Greetings and salutations to one and all! Well this is it, this is our last meeting before the big
dance, so let's get down to business. This will basically be a repeat from my last article.
- Again, we'll be passing around the sign-up sheet for the various job duties for the show. We NEED all hands on deck! For those that had volunteered for our past shows and continue to volunteer, thank you so much. For those that are new to volunteering and would like to volunteer, thank you, thank you! Any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.
- Buffcon raffle donations - Last month we began to bring in kits for our show's raffle and we are off
to a decent start. So again, at this month's meeting, please bring in a model or two or three that you'd
like to donate to our raffle. The box can be sealed or it can be opened BUT if the latter, ALL contents
must be originally sealed inside the box. However, just to be aware, some manufacturers kits contents are
not sealed (plastic bags of sorts) so that's ok too, BUT make sure all parts are attached to the parts
trees. Since this is our first club show in two years, I want this raffle to be huge!
** Just in case you forget - you can also bring in kits the day of the show as well! ** - Day of show (April 3rd 2022) - ALL MEMBERS NEED TO ARRIVE AT THE KofC by 0730 TO HELP WITH TABLE SET UP and HELPING VENDORS SET UP.
Annual club dues are overdue by now, so PLEASE PAY UP - $20 for the adults and $5 for kids between the ages 11-17, and under 11 free. Please see Mr. Tom Faith during the break - not before or during the meeting but during the break - thank you!
This month will be another build and bull meeting so if you're working on something, bring it on in.
To all eboard members, there will be another Buffcon meeting right after our general club meeting so please stick around.
Justin Sczepczenski's "water" demo has been postponed till our April meeting, so do not miss out!
Lastly, the eboard and myself would like to thank Justen Hanna from Section 8 for having a special 25% off sale for all current members back on March 5th. It was mentioned in last month' newsletter and an additional email was sent out so if you missed out, you missed a good time!
Countdown to Buffcon37, as of 3/8/22: Months: 0; Days: 3 weeks 5 days; Hours: 613 hours and 11 minutes. Until next time, happy modeling!
Michael Butry
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 52196
IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - March 15, 2022
7:00 PM to 7:10 PM - Place models on tables with description forms.
7:10 PM - Meeting called to order.
Old Business:
- See Tom Faith during the break to pay your dues.
New Business:
Questions from the floor.
Table discussion: Members tell the club about the models they have on the tables.
Break: 10 minutes.
- Members catch up on what's been going on since the last meeting.
Call for adjournment.
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, March 15th, starting at the usual 7:00pm at the usual meeting room in the rear building. No special safety requirements are in effect at this time.
The raffle is back! BuffCon 37 will have a raffle, and we're asking all club members to contribute to the prizes. If you would like to donate, please bring new, complete, unstarted kits, preferably in sealed boxes, but in any case with sealed parts bags, to the next club meeting. Mike Patskin will be handling the raffle, and will be collecting donated kits. Other model-related items will also be accepted, including new tools, paints, decals, etc. Thanks for your participation!
We have some sad news to announce: long time club member Mark Wnek passed away on February 6, 2022. Although he didn't build a lot, he enjoyed the club meetings, and was a frequent member of the judging team at our BuffCon shows. He will be missed.
Section 8 Hobbies is now holding a build night every Wednesday from 4 to 9pm. All are welcome to bring their latest projects and work on them in the company of other modelers.
The BuffCon 37 website is now up, and can be viewed HERE.
A link to the current Sprue and Glue News has been added in recent months to 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 the 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.
The Links page on the club website has recently been updated with information contributed by members. If you have a favorite website for modeling info, forums, etc., email the information to larryo@ipmsniagarafrontier.com.
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 30+ attending each monthly meeting. Our club meets at 7:00pm on the third Tuesday 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.
The minutes from the February 2022 general meeting are included below. Thanks to our Secretary, Al Germann, for the meeting minutes.
February 15 - President Mike Butry led the meeting.
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.
March 7 - President Mike Butry led the meeting, held at Section 8 Hobbies.
Dave Armitage sent in some photos of his latest projects. The first was a figure of Blackbeard the Pirate,
from an Atlantis kit in 1/10 scale.
Dave's next group of models included a 1950 Ford Pickup, a 1959 Edsel, and a 1953 Hudson Hornet, all in
1/25 scale.
