Due to the hard work of the members of IPMS Niagara Frontier, I wish to say congratulations and a heartfelt "thanks" for making BuffCon 32 a very successful show! Without the planning, organization and efforts of all involved, there would be no show at all. I also wish to thank our sponsors, vendors and those who took time out of their busy lives to drive many miles to attend the show. We, in Buffalo, are ever grateful for your efforts and devotion to us and to the hobby.

John R. Zaranek
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 47993

Model Table Round-up from the March meeting

Larry Osolkowski starts us off this month with two recent acquisitions of his. The first is a Revell 1/72 F-16 MLU "Solo Display" kit. He's planning on building it out of the box and has read favorable reviews about it. He also says that the paint scheme is "killer"! Larry's second kit is the Fujimi 1/24th scale McLaren F1 GTR Short Tail - Harrod's car. He says the kit looks good in the box and is planning on using Tamiya Yellow for the paintwork. He has some aftermarket accessories planned for it, including Tabu Design "Harrods' #9 LeMans 1995 decals and Studio 27 F1 GTR Carbon Fiber decals as well.

Johnny Newman showed us his 28mm (1/48th scale) US Infantry figures from Bolt Action (Warlord Games). He's not planning on any additions to them with the exception of some round wooden boxes. Some minor issues he found were some gaps that needed filling and adjustment of the arms to hold the weapons correctly. He also brought a published article that he'd written.

Matthew Klukowski is persevering with his HO scale train layout structure project. He showed us his house and repair shop called "Speedy Andrew's". Matt explained that the structures were already built, and he's simply repainted them using Citadel and Vallejo acrylic paints. He also has added a car between the two buildings and placed everything on a base.

Eric Hillebrand's been busy and showed everyone two of his completed projects. The first is a Bedford Bofors Gun Tractor in 1/35th scale by IBG models. He really likes the Bedford trucks and used a variety of paints by Tamiya, Vallejo and Testors. He's done the weathering using washes and pastels. Eric sums up this kit by saying, "cool beans!". His second kit is a really "weird" vehicle called the Minenraumer in 1/35th scale by RPM Models (sorry, no photo). Eric related that the kit was tough to build because the fit was poor. He did finish it using Tamiya paints.

Jason Ignatjew brought in his JoHan 1963 Cadillac Coupe D'Ville in honor of his dad's birthday. Jason explained that his father had an exact one (real car, that is) in the mid-'60's and was his favorite. Jason said that this is a JoHan original issue and has never been re-released. He finished the model stock, out of the box, and used Tamiya Gold over which he applied Testor's One Coat Clear and added Bare Metal Foil for the trim.

Dan Nethercott showed us his current works in progress: scratch built Flat Deck Trailer, Drop Deck Trailer and Dumpsters, all in 1/50th scale. He has used the wheels and suspension components for "other sources". The wood decking is basswood, cut to size and he's planning on replicating the lights from "gems" from hobby stores. Dan also is concerned that the paint (Testor's from the rattle cans) are ending up looking "wavy" and is seeking advice on how to apply a smooth coat from other modelers.

Nick Carluccio says that his love of Chevies has inspired him to build the Monogram 1/24th scale 1955 BelAir. He finished it in Pactra Red and Black paints. The only modification he made to the kit was to drill out the plastic axle and add brass rods. He also notes that this kit was dropped and rebuilt several years ago.

Rich Bernecki is converting the Tamiya 1/32nd scale F-16C Block 32 into a Block 25 aircraft to replicate the 90th Anniversary of the Texas 111th Fighter Squadron Special Scheme used in 2008. Rich's extensive modifications are: filling and deleting two chaff dispensers, deleting various vents on the tail and fuselage, adding appropriate stiffening plates as required, leading edge flaps will need to be redone to model the Block 25. Rich said that he wanted to model this colorful scheme to practice a "gloss" paint job and is hopeful that it will be able to be entered in the IPMS Nationals in Columbus this year.

Cindy Klukowski is challenging herself by constructing a model of the "Diamond Coal Corporation" yard scene based on a kit by Walther's". Her plans are to make this an abandoned coal yard which has become a hangout for kids, rebels, thugs and general troublemakers - whoa! She had some trouble getting the upper coal chute to stay in place, but got it to bend to her will in the end. She's used some trees by Woodland Scenics and is planning on adding more people to the scene, including hobos. Her paints include those from Tamiya and Citadel. She did say that she accidentally used the wrong color wash, with it being too light. In the end, she's happy with the results.

Jacob Gadek brought us two of his recent efforts. The first is the large scale figure "Batman" by Moebius. Jacob likes building the figures from the 1950's through '70's era and says, "Julie Newmar, you're on my list!". Jacob finished Batman with Tamiya paint followed by washes made from tempura paint. He also showed us his Academy MiG-21 painted in a Tiger Meet livery. The decals and paint masks were given to him from Mike at Air Connection. Jacob related that if he were to do another Tiger Meet paint scheme, he will try another technique because this took too long and had to correct a lot of overspray.

Bob Collignon showed us a die cast bank "Tru Value" that he plans on disassembling and rebuilding as a work truck. He also showed us a fascinating album of aircraft composition scrap books put together by an unknown owner sometime in the 1930's.

Paul Hines continues with his automotive artwork pieces: 1) a 1960 White Birdcage Maserati Tipo G1; 2) a 1965 Black Cheetah BTM; 3) a Rio Cobra Making A Hard Downhill Right Turn; 4) Examples of CanAm race cars; 5) Norton motorcycle. Paul tells everyone that there is more vintage and historic race car artwork to come!

Dick Schulenberg offers us a view of his 1/48th scale Japanese "Jake" floatplane by Nichimo along with a scratchbuilt catapult. Dick says he used various plastic shapes and sheet and used a 1/72nd Hasegawa kit's instructions blown up to the correct scale for the catapult. The paint he used is all vintage Polly S and was built for the club's Battle of Midway display at the Buffalo Naval and Serviceman's Park in 1986. He also notes that Ensign George Gay, the only survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8, was the guest speaker at the park event.

Mike Butry took the Tamiya 1/48th scale British "Dingo Mk II" and made it into a captured German vehicle with their markings. Mike related that it was a straightforward build without any issues and made it out of the box with the following exceptions: 1) thin metal rod was used for the vehicle's grab handles; 2) the telephone pole was built from a 3/32nd inch wood dowel; 3) tarps/covers were made from aluminum foil and 4) thin solder was used in a variety of other places. Mike used paints by Tamiya and Model Master followed by weathering from products by Tamiya and Mig along with oil paints as well.

Frank Blonski gave a presentation on judging automotive models.

Finally, some other items seen on the tables.

Thanks to Bob Collignon for the photography.