As you are aware, there will be no general meeting in April. The State regulations for no
gatherings over 10 people are now in effect until May 15, 2020. This is just three days before
the scheduled May meeting. I think we should be prepared for that meeting being cancelled also.
We will keep you posted as we know more. Stay safe! That being said, there are two things that
the Executive Board are planning for the club to participate in electronically: the officer and
E-Board member elections and the Tony Bartozek challenge.
IMPORTANT: Club elections. I am hoping some members will "step up to the plate" and run for an elected office to move the club into the future. The positions available are:
- President
- First Vice President
- Second Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- 6 E-Board Members
If you are interested in helping the club, please email your interest to the following email address: nominations@ipmsniagarafrontier.com
Please list your name and the position you are interested in. Jeff Keenan and I will be stepping down from our positions, so it is important for others to step up and help the club.
We will be accepting nominations until May 5, 2020. At that point, we will list all the positions and candidates in the next newsletter. We will be asking members to vote by May 22, 2020 to an email address we will be providing in the next newsletter. We will also try to send paper ballots to members that do not use electronic means of communication. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Election results will be posted on the website by the end of May.
Tony Bartozek challenge. If you are interested in participating, please send me an email and selfie of you and the kit you wish to build. Please send the email to me at berneckir@gmail.com and I will compile the list for inclusion of the next newsletter. You will have until the July meeting to present the completed kit. More info to follow. Let's see those selfies!
Rich Bernecki
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 11470
IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - April 20, 2020
Due to restrictions caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, the April general meeting has been canceled.
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.
At a recent E-Board meeting, the topic of contest judging came up, and a document was passed around that discusses judging criteria. If you have any interest in judging at our shows, or just how it works, you can read the Judging Criteria article for more information. Printed copies will also be available at the next meeting.
The April 2020 newsletter of the IPMS Patriot chapter is available HERE.
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 March 2020 general meeting, since the meeting was canceled 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 March 2020 E-board meeting, since the meeting was canceled 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.
Model Building
by Jeff Belling
A few years ago - maybe 6 or 8 by now - I told a co-worker that I could make her a model of a Tuskegee P-51 for Black History Month. She was the coordinator of special programs that year. It was a moment of false bravado, but in the ensuing years I acquired a Monogram P-51B - no decals, started, etc. I scored decals at one of the shows. Now, I've built two 1/144 scale models in the last 10 years or so, but last summer my wife hired two guys to kind of re-do the basement and my bench. It had been the repository for EVERYTHING that came into the house but had no place to be, and the bench re-appeared from under the rubble. And then I was told I had to work from home for however long.
Now that I have put the P-51 together, I wanted to mention how incredibly amazed I am at the skill of those in our club. My 1/48 P-51 is a 10-footer. My references weren't up to date, and some things didn't work out the way I expected. I used RustOleum spray chrome and painted some panels with different acrylics to represent different panel colors. I used lead foil strips I probably got from Andre for belts and harnesses, but they're hard to see. I used a yogurt container top for the prop disk, but I'd like a better way to cut a perfect circle - scissors don't do it. I got paint and glue fingerprints on all parts of the kit, and on the burrito I had for lunch one day. Small pieces of plastic shrapnel flew all over my work area and the house as I used knives and cutters, or just tried to install something. The base is an old plaque that had an award on it at one time, and the photo base I took from the window of my airplane.
But anyway, it's Clarence "Lucky" Lester's aircraft. He destroyed three Me-109s on a mission in Italy and William S. Phillips, the aviation artist, painted a picture of his mission, and it was used on a Smithsonian Air & Space Museum poster.
I've finished three 1/72 scale kits in addition to the 1/48 P51. Dan gave me two German tanks and a Bf-109 that had been started so we didn't know if all the parts were there. The tiger tank, you'll see, is missing a wheel. The Panzer IV F is complete. The Bf-109 was missing a wheel but I was able to make it gear up using wheels from an Airfix kit that I had. The Bf-109 is brush painted. The tanks are my first airbrush experiment. I dug out an ancient Pasche compressor I got from my father-in-law about 30 years ago. It looks like something out of "War of the Worlds." The cord looked old and cracked, but I figured I'd try it. When I plugged it in, I blew out the breakers in the basement and family room. New cord installed. I need airbrush practice to get fine lines, but it's been fun.
My Self-Isolation Projects
by Dick Schulenberg
Who would have thought that being a modeler with a stash is preparation for a spell of self isolation? Isn't that what we were aiming for?