Dave's last group of photos were of a 1/25 scale model of a gas station.
John Doerr sent in pics of his 1/72 scale Hobby Boss Bf 109 G-6. It is painted as a Wilde Sau
night fighter from 1/JG300, 1944.
Tom Brown Sr. displayed further progress on the G.I. Joe figures he brought in last month.
Painting, modifications and weathering have not started yet, but Tom said he's working on
scratch-building some items. He's still looking for some additional helmets.
Tom also donated an airbrush to be raffled off to the volunteer judges at the upcoming BuffCon.
Al Germann brought in several items. The first was a Testors 1/48 F5 Northrop Freedom Fighter. Al
said the kit went together well, with nice fit. He used Rustoleum white primer and Krylon black paints.
Al is modeling the aircraft as one in final storage in the Arizona desert. He plans to wrap and seal
the canopy and all openings, and will make wooden stands and a diorama base. Al mentioned that the F5
was a great looking aircraft in service worldwide for a long time, and he's building it for the "worn
and weathered" theme.
Al also showed us his progress on the 1/32 Jet Pack Flyer that he brought in last month. It's based
on a resin kit that he bought on eBay, and he said it's a nice kit with good detail. He used Krylon
citrus green, and Vallejo red primer, orange and transparent white pearl on the figure. Al said he was
trying to get a nylon-satin-shiny material effect for the flying suit. The helmet is white with Mission
Model color-changing top coat, and the visor was done with a Molotow Chrome pen. The winglets are carbon
fiber decals, and the other decals came from the stash. The base is a metal lid sprayed satin nickel.
Al's next model was a work-in-progress of an AMT 1/25 1970 Corvette. He's building it out-of-box,
and finished the body with Testors Flaming Orange laquer from a spray can. The interior is painted with
Krylon, but he's not decided on the color. Al said that as a kid in the 70's, he always wanted a Burnt
Orange Metallic Corvette. There was a factory orange available, but not like this. Al mentioned that he
got this kit as a Christmas gift, and it's building up nicely so far.
Al's final item was a Revell 1/25 Shelby 427 Cobra. He said it was an out-of-box build, using
Duplicolor auto paint, Krylon semi-flat black and satin clear on the wheels, with a gloss clearcoat
after the decals. He's still working on the side pipes, but the model went together well. Al said
that this was always one of his favorite cars, and looks great next to the 289 Cobra he build last
year. He mentioned that the 289 was modeled as the last 289 Cobra from 1965, which was the change-over
year to the 427. The 427 Cobra was modeled as the 1965 car that Hal Keck drove to win an American
Road Race of Champions (ARRC) race at Daytona.
Maryann Germann displayed her completed woodburning of a 1957 Dodge Coronet. She said it was
done on plywood, and took 12 hours to finish. It will be receiving a final wax finish.
Eugene Paveljack showed us his Games Workshop Horticulous Slimux. He finished it with Citadel
paints.
Steve Weller brought in a photo from Facebook of a WW I Trench diorama set into an ammo crate.
Steve thought this was a nice way to deal with dioramas that have "extreme topography" with deep
holes, trenches, etc.
Paul Hines brought in some new automotive painting subjects. He started with a 1915 Packard Twin
Six. He said to note the difference between the front and rear wood wheels.
Paul continued with a Camaro - very cool, and all set up for drag racing with big slicks, a
wheelie bar and parachute.
Paul concluded with a '55 Chevy, the famous "Orange Crate" gasser. He said he had fun doing the
tire smoke to make it more dramatic. Paul mentioned that he's been doing a lot of automotive art and
it's time for a change, so he'll be getting back into some aviation subjects.
Mike Heltz, a visitor to our meeting, brought in two models for us to see. The first was an AMT
'34 Ford Pickup. He painted it with Tamiya Blue and Haze Gray, along with Humbrol and Testors enamels.
Mike added oak veneer in the bed, and spark plug wires.
Mike also displayed a Revell '66 GT350H, minus the Hertz decals. Mike substituted '67 Mustang GT
rocker decals, and finished it with Tamiya Black and Testors enamels. He added spark plug wires and
battery cables. Mike said the front bumper had some bad defects, which required him to strip it,
repair the defects and repaint.
Greg Fox displayed a couple of models: a 1/72 Junkers 88, and a 1/48 F-84F Thunderstreak.
