Greetings and salutations to one and all! We are going into the home stretch as there are only 20 days
left (2 weeks, 6 days, 464 hours, 38 min (3/13/2023)) till the Big Show!
Buffcon is just under a month to go. We are still looking for donations for our raffle. At this time, we are still low on car and ship models, so if anyone has an extra car/boat or two, please bring it in, as it is greatly appreciated.
We did the workshop at the end of last month's meeting, BUT we'll again have a round table on judging which will be broken up into auto, aircraft, armor, figures etc. So, for those of you who will be judging and/or for those who will be judging for the first time, please attend. This will be done at the beginning of the meeting. The coordinators of the categories will bring in a model or two to use as judging tools.
Regarding an alternate site for general meetings, Bob Conshafter and I met up at the Williamsville Youth Center which is located on 5005 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY. The facility itself was built back in 1972 and was used as a fire station up until the early part of the '80s. In short, the room itself is very spacious with a lot of lighting. The rent would be $80 a month and the building would be open from 7-9pm which gives us two hours ($40/hr), and if we need an extra half hour (15 min set up / 15 min tear down), it would be an extra $20. So for 2 ½ hours that would be $100 a month which is still great compared to $175 a month. Also, the facility will be blocked only for our use so there will be no other visitors outside of the building manager that will be on site. I haven't calculated it yet, but for most coming from the Cheektowaga/Lancaster area, it'll be - give or take - an extra 10-15 minutes drive via the thruway or the back roads. I know for a few the drive will be longer but it's easily accessible via the thruway. Side note: this facility is owned and operated by the same group who run the children's Youth Center on Harlem Road where we held our meetings before moving to our current spot roughly 10 years ago. Here are some pictures of the site:
Back to BuffCon: to date, we have 40 tables sold (3/13/23) and we are low with the sponsoring of the
categories, so if anyone can do a sponsor or two, please get ahold of Dick Schulenberg ASAP.
Also, today I got a confirmation email from Squadron which shows what they'll be sending us for our raffle as well. Definitely a bonus and we thank them for being so generous.
Lastly, there are quite a few people who still need to pay their dues for this year so please see Tom Faith
during the break. If not, their names may or may not be blasted in the April newsletter.
That's all for now and I'll see you next Tuesday (3/21/23) for the general meeting at 7pm. For the next
meeting before Buffcon, it'll be just the general meeting. After the show, well start back up the Build-n-Bull
meetings.
Happy modeling,
Michael Butry
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 52196
IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - March 21, 2023
7:00 PM to 7:10 PM - Place models on tables with description forms.
7:10 PM - Meeting called to order.
Old Business:
- Round table on judging at the beginning of the meeting.
New Business:
- Kit donations for the Buffcon raffle.
- Alternate site for general meeting: Williamsville Youth Center.
- Sign-up sheet will be sent around for volunteers for Buffcon - administration/registration at the front door, judging, security, etc.
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 21st at the Knights Hall, 2735 Union Rd., Cheektowaga, NY 14227, starting at the usual 7:00pm at the usual meeting room in the rear building. There will also be a 50/50 raffle held at the meeting to help raise funds for the club. Members are encouraged to bring in unbuilt kits in new condition to be donated to the Buffcon raffle.
Membership dues for 2023 are now due. Please see Tom Faith at the meeting.
Long time club member and Chief Judge Tom Brown, Sr. is looking for kits of cars from 1960. If you run across anything at a show, estate sale, or online, give Tom a call at 716-604-8482. Tom says thanks!
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 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 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
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 21st - 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 13 - President Mike Butry led the meeting.
Bruce Mathes sent in a photo of a VFR computer generated resin model of a 1959 Cessna 150 at my gas pump being
waited on by a line boy. He also mentioned that he's built 2 airport dioramas for BuffCon.
Moving to the model tables, Bob Conshafter showed us his in-progress build of a 1/48 LTD short-run kit of a
Detwoitine D.520. He said the interior dark blue is a 2:1 mix of Tamiya XF-82 Ocean Grayand XF-27 Blue, with a
wash of Academy 1:1 mix of Ivory Black and Thale Blue. Bob added various parts from planes and 1/350 warship
parts to the interior. He said the fuselage and wings went together well with no putty, and the overall fit was
good.
Steve Weller brought in some items from the web along with a 3D-printed cage mast for Pearl Harbor
battleships. He said the pictures are of the Lockheed factory in California during WWII in camouflage and
an F9F Cougar as delivered to the Town of Tonawanda in 1959, plus the obituary of the last surviving RAF
Dambuster Lancaster pilot. He also had some magnets for the taking - Steve thought they were too wimpy, and
not very useful.
Tim Grieve displayed his Revell 1/24 Ford GT from Le Mans 2017. He used Testors Silver, Flat Steel, Flat
White, Red, Flat Gunmetal, Gloss Blue and Gloss Green, plus Model Masters Classic Black, Flat Black, Aluminum,
Chrome and Gold paints. Tim mentioned that there is a full roll cage inside that's covered by the outside
skin. He said that if you build this kit, be sure to test fit and follow the directions in order. He also
mentioned that there are a lot of decals, and some of them are not located in the instructions.
Tom McGuire showed us his Williams Brothers 1/32 Gee Bee. He painted it with Tamiya XF-2 White and Mr.
Hobby HUG 04 Red, with a gloss coat of Pledge Floor Wax. It was built out of the box, and detailed with
Tamiya Black Panel Line Accent.
Paul Hines had three new automotive art subjects for us to see. Paul described them as follows:
"1) Late sixties Chevy Camaro with blower, a very popular muscle car. 2) Blue Olds 442, another classic
muscle car. 3) '70 Chevy Chevelle. In each case I took artistic license to change or completely eliminate
the background."
