...or, News from The Nameless One
Let me start this month's newsletter with a long overdue Thank You to my predecessor and friend, Bob "La Cabesa Grande" Collignon, for such a great job as President. Bob is consistently going above and beyond to help make this club great. He gives a lot to the club and asks for very little in return. This year as President was no exception and he really deserves our gratitude. So, thanks Bob, I'll try to do just as well.
While we're on the "Thank You" train, I'd love to make a stop at Blonski Station. Frank, thanks for stepping up and volunteering to flesh-out the e-Board. Your help is always appreciated and you have my gratitude.
One last thanks to Tony G. for making the pizza happen at the last meeting. Great stuff. Very little was left and compliments abound!
Now, it's time to get down to serious business. This month's meeting (May 17th,) kicks off what has become our annual "I'm Not a Modeling Loser" competition. *cough* I mean exposition. I believe we are at part "4" (someone correct me if I am in error here.) Anyway, for all those who wish to participate, please bring your unstarted kit to be viewed at this month's meeting. The rules are simple: the kit can be any subject or scale. The kit may be as simple or complex as you like (however, I must insist on no snap-kits, because that's just wrong.) You may do any amount of detailing, weathering, etc. Said kit must be unstarted (it may be opened, however,) as of the May meeting. And finally, your kit must be completed by the August 16 meeting. Those who do not complete their kit by that date will have to supply to everyone who does complete their kit, one $5 Tim Horton's gift certificate.
This is a really fun event and I encourage folks to get in on the sweet, sweet Timmy's action. Tom Faith will have a small (airtight) contract for the participants. And remember, we know where you all live...
Also at this month's meeting, Bob Collignon will be performing his Hairspray Weathering Technique demo. Bob uses acrylics and plain old hairspray that you can find in your medicine cabinet to create a really cool chipping/peeling effect on metal surfaces.
In other news: Bob Collignon has been speaking with John at Niagara Hobby regarding a display area for our club. John will be giving us a small display case and a pamphlet holder to help give our club some exposure and, hopefully, bring in some new members. We will be calling for finished models to help fill the case in shortly. In return, John would like us to build and display some of the products that he carries in store. More news, as this story develops.
In website news, Larry Osolkowski and Bob Raithel have been composing, compiling, editing and posting some of the club member demos. Please check those out when you get a second. We would also like to create a member page with pictures of your workspace. I think that one's workbench says a lot about a person and how they think/work. It can be a portal of sorts into our twisted modeling psyches. (This ought to be pretty good.) If you would like to share pictures of your workspace, please bring them in or email them to Larry at larryo@ipmsniagarafrontier.com. We'd like to put up a small gallery devoted to this on our site. I think it will be pretty fun.
For those of you who would still like to partake in the IPMS/USA half-membership deal, please don't forget to get your new membership cards to Dave Schwab so that he can give you $12.50 for the club's half of the membership. With the success of this year's BuffCon, the e-board has decided to continue the program through April of 2011. If you have been considering joining the national club as a new member, please do so now. This is a great deal. Honestly folks, the magazine alone is worth the price. Please contact Dave or myself if you have any questions.
Finally, I'd like to welcome several new club members. Our newest members are Kayla Nichter, Samantha Hanna, Joe Saccomanno, Kelly Thompson, and Dan Rafferty. A sincerest "Welcome!" from myself and the club.
We also have a couple of returning members. Ted Paris is the owner of Commander's Models and The Iron Shipwright. He returns to us after a tour of duty ;) in Florida and is happy to be home. Welcome back Ted. I'd also like to welcome back Rich Bernecki. It's good to see you back, Rich!
That's all that I have for now, folks. See you Monday!
Justen Hanna
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA #45680
April 2010 Model Table
Ah, the post-Buffcon pizza and wings celebration!
Gooey strings of cheese, looking like beige colored stretched sprue!
The crunchy, artery-clogging goodness of Buffalo chicken wings!
We all indulged heroically, me included!
Which is why I missed a big chunk of the goings-on at the model table.
