Greetings and Salutations to one and all! I hope that everyone is enjoying the weather so far
and keeping up with the yard work. First on the agenda: we were hoping that our meeting for this
month could have been a go, but so far we have not received any word as to when the hall will be
open officially for business. Hopefully by September, we'll have an answer and we can go from there.
Secondly and sadly, we can add yet another show to the canceled/postponed list for 2020. The latest is the Hudson Valley Historical Miniatures Guild (HVHMG) in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Speaking of shows, here's an around the room of sorts question: what is your most memorable show and what was it that made that show stand out?
I'll get the ball rolling - I've attended a lot of shows in my time and there have been many outstanding builds, but this show was not about a model that stood out. The year was either 2012 or 2013, Steve Donaczek was still a member of our Club and I believe it was the IPMS Erie Scale Modelers contest in Erie, PA which I believe for that year, was held at a church hall. Anywho, Steve and I decided to go across the street to Micky D's to grab some grub. He ordered the meal portion, then it came time to order his drink. He asked the young lady if they had Coke products and she replied, "yes, we do sir!" With that, Steve goes, "I'd like a large pop of half Coke and half Sprite." I'm sure it was only a few minutes that went by, but when you're hungry, it feels like a lifetime BUT... The young lady simply looked at her monitor dumbfounded and Steve quickly replied, "ah, yer not gonna find a picture of that drink on that ol' monitor!" With that, not only Steve but I myself got the look of a life time - it was that kill, death die stare! Now when I pass a McDonalds or stop in with the family, I automatically begin to chuckle ;-)
Your turn!
Until next time, happy modeling!
Michael Butry
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - August 17, 2020
From our latest information, it appears that the Knights hall is still closed, so there will be no general club meeting this month (August). The EBoard is currently hoping that we will be able to hold a general meeting in September. We'll get the word out as soon as we know. Stay safe.
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.
There is some sad news for the automotive builders in our club. Scale Auto magazine has decided to cease publication, effective after the October 2020 issue. The magazine has been owned for some time now by Kalmbach, who also owns Fine Scale Modeler, and they say that some Scale Auto content will subsequently be included in Fine Scale magazine. If you have a subscription to Scale Auto, the remainder of it will be honored with issues of Fine Scale.
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 July 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 July 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.
My Projects For the August Meeting
by Dick Schulenberg
I made some progress on the Dunkirk locomotive and am now ready, I think, to start painting and final assembly. My plan is to do some light weathering to bring out the detail and lighten up the overall black. The inside of the cab walls will be green, in conformance with typical locomotives of the 1890's. I still have to make up a track section for a display base, using some scale light rail from Canada.
I started a 1/72 scale Grumman XF5F-1 from the 1993 MPM short run kit. I bought the kit at a ROCON
a couple of years ago. It looked pretty crude in the box, but, with some attention to fit and
replacement of the kit engines with some nice Quickboost resin ones, I think it's starting to look
pretty good. I still have to get up my nerve to cut out and fit the one vacuum formed canopy. At least
it hasn't yellowed. Here's where I am so far.
Dick Schulenberg
Since the July 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 current project is a Revell 1969 Dodge Charger painted Plum Crazy.
Club president Mike Butry reports on his latest work. His comments:
"I am still pressing on with my 1/48th British Universal carrier and this is where I am at
currently. I've got all the tarps, bags and tools in place along with the wiring for the
communications radio. I was able to apply Tamiya's white rattle can primer which, to my
surprise, a lot of the little flaws 'n such have magically disappeared! As for the color,
the instructions call for XF-26(deep green) but that is one of a few colors I don't have.
So I turned to Vallejo's Model Colors Gunship Green. It may not be the right color but to
me, I like the shade and the look of the green once applied to the build. I figured once
all the washes and weathering have been done, the color will be toned down and look more
the part. At any rate, I'm pleased with the overall look but not looking forward to all the
detail painting that I must face now."
Bill Borkowski sent in his progress on his current project, a 1/24 scale Mini Cooper.
Bill's comments: "I have made good progress on the Mini Cooper model this last month. The body
re-paint went well. The wheels looked kind of plain so I scratch built disk brakes. All I have
left to do is some fiddly bits like mirrors, front grill, decals and window 'glass'. Then it's
on to the next kit!"
Al Germann made some progress on his current project. "1970 Chevelle: Making some minor
progress as the bucket seats are now a full bench seat. Just needs the correct colors. I
scratch built arm rests for the doors and then realized I have to change the dash board from
the SS package down to the Malibu. The engine and chassis are done, complete with white wall
tires with some appropriate hub caps from the parts box. I added some spark plug wires and a
wash to make the engine look like it has some miles on it."
Larry Osolkowski made some minor progress on his 1/25 AMT 1966 Mustang Hardtop. He filled
some sink marks in the body, added the front valence panel (which fit poorly), and started
scribing some of the panel separation lines that were left out of the body molding. The MCW
resin straight six engine is progressing, but the resin castings are a little crude. The block
is taking form, but the fan will have to be scratch-built, along with the air cleaner which is
not correct for this car. He also drilled out the steering wheel and started filling in sink
marks on the dashboard. The chassis from the kit was pretty bad, with molded-in rear axle and
dual exhaust system (incorrect for the six), so Larry found a Revell chassis on eBay for $10
that looks a lot better, with separate exhaust system and rear axle. He also found some decals
for the instrument panel, a photo-etch detail set, and a vinyl top kit that will be used.
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.
