In order to vote, you have to be a paid member in good standing, which leads me to my next topic,
membership dues. We have quite a few members that have outstanding dues, and if there is an issue or a delay,
you should let one of the board members know. I am a laid back person and I take things with a grain of salt,
BUT, we gave ample notice of when the dues were due (January) and we are a month away from being halfway
through the year. So, without further ado, here is a list of people that are still delinquent in their dues:
Greetings and salutations to one and all! First and foremost, at this coming Tuesday's general club
meeting we will be holding our elections. There are two spots that will be vacant and we have new blood, I
mean three candidates. They are, in no particular order:
If you have paid through PayPal which is still new to us, please let us know ASAP.
Ok, since that is out of the way, don't forget next week's meeting will also be our after Buffcon party along with the start of our yearly club challenge, Tony Bartozek's "I'm Not a Modeling Loser". Please make sure you bring in what you are going to build and get ready to have your picture taken. Just remember, the piece count cannot be less than 5 parts and you have to paint it in some form or fashion. Like I said, the challenge begins at this coming Tuesday's meeting and the builds need to be done by the September meeting. So you'll have plenty of time!
A few more things and I'll be finished, I promise. Kicking off with the June general meeting, Al Germann will be doing a demo that will be featuring how to make walls with bricks using foam board. Then at the July meeting, yours truly will be doing a demo on making tarps using aluminum foil. After those two months, we will need more demos and if you are having a demo block, here's a list of possible demos that was submitted by one club member alone:
- Basics of applying decals using future
- Paint chipping
- How to clean an airbrush
- Masking canopies
- Weathering
- Favorite modeling tool
- How to apply a wash (panel lines, weathering)
- Filling in seams using different materials & techniques
- Polishing car bodies
- How to use & apply bare metal foil
- Figure modeling skin tone
- How to research a subject
Lastly, we will be changing up how we run the meeting by doing a brief business update if needed, a demo, then the tables.
Speaking of tables, when we talk about our build(s), we need to be brief and any questions or enquiries about said build(s) can be done afterwards. We only have the hall for two hours so we have to be mindful.
For the summer months, our meetings are going to be more or less build and bull sessions, so from June through September, bring in something to work on.
Just one more thing. Back in January of this year, I preordered my birthday present to myself (Apr 21st) and, funny enough, the release date was in April. Three days after my birthday this gem showed up at my doorstep - Takom/Andys Headquarter Hobbys 1/16th M8 Greygound.
That's all for now and I'll see you on Tuesday (5/21/2024) for the general meeting at 7pm at the Williamsville
Youth & Recreation center at 5005 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221. Parking and entry to the facility
will be in the back.
Happy modeling,
Michael Butry
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 52196
IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - May 21, 2024
NOTE: CANNOT ACCESS FACILITY BEFORE 6:50PM
7:00 PM to 7:10 PM - Place models on tables with description forms.
7:10 PM - Meeting called to order.
Old Business:
- Clarence Library display case access.
New Business:
- Section 8 build night will commence on June 25th, 2024.
- Club elections.
- Vote for BuffCon 40 Theme Award.
Questions from the floor.
Demo: if one is planned.
Break: 5 minute stretch.
Table discussion: Members tell the club about the models they have on the tables.
- Pizza party!
- 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, May 21st at the Williamsville Youth & Recreation Center, 5005 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221, starting at the usual 7:00pm. Parking and entry to the building is in the back. There will also be a 50/50 raffle held at the meeting to help raise funds for the club. Directions:
Elections for the club officers and executive board will be held at the May meeting. You must be a
current paid member to run for office and to vote in the elections. The slate of candidates is:
Board members: Vote for 6
Ballots will be provided at the meeting, and the results will be announced at the end of the meeting.
The annual Tony Bartozek "I'm Not a Modeling Loser" challenge commences at the May meeting. If you want to enter the challenge, please bring your unstarted kit, containing at least five parts, to the meeting. The challenge will run through the September meeting, at which time your model should be completed.