Larry Osolkowski displayed his Tamiya 1/20 Leyton House F1 race car, which is almost complete. He
3D-printed some stands to place the car on over a mirror base, so that the carbon fiber floor can be
seen. The stands are covered in a strange Hasegawa carbon fiber effect metal foil material that he
found in his stash of decals. It's applied like bare metal foil, but will probably only work on flat
surfaces. The upper bodywork needs a final clear-coat and touch up of the inside surfaces.
Larry also showed his progress on a 1/144 F-16 from the Minicraft USAF 50th Anniversary Thunderbirds
set. It now has white paint and some of the decals applied.
Larry's last item was another new motorcycle kit from Meng, a 1/9 BMW HP4 Race. Larry bought the
accessory machined metal fork set, and a 3D printed chain set with better detail. He said this looks
like another really nice kit, with lots of detail, carbon fiber decals, and excellent instructions.
Tim Carson displayed his Atlantis 1/25 Mooneyes Dragster. He painted the body and frame with
Krylon Sun Yellow Gloss from a rattle can, and used Model Master and Testors paints for everything
else. Tim said this was a re-issue of an old kit, and "someone else called it 'fiddly' - an accurate
description". He said he picked the subject for the "16th Annual 24 Hour Model Build" group on
Facebook. It started at noon on 1/29 and (hopefully) finished by noon on 1/30. Tim said he finished
in 23 1/2 hours (!), with lots of spare parts left over, almost enough to build a second model.
Apparently there was a time when the kit was offered as a "2-in-1".
Jim Greenfield brought in an AMT/ERTL 1/48 N1 Naboo Star Fighter, Mandalorian Version. He used
Tamiya, Citadel and Mission paints in the finishing process, and added distress and wash techniques
for weathering. Jim said he also carved up the model and added ribbing with mostly Star Wars spare
parts.
Tim Grieve showed us his Airfix 1/72 Fairey Swordfish Mk 1. It was finished with Model Master
Chrome, Silver andLight Ghost Gray paints, along with Model Color Interior Green, Flat Black, Red
and Green. Tim picked the subject because it lasted longer than its replacement in service of WW II.
He also mentioned that the stringers were tedious.
Bob Conshafter displayed a couple of recent projects. The first was a Lindberg (1990) T-55 Main
Battle Tank. Bob used a mix of Aeromaster and Life Color Olive Drab, and built the model to experiment
with finishing techniques like filtering, chip and rust effects. He said he picked the subject not for
display or competition, but for practicing techniques. Bob mentioned that the model is currently
finished in a filtering approach that involved using all the oil paints in the paint box; decals are
for a Polish Warsaw Pact machine with the old ESCI Polish flags and Letraset dry transfer numbers.
Bob's second model was an in-progress build of an Atlantis (old Revell from 1956) 1/64 box scale
B-25 Mitchell Medium Bomber. He used Life Color Neutral Gray to start, and is building it out-of-box
as Lt. Col.Jimmy Doolittle's B-25 from the Doolittle Raid. Bob said it was a traditional kit that
requires all the basic modeling skills, with dry-fitting, putty and sanding with fit issues to see
through. Bob said he likes the B-25 and was unaware of the old Revell kit. He's thinking of entering
it when it's complete in a retro kit show category, and he's having fun with it.
Bill Borkowski showed us his in-progress Tamiya 1/24 Morgan 4/4. He's using Tamiya acrylics,
both brushed and airbrushed, and spray lacquer, and is building it out-of-box. Bill said there
are lots of tiny parts to glue in tight spaces, and most of the kit parts are black plastic that,
for some reason, does not take glue well, even Zap-A-Gap. Bill likes classic cars.
Paul Kittell displayed a ship hull that he's covering with many, many pieces of copper tape.
The things we do for accuracy.
John Doerr brought in a collection of 1/72 Bf-109s: a G2, two G6s, and a G10. The kits were
provided by Minicraft/Academy, Tamiya and Hobby Boss, and John used Mr. Color, Polly S and MiG
paints, all brush-painted. He said the fit of the Minicraft kit was bad, the Tamiya was better,
and the Hobby Boss was good. He picked the subjects for a variety of camouflage.
Brian McFee displayed his latest F-16 project.
Finally, some around-the-room shots.
Photos provided by Larry Osolkowski.