I did turn the digital recorder on, but mostly got the sounds of chewing.
Some snippets of model info got through though, so here we go.
This month's table moderator was Bob Conshafter.
Ernie Yuhnke brought four figures: A grenadier with a bell-less trombone, which he
might as well have been playing at peak volume for all I could hear about the three
remaining figures. Sorry Ernie-I'll do better next time.
Brian McFee did a grand-box opening of a Trumpeter 1/48 scale F-100, which looks
like an awesome kit. He also brought some 1/48 scale ordnance pieces, details of which
got lost.
Brian also brought his 1/48 Italieri V-22 Osprey, which he has done extensive work
on over the past month.
Dick Schulenberg received a custom-cast China River gun-boat from the 1930's in
1/192 scale from Ted Paris. Dick also displayed an Airfix F-84 Thunderstreak, in
Belgian acrobatic team markings, ready for detailing. He sanded off all the raised
detail from the vintage kit, which he will draw back on with pencil. A Caudron 714
from Heller and a Mureaux 117 parasol wing-a late-1930's early World War 2 French
observation aircraft were also on hand. All the airplane models were 1/72 scale and
all were brush-painted.
Jim Wolf showed the Tiger Tank he entered in Buffcon. He says that there are a
few things he needs to touch up on it. Jim plans to enter it at the AMPS Show. The
Jagdpanzer was not at Buffcon as he ran into problems with the base. The kit is an
old one from Tamiya, and was originally motorized.
Frank Blonski shared his on going pick-up truck project, which according to Frank,
seems to have a mind of its own. The project is a challenge, but Frank claims to have
not lost control of it. Yet.
Eric Hillebrand showed off his Tamiya 1/35 scale Protze truck towing a 37 mm anti-tank
gun and a Desert Rat figure.
Bob Collignon's Laffley Armored Car is complete and very impressive indeed! He's
happy with it and it is on its way to AMPS.
To Dave Armitage, my sincere apologies. I couldn't hear a thing on my recording.
I suspect that everyone at that point had gone up for seconds, because it got real
noisy. For this month, we'll have to let Bob Collignon's photographs tell the story.
There was a Mobius Mummy in a beautifully crafted shadow box, a Stegosaurus skeleton
(one of my personal favorites from my childhood,) an HO scale house with a very tall
chimney, a bombed out Civil War railway station, a farm scene diorama, and some spooky
undead pirates.
Dan Marafino showed his 1/72 Monogram B-25 Mitchel. He did some work on the interior
and has a few more details to work on. He finished it in Tamiya acrylics.
Justen Hanna displayed his 1/48 scale Eduard "Weekend Edition" Hanriot HD-1 World War
One Bi-plane built straight from the box. Justen tried out a new rigging technique
involving invisible thread (available at Jo-Anns Fabric) and stretched Q-Tip to make the
turn-buckles. Heat-stretching Q-Tips result in very small tubes. Justen advises doing only
a few wires at a sitting, as the fatigue factor is strong. He usually quits after three
wires have been installed. Steve Weller pointed out that the judges at Buffcon were blown
away by the results of this technique! Justen plans to do a bit more ground work on the
base and add a pilot.
Justen also brought a Siemans-Schuckert D.III kit, which he is building for a friend.
It is an old Eduard kit, possibly one of their first series of 1/48 scale kits.
Samantha Hanna showed her M38A1 from AFV Club. She's building it straight OOB and
plans on making her first display base for this one.
We welcomed new members Joe Saccomanno, Kayla Nichter, whose specialty is 1/72 scale
aircraft and armor, and Samantha Hanna as well as returning members Rich Bernecki and Ted
Paris. Welcome all!
Incredible BuffCon Boyz In The Win In Indiana
Medal winners Tom Faith, Tony Gliszczynski & Jim Wolfe show off their glistening
metallic rewards, while non-winner Bob Collignon strikes "The Pose" after the AMPS 2010
armor only model show at the WW2 Victory Museum in Auburn, Indiana.