Being retired and having most of my home improvement projects behind me, I get a fair amount of time to spend modeling, so I usually have a new modeling project or two ahead of me. The current situation has really pushed this towards the limit though.
First, here's my primary work area, in what used to be our living room until we put on an addition for a much bigger living room in 1995. I've used this space and desk for over 40 years now. I also have a bench in my cellar where I can do messier or smellier work like spray painting.
I finished an Academy 1/72 scale Hawker Tempest Mk. V modified to Mk. VI for hot climate flying with
additional cooling intakes in the wings using a Freightdog conversion kit from England. Markings, also
from Freightdog, are for a postwar Mk VI stationed in Egypt. The Academy kit is really nice and builds
up with a minimum of seams.
The conversion kit is also very nice, but instructions were a bit of a problem. They showed how
to fit the non-symmetrical intakes in the wings in the top and bottom views but failed to flip the
location of the intakes in one view. Guess which one I worked from first. Paint is Tamiya spray can
Natural Metal and SemiGloss Clear.
I start more than I finish so there are multiple projects in work.
First is a 1/72 scale AZ Models Douglas X-3 that is ready for decals. This is a short run kit so a lot of fit up work was needed before committing to glue. It needed a couple of fill/sand cycles and re-scribing to get ready for paint, but came out OK. The paint is Tamiya White Primer, Silver Leaf and SemiGloss Clear, all from spray cans.
Next up is a 1/32 scale resin "Wingwax" 1949 Formula One racer from Civilized Models. I'm waiting
on decals for this one. There were only a few parts to the kit and, once the castings stubs were
removed, they went together nicely. The only interior part supplied was a nice seat, so I fudged
up enough stuff to make a plausible cockpit. They give you two copies of the vacuform canopy which
actually fit very well. These Formula One racers are tiny, as you can see from the 1/35 figure.
I started a 1/35 scale Tamiya French Renault R35 tank at the last couple of Section 8 build
nights, so I thought I'd finish it up. I'm really impressed with the R35 kit. It's really well
thought out and just clicked together. It only required a few minutes to clean up the few seams.
Much better than the multiple fill/sand rounds for the X-3. I just need to figure out when to
assemble and paint the track links before I start the overall painting. I'm looking forward to
the multicolor camo.
The biggest current project is a 1/24 scale scratch built geared locomotive for display at the
Dunkirk Historical Society Museum. Dunkirk NY, where I grew up, was the home of Brooks Locomotive
Works of the American Locomotive Company (Alco). Alco built thousands of steam locomotives, from
small industrial switchers to some of the largest ones and shipped them all over the world. They
stopped building locomotives in 1927 and concentrated on large industrial boilers and pressurized
processing equipment until closing in 1964. During WWII, Alco built 105MM Long Tom field cannons for
the army and barrels for many different heavy artillery pieces.
However, they weren't the only locomotive builders in Dunkirk. Dunkirk Engineering was a small engineering company that custom built various kinds of manufacturing equipment. Their chief engineer invented a locomotive that was capable of working on rough, twisty roadbed with steep gradients. The two steam cylinders were arranged in a Vee configuration behind the horizontal boiler. Over 50 were built in the 1890's and used by industrial and logging railroads all over the continental US.
My model is built from wood, paper and plastic. The boiler and water tank are made from 3/4" poplar boards and pine dowels and wrapped in Strathmore Patent Paper stock that I've had since college. It has a nice smooth and hard surface. Rivets on the tank and boiler are sequin pins in drilled holes. They don't show up on the black primed tank, but they're there, all of them. The wheels are cast from Durham's Water Putty in a silicone mold from my master. Not entirely OK, but they will work. The truck side frames are all plastic and built on a jig. I'm working on the steam cylinders and gearing that goes on each wheelset axle. I think that I will have to fake some of this for lack of information.
That's me. What are you guys doing?
Dick Schulenberg
Since the March general meeting was canceled, members have sent in photos of their current projects. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and particularly to Steve Weller who suggested a "virtual meeting" through the newsletter and Facebook page.
Nick Carluccio sent in some photos of two current projects. In Nick's words: "The '57 Chevy
is a full blown custom and is painted in black and blue pearl enamel. The rear tail light is
actually carved from a 1983 Ford Tempo tail light that was damaged. This model is actually
from the first issue of the AMT 57 Chevy from back in 1963."
