Happy Spring Fellow Members!
We had a very good BuffCon this year and now is the time when club activities tend to slow down a little bit. However, in order to keep everyone's interest up, here's what's going on this month and later this summer.
First of all, here is the latest and greatest ballot for club officer elections that will be held at this Monday night's club meeting:
President - John Zaranek (running unopposed)
1st Vice President - Ed Button (running unopposed)
2nd Vice President - Larry Osolkowski (running unopposed)
Secretary - Al Germann (running unopposed)
Treasurer - Tom Faith (running unopposed)
Member-At-Large Positions (select 6):
1) Paul Hines - incumbent
2) Tom Brown, Jr. - incumbent
3) Bill Borkowski - incumbent
4) Jeff Keenan - challenger
5) Maryann Germann - challenger
6) Mike Butry - challenger
7) Jim Greenfield - challenger
There are also some appointed (not elected) positions that will continue:
Chapter Contact: Dick Schulenberg
Chief Judge: Tom Brown, Sr.
Ballots are being drawn up and will be distributed early in the meeting. Please bear in mind that only members in good standing are eligible to participate in the elections.
Secondly, we have received a very generous donation of model kits from a gentleman who can no longer participate in this great hobby. I'm estimating that there are over 500 kits of various vintage, some new and some classic. There are a lot of WWII German armor kits in both 1/35th and 1/72nd scales, WWII aircraft in 1/48, all kinds of ship kits, Imrie/Risley 54mm pewter figures, field artillery, a smattering of Sci-Fi subjects and more. We have decided to have a sale of them at a location and time that will not be during a regular club meeting. Once the final arrangements are made, I will be sure to let all of you know the details.
Thirdly, we are planning a club sponsored outing to Old Fort Niagara later on this summer. Tom Faith told us that there are several historical events happening in the next few months that will be of interest to a lot of us. Again, once we get the details of when this will be, I will let you know.
Fourthly (is that a word?), it is time for our annual "Tony Bartozek Memorial I'm Not a Modeling Loser" contest. This popular competition runs from the club meeting on May 21st where your chosen kit is recorded, and is due to be completely finished (assembled, painted, decaled) and presented at the September club meeting. As an incentive, there will be two special trophies awarded this year for those who completed their chosen kit: "Best of Contest", and "Not Even Close" for the least inspired effort. Sound good? But wait! There's more! We have been challenged by IPMS Hamilton who are doing the exact same contest and feel that they can beat us in the most completed entries. I cannot believe that these "upstarts" could even come close to beating us at our own competition! So, if you'd like to show your "Spruester/American Pride" and join this competition, here are the rules:
- Select a kit of YOUR choice. The box or container can be open, but it cannot be started.
- Bring it to the club meeting on May 21st to record your entry and have a photo taken of you and the kit.
- You have until the club meeting in September to present your entry NO MATTER IF IT IS COMPLETE OR NOT.
- If you finish (fully assembled, painted and decaled if appropriate; weathering and aftermarket parts is optional) you will bask in the glory of your accomplishment and be eligible for one of the trophies I described above.
- If you do not successfully complete your entry as described above, you will be designated a "modeling loser" for a year. You will be photographed with your model holding a letter "L" made with your fingers over your forehead.
Avoid the shame and pick a kit you can handle and join us for the big win in 2018! I predict that this will be the biggest rout of Canada since General Winfield Scott won the Battle of Lundy's Lane in 1814.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to sincerely thank Frank Blonski, Joe Szczegielski and Clint Keidel for all of their hard work and dedication to the club over the years. These guys worked tirelessly and helped us have successful shows like BuffCon and especially Noreastcon last year. Without their efforts, these shows and club meetings would not be as great as they are. Thanks, guys and I appreciate your work.
I hope to see you at the meeting on Monday.
John R. Zaranek
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 47993
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.
Chief Judge Tom Brown, Sr. has suggested that all members who have completed a "Secret Santa" model bring them for display at the club meeting.
IPMS Niagara Frontier Participation in Buffalo Central Library WWI Exhibit
By Dick Schulenberg
In June 2018, IPMS Niagara Frontier received an email from Dawn Stanton from the Buffalo Central Library asking if we would be interested in loaning some models for a long term exhibit they were planning. The Library has a collection of over 3000 posters from WWI, many with a Buffalo connection, that they wanted to display along with artifacts, models and dioramas to put the posters in perspective.
We got a strong response from club members and agreed to work with the library staff. Based on the initial list of models that we came up with, they decided to expand the exhibit into two parts.
