Greetings and salutations to one and all. Summer is in full swing and I have a feeling everyone is enjoying the great outdoors. Am I right? I won't lie, I too am enjoying the outdoors, but I try to get to the bench towards evening time or at least for a bit once the Mrs./kids go to bed.

Here is a list of names that have not yet claimed their name tags. Also, for those who asked for or ordered club shirts, they are in and will be at this club meeting for pickup/purchase. So if you see your name, I'll have them at next Tuesday's general meeting.

• Mike Fredericks
• Shane Stephanson
• Andy Van Brocklyn

IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - July 15, 2025

NOTE: CANNOT ACCESS FACILITY BEFORE 7:00PM

7:00 PM to 7:10 PM - Place models on tables with description forms.

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.

The monthly general club meeting will be on Tuesday, July 15th at the Williamsville Youth & Recreation Center, 5005 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221, starting at the usual 7:00pm. Please note that we are renting the facility from 7:00 to 9:00pm. The facility is NOT responsible for opening the doors before 7:00pm, so if you get there early, please be patient. Parking and entry to the building is in the back. There will be a 50/50 raffle held at the meeting to help raise funds for the club. Directions:

The Tony Bartozek Memorial "I Am Not a Modeling Loser" Challenge kicked off at the May meeting. This is an annual affair with a long and complicated history, but for the current version, participating members bring in an unstarted kit, get their pictures taken with the kit (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), and attempt to complete the build by the September meeting. The kit must have a minimum of five parts, and must receive at least some painting. At the September meeting, those who finished their kits are winners, and those who failed to complete their models are declared Modeling Losers and suffer eternal embarassment (or at least until next year.) The members signed up for this year are:

Jim Greenfield, Warhammer Redemption Dreadnought 30mm.

Joe Kugel, MPC Taco Trike (sorry, no photo).

Mike Butry, Tamiya 1/35 Panzer I Ausf B.

Mark Budniewski, Monogram 1958 Thunderbird.

Jerry Hock, 1996 Ford Thunderbird.

Tom Faith, Mirage C7P "Klara".

Anthony Gliszczynski, 1960 Ford Pickup.

Tom Brown, Sr., War Elephant.

Larry Osolkowski, 1964 Chevelle Malibu SS.

Tim Carson, 1950 Austin Drag Car.

Al Germann, 1977 Ford Van.

Tim Jacobs, Revell 2001 Monte Carlo NASCAR.

Good luck to all the entrants!

Al Germann sent in a couple of photos that he took while on a work-related trip. For members that build aircraft that might wind up tail-heavy, Al saw this at the Harry Reid airport in Las Vegas. Yes, they actually use support jacks in the real world.

To keep our club mailing list up-to-date, if you are a member of IPMS Niagara Frontier and have recently changed your email address or are not receiving the club newsletter and meeting emails, please contact our website coordinator, Larry Osolkowski, and pass along your email information. Thanks!

A link to the current Sprue and Glue News has been included in the Newsletter Blast emails provided by National IPMS. For those readers from other chapters, and anyone else who might be interested, our website has a Newsletter page with buttons to select any of our newsletters from the current year. There is also a button on that page to access the Archive page, which has links to all of the newsletters published since September 2007.

A NOTE TO NON-MEMBERS

The minutes from the June 2025 general meeting are included below. Thanks to our Secretary, Al Germann, for the meeting minutes.

June 17th - President Mike Butry led the meeting.

• Old Business:
  • Nametags and club shirts are ready for pick up for anyone applicable.
  • No new information on the club situation with the tax filing. As stated previously we get conflicting information as our check is cashed but we also receive letter stating our tax debt is still due.
  • The club is set up with PayPal but not Venmo for membership dues and for BuffCon activity.
• New Business:
  • None.
• BuffCon #40, April 6, 2025:
  • None.
• BuffCon #41, April 12, 2026:
  • None.
• Miscellaneous/Open Floor:
  • Mike recognized a new visitor.
  • Rochester club is hosting NorEastCon Regional in 2026.
  • A demo was presented by Austin Stegall on weathering of tracks.
  • No 50/50 raffle was run at this meeting.
  • Tom B. stated he has some of the Buffalo lawn ornaments for sale.
  • The discussion for the models on the tables went around the room where people sat.

