When I was asked if I were interested in becoming president of IPMS Niagara Frontier a few months ago, several thoughts went through my head. The first was "why me"? Holy moly, who in the heck am I to be in charge of this club? I really enjoy models and the whole process of kit selection, assembly, painting, weathering and displaying them. I like going to the meetings and showing off my stuff. I enjoy looking at everyone else's efforts even more. At no point did it ever occur to me that I would be elected as president of this club. I don't mean to come across as an incompetent nitwit, just that in my perspective I haven't been a member of this organization all that long and was perfectly happy and content to simply participate. Now, after a mere two years of membership I'm being tapped on the shoulder to "run the show".

Notes from the April 2012 Meeting

President Justen Hanna led off our annual post-BuffCon party with a run-down on the stats from the 2012 show. We had 441 entries and, according to our new, numbered wristbands, around 630 people through the door. Admission and entry registration went great under the revised system. About 125 of the registration forms came from our website, which bodes well for next year. We had a visitor all the way from Ottawa who was just getting back into modeling and was really excited by the models in the competition and the dealers. It was also great to see Dave Nowinski again. Dave's an airline pilot and former club member (and a dedicated 1/72 aircraft modeler) up from Orlando.

Part 2 of the meeting was our annual elections. There were no new nominations tonight, so, at the direction of the general membership, the Secretary cast one vote to elect the entire slate as listed in the last Dizpatch. Our 2012-1013 Club officers are:
President - John Zaranek
1st Vice President - Bob Raithel
2nd Vice President - Larry Osolkowski
Treasurer - Tom Faith
Secretary - Dick Schulenberg
Executive Board Members - Frank Blonski, Ed Button, Justen Hanna, Paul Hines, Joe Szczygiel and Steve Weller
Bob Collignon remains Chapter Contact, an appointed but voting position

Contact information is at the end of this month's Dizpatch and on our website.

This will be the first time that I can remember Dave Schwab isn't a club officer. Dave has always been an important asset to this club and his monthly input will be missed. As most of you know, Dave is getting married soon and setting up a new home. We all wish you and Patsy much happiness.

Justen, thanks for your service to this club. You brought some new ideas and new energy with you, and we expect that you will continue to bring your talents to the E-Board.

As his last official act, Justen turned the meeting over to our new Prez.

New Prez John shared his vision for his term and thanked everyone for their support.

His first official act was to announce the 2012 Tim Horton Team Challenge. Like last year, there will be two teams of contestants, with the team with the most members completing their model declared the winner. The losing team members each owe one $5 Tim Horton card to the winning team. Rich Bernecki and John Doerr volunteered to be team captains and motivate their team members. Bring your unstarted model to the May meeting. Doesn't need to be new or bagged, just not started. You have to bring the finished model to the August meeting. Nothing to it.

One of the reasons Justen elected not to run for President again is that Section 8 Hobbies is now becoming a brick and mortar hobby shop. This is a big and exciting step. Justen, Sam and Renaldo are moving and setting up shop at 2242 Seneca St., between Cazenovia and Indian Church. The Grand Opening is scheduled for June 1, so look for an announcement. Best wishes to the whole family.

There was lots of good stuff on the display tables. Here's who brought what.

Larry Osolkowski showed a neat 1/24 Porsche Carrera kit from Fujimi as well as the Glencoe 1/48 SPAD XIIIC kit he won as a raffle prize. The SPAD is a reissue of the old Renwal kit (I think) with some really nice decals. This one will be Larry's Tim Horton's Challenge kit.

Renaldo Hanna brought in his 1/35 Tamiya amphibious Jeep and figure that he and mom Sam worked on at the last Kid's Class. Renaldo got a Silver medal at BuffCon for this model.

John Zaranek had one of his current projects on hand, a 1/35 Tamiya Flakvierling 4-barrelled anti-aircraft gun that he plans to put into an Atlantic Wall in Normandy diorama.

Rich Bernecki shared the new Trumpeter 1/32 scale F-117A kit. This is a large model and should be impressive in the obligatory black finish.

Bob Collignon showed up with an odd model, a Chinese kit of either a Russian or Polish camera. Bob thought about using the kit for the Tim Horton Challenge but couldn't wait to assemble it. It's small, but apparently will actually take a picture.

Ilya Grinberg found a really interesting kit for the WWII 1/72 modeler. It's a very neatly done Russian 85MM antiaircraft gun with 4 figures purchased through Hobbyterra. Surprisingly, it's a snap together model. Ilya pretty much finished it up in 2 hours with no glue at all. The only parts he'll replace are the wheels. They're very nice but noticeably undersized. Pretty cool for a $5.00 model.

Ilya also shared some insight into the research done for his newly published book Red Phoenix Rising, The Soviet Air Force in World War II, co-written with noted WWII historian Von Hardesty. The material Ilya was able to glean from many newly available original WWII records is fascinating and provides new insights into the lives of the aircrew involved in the heavy fighting on the Eastern Front. Just listening to Ilya talk about the research, you can tell how important the subject is to him. You can find the book easily on Amazon.

Jim Wolf painted the 1/6 scale Warriors Viking bust he picked up in a Squadron sale. It's a nice casting and Jim's painting brings out the strong features.

Tony Glisczcynski has been repairing the Vietnam Gun Truck he built several years ago and brought it in to show us the progress so far. It had been damaged in a basement flood that caused Tony a lot of grief. The repairs are almost completed and Tony's making some improvements as well.

Frank Blonski brought a couple of recent project cars all painted in metallic and pearlescent colors. His Mustang is candy colors shot through lace for an interesting effect while the Shelby Cobra is just plain beautiful in metallic blue.

Mike Butry showed us the black Porsche that almost made it to BuffCon. The finish is buffed and waxed following "The System" developed by Frank Blonski and looks just right. Save it for next year, Mike.

Tom Brown brought in his "Rat Fink" figure by Ed Roth, a category winner at Buffcon.

Finally, the usual shots around the room and the tables, including the ever popular pizza party.

Our next meeting is Monday, May 21 at 7 PM in our usual spot. See you then, and don't forget your unstarted kit for the 2012 Tim Horton's Challenge.

Thanks to Bob Collignon for the photography.

The 2012 Tim Horton Team Challenge