Happy Summer, fellow members of IPMS Niagara Frontier.

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 July meeting:

Tim Grieve used Testor's paints on his Linberg US Air Force B-58 Hustler bomber. Tim added detail tape on the walkways and warning stripes on the engines along with a rear gun.

Rod Adam showed his completed, fictional "Battleark Olympia".

Clint Keidel's challenge kit is the Revell 1954 "Midget Race Car" in the old Revell "box scale". Clint relates that there is absolutely no detail included in the kit out of the box and has added the following details: scratch built tube chassis, fire wall, nerf bars, grill, dashboard and gauges, a working steering mechanism with tires and wheels. He's used silver paint by Rustoleum so far.

Rich Bernecki completed his challenge entry early, the Tamiya 1/48th scale IL-2 Russian fighter from WWII. Rich built it straight out of the box and used Tamiya acrylics and Model Master enamels for the paint work.

He also had his Hasegawa A6M5C Mitusbishi "Zero" on hand at the meeting. He used Tamiya acrylics for the paint job and added seat belts from Eduard.

Rich switched over to armor when he combined a hull/suspension from a Tasca/Asuka kit with the 105mm turret from the Dragon M4A3 Howitzer. Rich said he wanted to build a "more current standard" kit of this Sherman variant. The only injected molded kit is the 1980's vintage Tamiya one which has some shortcomings.

Larry Osolkowski brought in his Tony Bartozek entry in progress, a 1/24 Autokit white metal kit of a 1934 E.R.A. race car. Larry said the kit is well cast, although lots of filing and sanding are required to get things to fit properly.

Larry also showed us a recent acquisition, a 1/10 Hasegawa BMW R75/5 motorcycle kit. He said that, although it's an uncommon scale, it's a nice looking kit.

John-Allen Price showed his FROG (Flies Right Off the Ground) kit of the Focke-Wulf FW-190A-4 in 1/72nd scale. John-Allen explains that he build this kit circa 1969 and was the first time he used a custom decal sheet. It depicts an aircraft used by the German Luftwaffe (JG 2, 9 Squadron) in WWII. He used Polly-S acrylics to hand paint the finish.

He also has the Revell Tempest Mk V in 1/72nd scale flown by 486 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force/Royal Air Force in WWII and a FROG Typhoon Mk. II of the same squadron/air force. John-Allen says that all three aircraft were built in the late '60's by him, using aftermarket decal sheets and finished with Polly-S acrylics.

Alan Gryfe needs a carbarn for his model railroad and is kitbashing three kits to make one. He's using two POLA "Municipal Garages" and a POLA "Streetcar Depot" to do it. Alan says that the parts fit well and there should be no obstacles to his planned modifications.

Tom Brown, Sr.'s "love of monuments" has inspired him to work on a model of "Mount Rushmore" for the challenge this year. So far, his only complaint is that the mold is "too thin".

Paul Hine's artwork this month consists of a car and two aviation pictures: Talbot Lago T150 SS in 1937; US Navy F-35 Lightning and a US Navy T-38c Trainer.

John Zaranek is working on the Zvezda 1/350th scale battleship "Borodino" of the Russian Imperial Navy in 1905 for this year's challenge. He explains that he has yet to finish a ship model and the memorial challenge will force him to do so. The kit goes together fairly well. He encountered some fit issues with the deck meeting the hull, but nothing some patience and basic modeling skills can't handle. He also bought a photoetch brass detail set from White Ensign Models to enhance it.

Mark Gadek brought in the Trumpeter 1/32nd scale MiG-29A in Poland Air Force livery. Mark did encounter some fit issues (misalignment from the molds). He used paints by Hataka and AK Extreme Metal followed by pin washes by Tamiya and filters with Mig products.

Bill Borkowski is working on the Airfix 1/32nd scale Aston Martin DB5 car kit from 1989 for the challenge. Bill relates that the kit body is poorly molded needing a lot of body filler and sanding as well as distorted roof pillars which caused the roof to be lopsided. The glass is also wavy and scratched. However, perseverance is paying off and he was able to use Alclad and Tamiya paints along with chrome "pens" for the final finish.

Tom Brown, Jr. is working on a Warhammer "Age of Signar" army and part of that is the Kharadrom Overlords "Sky Dwarf" figures. He's using Citadel acrylics for the base coats and subsequent layers and shading.

Dick Schulenberg brought in the oldest kits in his collection. Starting us off is the Aurora 1/48th scale P-40 from 1954 painted by his dad; a box scale Revell Regulus 11 kit from 1955 and a scratchbuilt Boeing P-26A all balsa wood model from outline drawings from 1962. Dick said the paints that were used were house trim enamels and some details he received from the Boeing Public Relations Department.

A couple of club members brought in some model magazines for the taking.

There were a few other items on the tables. 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 Bob Conshafter for doing the tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photography.