing for
years. He had originally started wiring it with LEDs for the docking ports and power core,
and decided to get back to finishing the model. It's a typical old AMT Sci-Fi kit that needs
a lot of work filling difficult seams and sharpening up molded details. Here are some pics.
Jeff Keenan has been busy on several projects. The first set are completed; Jeff describes
them: "1/72 Italeri 7037 Sd. Kfz. 234/3 - this was a quick, fun build that had a 'fast' option for
wargamers or the 'skillful' version that included more detail. This was the first time I've
tried airbrushing a thin layer of Tamiya Buff to simulate dust on the bottom and tires. I've been
on a Star Wars kick lately and I've completed (all Bandai) a 1/144 Snowspeeder, 1/144 Y-Wing, and
two A-wings. Bandai kits are easy to build and have incredible detail for the size. Unfortunately
the smaller scales come with stickers, not decals, so there was a lot more painting involved than
I anticipated."
Jeff's other projects are works-in-progress: "1/35 Dragon 6039 German Ski Troops - I want to
improve my figure painting skills and white is notoriously difficult to shade. I thought the poses
were cool even though they are so different I wouldn't be able to include any two figures together
in a diorama. I really like how the disembodied head turned out. It took a lot of putty to close
up some gaps and fill some seams.
1/72 Revell Sd. Kfz. 7/2 with Prieser figures - I plan on calling this "Hitching a ride" or
something like that. I started using Mig Ammo paints for the halftrack and hated it, so I stripped
everything back down and used Vallejo Air. I also had issues with the tracks - they always seem
either slightly too long or slightly too short, and even after keeping them in warm water they
were fairly fragile and broke in multiple places. Luckily they include a third run of the tracks.
Armor isn't normally my thing but I do like 1/72 scale since they are quick builds."
Unfortunately, no around-the-room photos this month.
Thanks to everyone who contributed photos. Hopefully, we'll be able to get back together as
a group soon. Stay safe.
