Hello fellow scale modelers!

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 February meeting:

Newest club member Alumini LaGuia, brought in the Hobby Boss 1/35th scale M1079 HET truck with trailer along with the Academy M1A2 Abrams "Tusk" main battle tank as a work in progress. The plan is to have it mounted to a base with the Abrams broken from the trailer and sliding down a small hill.

Michael Butry showed us his completed Tamiya 1/48th scale British 7 tonne Armored Car. The model was built mostly out of box and he added tarps by using tissue paper and tin foil. Paints were by Tamiya and Model Master and weathering done with Mig washes and pigments.

John Zaranek brought in his recently completed Hobby Craft 1/72nd scale CH-113 "Labrador" Canadian Armed Forces search and rescue helicopter. John explained that the quality of the kit is on par with what Airfix was about 15 years ago and it fit together very well. John primed the model with Tamiya Flesh and applied main body color with Tamiya Yellow with a drop or two of Tamiya Red added to darken it a bit. The fuselage band and fuel tanks were painted Tamiya Red. The kit decals were very poor and he replaced them with a set from Belcher's Bits. He added a scratchbuilt search light to the under fuselage nose and panel line highlighting with a wash made from yellow ochre/van dyke brown artist oils and turpenoid.

Larry Osolkowski brought in a new acquisition, a Model Factory Hiro 1/12 Eagle Gurney-Weslake Formula 1 race car kit. He mentioned that this was his "if I could build anything" bucket list kit, and with the recent passing of Dan Gurney, the driver and constructor of this car, Model Factory Hiro announced a one-time sale on all kits related to Dan Gurney. The discount was significant (20%) on a rather expensive kit which was produced in limited numbers, so it was now or never. The kit is a stunning collection of exceptionally clean white metal castings, equally impressive resin, and turned aluminum bits, photo-etch and other quality items. Larry also obtained a bottle of the correct paint from Zero Paints, and brought a spoon to show the color.

Larry also brought in a 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.

Steve Weller's Meng Mk IV Tank from WWI in 1/35th scale is nearly complete. Steve used paint by Tamiya spray cans and Vallejo acrylics. Steve explains that he's never had more problems that he's had with this kit - paint fisheyes and lifting, sub-assemblies that don't mate and airbrush failures are among his woes. He also advises to never take a 5-year layoff and try to build an 800 piece kit for a museum.

Paul Hines' line of artwork this month include "two fine examples of classic elegance by automotive styling": a 1924 Bugatti Type 35A and a 1935 Jaguar SS90.

Al Germann brought in a 1/25th scale Aoshima Food Truck finished with paint in rattle cans and Tamiya. Al said it was "odd, interesting and different".

Justen Hanna had his Wingnut Wings Albatross B.II in 1/32nd scale. He used Tamiya for the base colors and Vallejo for color modulation. Ammo of Mig rust streaks for wood grain with Tamiya clear orange over it to give it a varnished look. Weathering was accomplished with lots of artist oils, but the ribbing and shadows were done with airbrushed acrylics. The tolerances of the fit of this kit are so exact that paint needs to be kept off of the mating surfaces or things will not fit. He chose this subject to build a two seater that was a contemporary to his D.H. 2 and Fokker E.II builds.

Clint Keidel is nearly finished with the Tamiya 1/32nd scale F4U-1 Corsair conversion of the F4U-2 Night Fighter. Clint scratch built all cowl flap detail, wheel bay plumbing, engine wiring, exhaust flame dampers, and machine gun muzzles. He used the Eduard Cockpit Detail PE set. He's used paints by Tamiya, Vallejo, Model Master, Rustoleum and Mission Models. Weathering products used were by AK Interactive, artist oil washes, pastels and paint chipping done using the sponge technique. Clint says the problems were him dropping tiny parts and none with the kit. He hopes to have it finished in time for BuffCon 35.

Ilya Grinberg finished his Eduard 1/72nd scale FW-190A-8 augmented with the Eduard resin engine and gun bays. He used paints by Gunze and Mission Models. Ilya summed up the build as "superb".

Tim Grieve brought in his "Tuna Clipper" by Linberg in 1/60th scale. He used a variety of paints for his project and modified the oars for the skiff, added window panes for the pilot house and ropes for the deck.

He also showed us his Lindberg 1/72nd scale Me-410 using Model Master paints. He added his own antenna for the radio and enhanced the panel lines with a No. 2 pencil.

Tim had his Heller Junkers Ju-87 B-1 Stuka in for us to see as well. Tim said that this was his "Secret Santa" selection from this year, so the kit chose him. He used paints by Humbrol and Testors. He added guns to the wings, a pitot tube and an antenna wire. Paint chips on the propeller and wing leading edges were applied along with mud on the wing walkways.

Jim Lewis built a 1973 Mustang painted in Testor's One Coat "Hot Pink" in memory of his daughter, Christina.

Eugene Paveljack built the Takom 12.8cm Flak 40 Zwilling.

Samantha Hanna's war gaming "Garden of Mohr" was finished with Citadel paints, washes and texture products.

Dave Armitage displayed another eclectic collection of models and dioramas. Unfortunately, his information sheets were apparently misplaced, so the details are not available. Sorry, Dave!

There were a number of other items on the tables that were not identified. 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 Tom Brown, Jr. for handling the tables, and to Larry Osolkowski for the photography.