The initial part was in the area dedicated to the posters. Along with a permanent display of over 100 posters on one wall and a rotating display on two other large walls, they planned a trench mockup and a number of smaller display cases for artifacts and documents. Bob Collignon contributed a trench diorama for one case and a second diorama of British soldiers with a captured German A7V tank for another case. Frank Blonski and Samantha Hanna cooperated to create an ambulance diorama with nurses and casualties for a Red Cross case. These three dioramas allowed them to rethink the idea of a large trench mockup and use that space for more cased artifacts. This part of the exhibit was opened and dedicated in the fall to area veterans with a well done outdoor ceremony. Here are some pictures of the poster exhibit:
The expansion of the exhibit went into one case in the Library's "Ring of Knowledge", a set of display
cases in an arc in front of a "contemplation" seating area. This area was committed to a Buffalo architecture
display until this April, so we had some time to get our models ready for installation. When we were done,
we were able to put the following models on display in the "Ring of Knowledge":
- French Renault FT-17 tank in US Army markings by Bernie Blonski
- French Salmson 2-A2 2 place bomber in U.S. Air Service markings by Al Germann
- British De Havilland DH-2 fighter by Justen Hanna
- German Fokker E.II fighter by Justen Hanna
- French Hanriot HD-1 French fighter in Italian markings by Justen Hanna
- British Sopwith Schneider seaplane in U.S. Navy markings by Justen Hanna
- German Hansa Brandenburg W-29 seaplane by Dan Marafino and Rich Bernecki
- German Fokker Dr.I triplane fighter by Dan Marafino
- British Sopwith Camel fighter by Dan Marafino
- British Mark A Whippet tank by Gene Paveljack
- German Krupp 21cm Morser artillery piece by Gene Paveljack
- German Krupp 420mm Big Bertha artillery piece by Gene Paveljack
- 1917 Ford Model T Australian Light Patrol Car by Gene Paveljack
- French Char 2C heavy tank by Gene Paveljack
- French Nieuport 17 fighter in Lafayette Escadrille markings by Dick Schulenberg
- French Nieuport 28 fighter in U.S. Air Service markings by Dick Schulenberg
- British SE-5a fighter by Dick Schulenberg
- British Mark V heavy tank cutaway by Steve Weller
- US Private, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, Belleau Wood, 1918 by Jim Wolfe
- German Army grenadier, 6th Sturmbattalion, 1917-1918 by Jim Wolfe
- British Mark IV "Female" tank by Jim Wolfe
Here are some photos of the "Ring of Knowledge" display:
We installed these models on April 19 after showing a number of them at BuffCon. The Library staff made
up informational cards for each model, including the modeler's name and club affiliation. You can see them
in one of the pictures.
Both parts of the exhibit will stay in place until mid-2020, so we will get a lot of exposure in a beautiful setting. Our contact information and our brand new member applications are included in the display areas.
This was a fun project to put together and our participating members seemed to have a good time with it. The Library staff was great to work with, so, who knows, we might get to work with them again in the future.
Model tables from the April meeting:
Dave Safe starts us off with his Meng 2010 Ford F-350 Heavy Duty Pick Up Truck. Dave says that it's a
nice kit with an excellent parts fit. He did add LED lights and flashers (which were "a pain") along with
a base to contain the wires and batteries.
The artwork of Paul Hines continues this month with three renderings of "rat rods": "Just Cool", "Outlaw
Express" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Paul explains that just as much effort is required with this
theme as there is with shiny cars with reflections in the paintwork.
Steve Weller had his Meng 1/35th scale British Mark V WWI Tank. Steve laments that there were lots of fit
problems and the kit contains about 800 pieces. He used jewelry chains and made pull rings from twist tie wire
for details. Also added to the finish were washes, dry brushed highlights, silver pencil wear marks and an
authentic looking base to sit it on. This was created for the club's Buffalo Public Library's WWI exhibit.
Cyndie Gauthier brought in her BuffCon winning entry "The Forgotten One" - a '71 Barracuda Hemi finished
with Tamiya paints with grass and trees by Woodland Scenics.
Alan Gryfe is doing some kit bashing to create a 1/87th scale GM "Classic" bus. He spliced together two
Wiking Mercedes buses, which are model railroad items. Plans were drawn by himself based on a GM sales brochure
and pictures of the prototype.
Al Ciolek is working on a 1/72nd scale Revell "Kaydet" biplane.
He also had on hand an Academy P-40E, whose decals did not impress him.
Dan Marafino's Revell 1/32nd scale F4U-1A Corsair was built straight out of the box and he used paints by
Model Master and Tamiya to finish it.
Jim Greenfield is scratch building a 1/72nd scale MFP escort ship and landing craft. He is using paints by
Tamiya and Vallejo. This is an "off subject" based in the Channel Islands off of France in WWII.
Jim Lewis showed us his Jimmy Flintstone 1962 Pontiac Catalina Custom painted with Tamiya Mica Blue. Jim
used the AMT/Ertl kit with a resin body along with after-market wheels and aluminum tubing for the exhaust.
Matt Klukowski is getting back into the hobby with his in-progress "Winning Fumina Minato Sakai Mobile Suit"
kit by Bandai.
Michael Martinez looks like he put in a lot of work with his Ertl 1970 Super Bee "The Kooka Racer". After
replacing the rear wheels of the kit with ones from a Lindberg truck he heavily weathered and modified the model
using tin foil, wood glue, solder, sand, parts from a tire valve stem, steel balls, deer hair, tea bag material,
tea leaves, powders, washes. He used a Dremel tool to replicate body rot. He also used five layers of acrylic
paint and sanded them to show the different colors.
Daniel Price explained that 3D sculpting has come a long way and it's evident with his project "Great Unclean
One of Nurgle". Dan magnetized the arms and head of the figure and used paints by Games Workshop and Badger.
There were a few other items on the tables. 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 Bill Borkowski for the photography.