To promote greater transparency regarding the operation of the club and the EBoard, action items from the current 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. The EBoard meetings are not held during the summer months of June, July and August - meetings will resume in September.

Kit Stash

Paul Hines had three new paintings on a nautical theme this month. He describes the first: "White hull single mast sailboat. I loved the angle of approach and the way the waves broke, plus the reflections in the water gave the painting a 3D look."

Paul's second painting: "An all wood sailboat with 3 jib sails filled with wind. The painting was interesting because it contained the sky, trees, sailboat, people and water. All five elements make for an attractive painting."

Paul's last painting was "A small colorful painting showing two sailboats and people out for a summer's fun day of sailing. I loved the warm wood color of the near sailboat."

Brian Fowler displayed his 1/35 Vargas M1931 Christie Tank. He used Tamiya LP-series paints applied with an airbrush, and added weathering with oil washes, Tamiya panel liner, oil glazes, and artist pastels for dust. Modifications included many scratch-built and sourced parts to get the Vargas prototype version to an in-service vehicle with the US Army. Brian said the kit was of a prototype and a bit rough as one of Vargas' earlier efforts; he had to add many details that were missing. He mentioned that he always wanted a Christie tank in his collection as one of the innovative designs that eventually led to the Soviet BT series and T-34.

Tom Brown, Sr. brought in his Little People 200 diorama, finished with acrylics and some spray enamels. The model was all scratch-built with foam for rock and the base. Tom said he sprayed black and dry brushed gray on top, and used flowers from an arrangement from Amvets. He mentioned that his granddaughter loves Fisher Price Little People and going to the zoo, so he built her a zoo for her Little People. He said she loves playing with it.

Justin Schroeder showed us his 1/2 scale R2-D2 by Fanhome, which came as a monthly subscription over 24 months. Although the parts were prepainted, he used metallic paint markers on the inside panels on the front of the robot. He also upgraded the plastic hex bolts on the inside of the dome to metal ones, and added weathering using Vallejo Game wash dipping formula in black and Archive-X 1975 Depot Buff. Justin said there were a few issues, but there is a Facebook group for this build and it was very helpful; he also found a builder's website that was useful. He mentioned that he always wanted a full size Robotic R2-D2, but they are way outside his price range so this was the next best thing. It still wasn't cheap at around $2k.

Jim Greenfield brought four new models. The first was a Forge World 30mm Horus Heresy troop carrier. He's using Citadel paints so far, and had to use spare parts because it was an incomplete kit. Jim also had issues with warped parts, requiring lots of super glue. He picked the subject because "it's different".

Jim's second model was a Forge World 30mm Jet Bike. It was finished with Citadel, AK and Vallejo paints, and weathered with washes and drybrushing. Jim added a custom rider.

Jim's third model was a Games Workshop Tyranid Screamer, also finished with Citadel, AK and Vallejo paints and weathered with washes and drybrushing. Surprisingly, it was built with no modifications. Jim thinks it looks mean.

Jim's last model was a Games Workshop 30mm Redemptor Dreadnought. For this model, he used Tamiya, Citadel, AK and Mission Models paints, with the usual washes and drybrushing added. This kit was also built out of the box, and he picked it because "it's crazy".

Dick Schulenberg had a new model on the table this month, a Glencoe (originally Strombecker) 1/130 Martin M-130 China Clipper Flying Boat. He used Tamiya gray spray primer covered with Vallejo RLM01 metallic silver, orange and black, all sprayed, with no weathering. Dick built it out-of-box, but added 0.015" wire for the sponson bracing and 0.006" wire for the tail bracing. He said the orange wing top and black walkways were provided as a decal, but even with two coats of Micro Decal film they broke up, so he replaced the markings with paint and decal stripes. Dick said he picked the subject because he likes flying boats, especially in the smaller scales. He mentioned that the kit is originally from Strombecker in 1957, reissued once by Glencoe in 1992. He said there was a lot of flash to clean up but everything fit very well.