Tom Brown, Sr. brought in some additions to his collection of 1960 auto kits. He's been finding old kits
to make a collection of cars from the year he was born. The latest items included a 1960 Desoto from an EBay
auction, that was already started and missing parts; a 1960 VW Bus, also from EBay, but all there and sealed;
and a 1960 Thunderbird promo in 1/32 scale.
Mark Gadek displayed a couple of new models. The first was a 1/6 Tamiya Suzuki GSX1100 Katana. Mark used
Testors One Coat Lacquers and Tamiya paints. He said he purchased the kit from Japan and the kit instructions
were in Japanese, so he had to use references for assembly. Mark mentioned that the kit had vague instruction
diagrams and omitted steps, which is very odd for a Tamiya product, and the decals were thick. Mark said he
enjoyed his previous Honda 750 build and decided to continue with his "BIG BIKE" builds.
Mark also showed us a 1/32 Tamiya Mosquito, finished with Tamiya and AK Interactive paints. He said the
kit had excellent detail straight from the box, but he did drill out the gun barrels and paint on the markings.
Weathering included Tamiya Panel Line Accent along with pastel chalks for post shading. Mark mentioned that
the exhaust stacks were a little difficult to align. This is Mark's favorite British aircraft made even
better with Polish markings. He said this was an outstanding kit and was a pleasure to build.
Maryann Germann brought in her progress on her Iannis Space Junk Collector figure. She used Tamiya and
Vallejo paints. The base is plywood painted with textured paint, and the shelving was scratch-built along
with scrap plastic used as space junk. The kit was a gift from her husband, Al.
Al Germann showed an F-104 in 1/48 scale in Krylon gloss black and ready for an Alclad aluminum finish.
This is a Monogram kit honoring the old TV show "Tour of Duty" that Al bought from Dan Marafino a few months
back and progress is moving along fairly well. Just some minor filling of gaps is needed, but Al will not be
re-scribing all the panel lines. Although he likes the way that looks, they can easily be out of scale. So,
only flight control surfaces will have the usual pin wash. A resin ejection seat is already procured and
will be the only upgrade to the model. Al stated that the F-104 was always one of his favorite jets.
Al showed a second work in progress model, that being the Revell Land Rover Long Wheelbase in 1/24 scale.
He didn't have this long in his stash as it as a Christmas gift. It is a great kit with a lot of detail that
is going together without any issues. Al is building it as the optional right hand drive and with light
weathering of a dusty-dirty finish. Other than that, it's just a straight out of the box build with rattle
can spray paint from True Value and Krylon white. Vallejo paints finished off the interior and other
miscellaneous parts. In Al's words "it's just a cool looking vehicle".
Jim Greenfield displayed his progress on his 1886 Nile River Gun Boat in 1/72 scale, mostly scratch-built
with wood and plastic. He used Testors, Citadel and Mission Models paints. Jim said the hull and paddlewheels
are from a Pyro 1/164 scale kit, modified to 1/72 scale. At this point, weathering consists of just washes.
He said a lot of reworking has been required since he has only one photo of it wrecked. He likes the subject
because it's an old piece of Egyptian / British history.
Ron Mikol brought in his current work-in-progress project, a 1/16 '57 Chevy Nomad. As usual, Ron laid down
a nice candy red paint job.
Mike Butry had a couple of items on the table. The first was a Tamiya 1/48 M8 Greyhound in the
building process. Mike said that since this model doesn't have a driver/co-driver compartment, he's
slowly starting to scratch-build one, and the back half will need to be built as well. He said it's
a straightforward build for the most part, but the scratch-building and replacement of molded-on
parts is a pain. Mike mentioned that this model will be part of a diorama that will include his other
model.
Mike's other model is a Tamiya 1/48 Jeep with a Bandai trailer. It's currently in primer, and he
plans on using Vallejo paints in various shades of olive drab and similar colors. The Jeep has rear
storage gear by Black Dog, aluminum foil for the front window cover, and Evergreen sheet stock to make
the gas, brake and clutch pedals, shovel and axe clamp holsters, gear shift lever and wire cutter. He
used Tamiya tape for tie down straps for the shovel and axe and for masking the head light cut outs.
Mike lowered the rear suspension to give it a weighted down look. The trailer had the wheels replaced
with an extra set of rear wheels from the Jeep, and the cargo load is a mix of stuff from the spares
box. The tarp is made from tissue paper.
Mike also brought in a couple of models to be used in the judging seminar.
Larry Osolkowski displayed his additional progress on the Meng 1/9 BMW HP4 Race motorcycle. The
support stand to hold up the motorcycle is finished, and more work has been completed on the front
fork and wheel assembly. The front fender has had carbon fiber decals applied, clear coated and
polished, and painting has started on some bits and pieces for the handlebars.
Larry also brought in an older kit that will be a major decal challenge. It's a 1/24 Le Mans
Miniatures Audi R8 race car in a "Crocodile Dundee" livery that was used at a race in Australia in
2000. The entire body will be covered in decals over a plain white paint job. The kit is multimedia,
with resin, photo-etch and vacu-formed parts, and is pretty nicely done. Fortunately, a very
detailed guide to applying the decals is included. It should be fun if the old decals work.
Brian McFee displayed a recent build of an F-100, but the info sheet somehow never made it to
the newsletter editor. Sorry, Brian!
There were some unidentified items on the tables.
Finally, some around-the-room shots.
Thanks to Bob Conshafter for handling the model tables. Photos provided by Larry Osolkowski.
