Greetings to all IPMS Niagara Frontier members.

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 March meeting:

Mike Martinez had on hand an entry into BuffCon 35. His 1979 Kooka Racer based on the MPC Super Bee kit. Mike is applying heavy weathering as if the car were out "behind the barnfield" and will have a figure driving it poking out of the roof in the classic "odd rod" style. Mike also said he used the rear wheels from a Lindberg Dodge model.

Jim Greenfield brought in his F2G2 Super Corsair that was converted from the 1/48th scale Hasegawa F4U Corsair kit. Jim explained that it's his oldest surviving kit.

Derek Keenan shared his Airfix 1/72nd scale RAF RE8 airplane kit he recently finished.

Al Germann had a nearly finished Revell Volkswagen Bus in 1/24th scale. He's building it for the 1960's theme award at BuffCon35. Al added a bed, mattress and a blanket made from a paper towel along with verious dents, scratches and paint chips using the salt and chipping fluid techniques.

He is also planning a diorama featuring a Brengun Jeep in 1/144th scale depicted alone after the bomb drop on Hiroshima in 1945.

Larry Osolkowski displayed a kit he'd brought in previously, a 1/24 Hobby NuNu BMW M6 GT3, but with the addition of some new decals for a different livery. Larry said he got the decals from an online store based in Australia called Patto's Place. They have a large selection of automotive decals that are designed for slot cars, and most of them are available in several scales.

Larry also brought in another stack of old model magazines for anyone to take. He said he's cleaning out his basement, and will be bringing in more magazines to future meetings.

Maryann Germann learned figure painting techniques by watching YouTube videos on the subject for her figure bust "Excelsey" in 1/12th scale. She is using paints by Testors and Vallejo and it is her first model.

Maryann is also working on another figure entitled "Mother of Dragons" in 1/10th scale by Nuts Planet.

A co-effort by Brian Yurko and Carey Miller has resulted in a finished Airfix 1/72nd scale A6M2 Mitsubishi Zero. They used paints by Tamiya and Humbrol via traditional paintbrushes and a clear coat applied from a spray can.

Josh Keenan had his MPC 1/25th scale Dukes of Hazzard "Sherrif Roscoe P. Coltraine's Police Car" kit on hand for all to see.

Dick Schulenberg had his models for the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library's WWI exhibit at the meeting. The kits portray the Roden 1/32nd scale Nieuport 28, the Academy Nieuport 17 in 1/32nd scale and the Roden SE 5a, again, in 1/32nd scale. Dick built them all out-of-the-box with resin accessories for the Nieuports. Rigging was made from invisible mending thread, turnbuckles crafted from fly fishing tying tubing and twisted wire eyes. He also added an artist's oil wash to the Nieuport 17 (thanks for the TopTip to Justen Hanna).

Steve Weller's project for the library exhibit is the Meng British Male Mark V tank in 1/35th scale. Steve states that there were "lots of fit problems" with over 800 pieces involved and about 200 hours to complete it. He also explained that he needed to learn new painting systems and it was difficult to top the detail included in this kit.

Mark Gadek is working on the Trumpeter 1/48th scale C-47 Skytrain portrayed in Polish airline (LOT) livery. Despite encountering difficult and weak engine mounts, Mark was successful with a solution for this. He used the "marbling" technique for pre-shading and used khaki colored paint by Gunze and Tamiya.

Jacob Gadek was challenged by his father, Mark, to build something different other than his usual superhero/comic book characters. He picked up the gauntlet by building the 1/25th scale AMT Rio Truck kit. Jacob was lamenting the 1970's-era instructions, parts not numbered and lots of flash to clean up. Paint by Tamiya and Testors were used to finish the model. He added chrome details by using a chrome pen.

Dan Marafino summed up his experience with his 1/32nd scale Hansa Brandenburg W-29 as "Not an easy kit to build. Patience is a virtue; won't be building any more Wingnut Wings kits; 'nuff said". Well. He did complete it using paint by Tamiya and Model Color.

Mike Butry's Tamiya 1/48th scale 7-ton British Armored Car was finished out of the box except for tarpaulins made from aluminum foil and/or Kleenex. It was painted with the Tamiya and Model Master lines with oils and pastel chalks for weathering. He also had a Hasegawa 1/48th scale P-40N Kittyhawk in progress along with a future build of the Tamiya Bf-109G-6 in 1/48th scale as well.

John Zachritz built several Bandai Petit'GGuy Bear kits. The orange one is right out of the box, and the tan one was painted to match the charachter from the film "Girls Und Panzer der Film". John made modifications to the kits by trimming down a bandage for its equivalent in scale, cuts to the back of its head added with a hot knife, stitches applied with texture craft paint, cloth tape used for bandages and an arm sling trimmed from an old t-shirt.

John's die-cut cardboard scorpion was built from a punch-out book. The only modifications he made to it were by using tape and Elmer's glue to reinforce the joints with the intent to hang it on a wall.

He also finished a 1/700th scale US submarine as depicted in the movie "Operation Petticoat".

Dave Armitage displayed a large scale stagecoach and some figures.

The continuing line of artwork by Paul Hines this month includes three prime examples of some of the "best muscle cars of the late 1960's-early 1970's": a Ford GT 350 Mustang, Chevy Chevelle SS and a Plymouth "Cuda".

There were only two other items on the tables, so we're getting better! 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 Al Germann for handling the tables, and to Larry Osolkowski for the photography.