Riley Shaw displayed a Tamiya 1/35 M1A1 Abrams MBT "Ukraine", based on the battle of Avdiivka, February 2024. It was finished with Vallejo NATO black, green and brown, Vallejo dust wash and Vallejo mud effects. He added Tamiya modern military baggage and hedgehogs, Master Box Ukraine war figures, camo netting and birch trees made of copper wire. Riley said the Vallejo mud effects produce a nice springtime mud, suitable for eastern European roads and countryside. He mentioned that the kit is a rebox of a Desert Storm M1 Abrams from old tooling, and the Master Box figures are the highlight, with good tooling and great sculptures. Riley said his father was an M1 commander in Desert Storm and this was his Fathers Day present. He's also been interested in the strange mix of western and eastern equipment used in Ukraine. Riley added that he really wishes the kit was more accurate to the ones in use, with Tusk II or reactive armor, and he plans to add an FPV drone once he finds one in 1/35 scale.

Larry Osolkowski had two items on the table. The first was a new release from Platz Nunu, a 1/24 BMW M4 GT3 race car from the 2022 DTM season. Like other Platz Nunu kits, it looks good in the box, with nice crisp molding and excellent decals. Larry also bought the accessory detail set that includes a sheet of photoetch details and carbon fiber decals. He plans to build the kit as one of the M4s racing in the US IMSA series when appropriate aftermarket decals become available.

Larry's second item was his progress on his entry into the Tony Bartozek "I'm Not a Modeling Loser" challenge, an AMT 1/25 1964 Chevelle Malibu SS. He modified the ends of the exhaust pipes on the chassis to look more realistic, and sprayed the chassis in Alclad gray primer. He also started detail painting the engine/transmission insert for the chassis. The wheels were detail painted with Tamiya flat black LP lacquer and cleaned up with Tamiya lacquer thinner. Larry had to print his own decals for the hubcap centers because the kit decals wouldn't respond to Solvaset. The seats were primed with Alclad primer and sprayed with MCW Viking blue automotive lacquer, but when he tried to add Bare Metal foil trim, the paint lifted when the excess was removed. Larry had to strip the seats with brake fluid and repaint, but this time he put the foil trim on first and covered it with Tamiya tape before painting. Oddly, the decals worked pretty well for the dashboard, although masking the silver areas again had lifting issues. He will also be using white metal door handles and window winders from an unknown source.

Larry also brought in a nice selection of flocking powder in a variety of colors that he found on Amazon for around $10.

Ted Szczesny had three models displayed this month. The first was a Metal Earth 4-4-0 Wild West Locomotive in black & red. The kit contains 155 pieces, and Ted used Sharpies for touchups. He said building it included the usual bending, folding, and reaching the tabs issues typical with these kits. When answering the question "why did you pick this subject", Ted said "I ask myself that every time I buy one and have yet to come up with an answer."

Ted's second model was a Piececool 2-6-0 Mogul Locomotive in black & green. This kit contained 282 pieces, and had the same issues as the previous model. He bought it because he needed to spend a few more dollars to get free Amazon shipping.

Ted's last model was an Rokr Steam Engine, a (mostly) wood kit. He used art pencils for touching up tree contact points and thin CA glue for wood repair and loose-fitting parts. The main issue was typical occasional plywood splitting when separating parts from trees. Ted said he enjoys working on these Rokr "multimedia" models - there is not a lot of glue and painting involved, and you get a nice functional model and conversation piece as an end result.

Tim Jacobs showed us his Pursuit Dodge model car, finished in Testors black and white. He added radio antennas and a CB radio and antenna. Tim said the front and rear bumpers were a bit fussy going on, and there is an "Easter egg" on the roof.

Al Germann had two projects on the tables this month. The first was a 1977 Ford Cruising Van. He's using Tamiya, Krylon and Duplicolor paints for finishing. Al cut open the doors, added steel supports on the interior, and added panels to the interior of the doors. He said he had to modify the track width of the axles. He picked the subject because vans of the '70s were cool. Al plans on adding wood framing to show "work in progress" on a custom interior.

Al's other model was a 1962 International Travelall, a 3D-printed kit purchased at Section 8 Hobbies made from a file produced by Andrey Becrodny found on cults3d.com. He used Krylon red primer with Vallejo paints, and weathering with hairspray chipping, shading and washes. Al said he had to add styrene rod to center the wheel rim to the brake hubs on the axles. He also used tissue and diluted white glue for the headliner and added bracing on the hood. Al mentioned that it's just a cool kit and he likes the way it's coming along.

There were some unidentified items on the tables.

There were some flyers for upcoming shows on the table.

There were also some magazines on the table, free for the taking.

Austin Stegall presented a demo on track weathering.

Finally, some around-the-room shots.

Thanks to the members for handling the model tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photos.