Nick's second project: "The 1962 Ford Fairlane is a semi-custom painted with leaf green and light
green enamel. This was another one of my eBay glue bombs that I rescued. The model is trimmed in
bare metal foil and the interior matches the exterior's two tone green."
Eugene Paveljack posted some photos on Facebook of his current projects.
Eric Hillebrand also posted his current work on Facebook.
Jeff Belling sent some photos and an article about his current model building activities. The
article appears above in the Member Articles section. His first model is a Monogram 1/48 P-51B.
Jeff's second model is a 1/72 Bf-109.
Jeff's last two models are 1/72 tanks, a Tiger and a Panzer IV-F.
Al Germann sent pics of three works-in-progress. The first is a 1957 Ford Wagon Gasser. Al's
comments: "I made a lot of progress and am almost done. Just need to finish the front bumper. I
have some local decals on the side / rear window of WKBW radio and Genesee Beer."
Al describes his second project: "1956 Cadillac: Inspired by a Jimmy Buffet song 'Earl's dead,
Cadillac for sale', I found the right model kit, a 1956 Cadillac in 1/32 scale. I'm planning a
small base diorama with a small palm plant, driveway mailbox and the famous 'sign in the windshield
that tells the whole tale; Earl's dead, Cadillac for sale'. Good little kit with nice details and
some optional wheels. I was hope for a quick build but had to paint/repaint both the body and roof
3 times. Never use Rustoleum paint no matter how cool the colors look."
Al's final model has been seen in progress at recent meetings: "Henry J drag car: I made some
good progress despite how the photos show it. I never built a modern Pro-Mod type drag car and the
kit bashing into a classic car slowed things down for a while. I have to actually enlarge the roll
cage to fill the interior better. Soon I will know if the wheelbase has to be modified to fit the
body. I am really looking forward to the paint and decals I have planned.
Larry Osolkowski has been putting a lot of work into his Tamiya 1/20 Leyton House Formula 1
race car. He started a work-in-progress build log on the F1M web forum. You can follow the build
at f1m.com. Here are a few
recent progress photos.
Larry also picked up a couple of new kits recently. The first is from NuNu of Japan,
and is a 1/24 Audi R8 LMS GT3 race car, a car that runs in various European, Asian and
American sports car racing series. It looks like a great kit in the box. He also got the
detail set, which includes photo-etch parts, a couple of small machined bits, some seatbelt
material, and some carbon fiber decals, and a bottle of the correct red from Zero Paints.
Larry's second new kit is a 1/43 Tameo Brawn GP F1 car from the 2009 season. It's a
typical Tameo white metal kit, with nice, pre-printed rubber tires, photo-etch bits,
nice decals and excellent instructions.
Anthony Gliszczynski has been busy working on a modern Mustang race car project. He
said: "I'm making a 1968 super stock mustang as seen in today's racing world. Had to cut
up chassis from two kits to be able to tub out the rear to fit the bigger tires used today.
So, I mated the rear chassis pan from the '66 Nova pro street car to the front of the '68
Mustang one. Looks pretty good!"
Steve Weller is the guy that kicked off our virtual meeting, and he sent some photos of
his latest work. Here are his comments: "Given our historic circumstances I thought it would
be a good idea to take care of a few items I've been meaning to do for 5-10 years. If we
can't have meetings or shows, a little activity via the web might ease the cravings for plastic.
So here's one that's been in the assembly department since about 2012 (I think). Now I can get
to finishing the other 3 that have about the same amount of dust on them, or maybe I should
finish the kitchen or taxes or - NAH! Off to whiff some more glue - good health to all.
P.S. - oh yeah, it's the miserable Airfix 1/76 M4 Sherman II, I think, done up in 8th Army
North Africa desert pink - the single worst fitting kit I have ever managed to complete."
John Weller provided some photos of his 1/144 type VII U-Boat, which is an out of production
Takara/Bandai model. John said "I don't think it was ever sold as a kit. It came painted and
assembled. Unfortunately, I am addicted to things with interiors so I coughed up $100 for it
on eBay, which is better than blowing $400 on the 1/48 Trumpeter kit (that wouldn't fit in any
place I ever lived)." He also pointed out the commode with kreigsmariner doing his business.
Justin Sczepczenski posted a video of his latest creation on Facebook, and a screenshot
was taken.
Unfortunately, no around-the-room photos this month.
Thanks to Steve Weller for getting the ball rolling, and to everyone who contributed
photos. Hopefully, we'll be able to get back together as a group soon. Stay safe.