The club will be taking a vote of the membership on selecting a theme category for BuffCon 40 next year.
The suggested choices are:
Ballots will be provided at the meeting, and you can vote for 3 choices. The choice with the most overall
votes will win.
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 60 members with 30+ attending each monthly meeting. Our club meets at 7:00pm on the third Tuesday of every month at the Williamsville Youth & Recreation Center, 5005 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221.
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 April 2024 general meeting are included below. Thanks to our Secretary, Al Germann, for the meeting minutes.
April 16th - 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.
May 13 - President Mike Butry led the meeting, held at Section 8 Hobbies.
Road Trip
by Bob Conshafter
If you like model cars and the like and are up for a little road trip to Canada, the Niagara Ontario Model Car and Truck Builders Hobby Shop located at 189 Main St. West in Port Colborne may be for you. The hobby shop has a large selection of recent and vintage classic cars, hot rods, trucks, transports, motorcycles and unique kits from Amt, Revell, Tamiya and beyond. Check the kit before you buy.
Also available are built models for sale in the display cases as well as plastic model automotive spare parts. A more modest selection of planes, armor and ships are also available from recent to vintage including some wood ship models and even a plastic kit of an Osaka Pagoda if you need one. It is Canadian cash only. Be sure to call ahead before you go at 289-698-0970. The shop is definitely closed Mondays.
It's about 35 miles away if you measure from the I-90 and go over the Peace Bridge, and about just under an hour to get there. Make sure you have your enhanced driver's license or passport. It's a straight run west bound on Garrison Road. You can exchange your money at the Envoy Currency Exchange in Fort Erie located next to Little Caesars on the left side of Garrison. I got $1.35 Canadian for $1.00 U.S. Just head west on Garrison and follow the sign for Port Colborne. Go over the Lift Bridge that makes that neat sound when your tires go over the metal grates. Pass through town and go over the little bridge and the shop will be on your right. There's a parking lot just down the street on the left. The owner's name is Andy. Say hi and let him know you're with our club.
If you're like me and have fond memories of Swiss Chalet Chicken before they left the U.S. a while
back, you can find it hidden in a Harvey's fast food restaurant located next to a McDonalds. Just leave
the parking lot and head west again a few blocks and you'll first see McDonalds on your right after the
intersection. Harvey's is right next to it. It's okay to bring Swiss Chalet back across the border.
Just declare it like everything else.
If you'd like to get a good view of the maritime action on the Welland Canal, you can pull out of the same parking lot at the hobby shop and make a left onto King Street heading south. You'll go several blocks and then make a left onto Carson. That will take you back east heading toward the other lift bridge. Don't go over it. Just make a right onto Front St. There's a nice promenade there to view the waterfront and a number of shops and restaurants. I had lunch at the Canalside Restaurant. There's The Pie Guys a little walk further down. They're open till 5pm most days and serve lunch sandwiches until 2pm. If you decide to go, enjoy!
HeritageCon 16
by Tim Carson
Julie and I drove over to Hamilton on March 24 to check out HeritageCon 16. We arrived around 11am and parking was pretty packed. Seeing earlier pictures it looked like folks were lined up outside before the show opened.
Since I got Julie hooked on modeling with the 24 Hour Build in January, we were both looking to add to our stashes. There were close to 150 vendor tables with the usual offerings of ships, planes, armor and vehicles. Everything from new releases to vintage kits were available. There were also folks with books, artwork, stickers and tools for sale.
Andy from Andy's Hobby Headquearters made the trip from Arizona and had a very nice setup. There were other vendors that I recognized from Facebook or YouTube as well.
A post on Facebook prior to the show reminded folks to bring cash as there was no ATM onsite. Well, it turns out that there was in fact an ATM, and it got quite a workout! Another post on Facebook after the show commented that the ATM ran out of cash! (We brought cash and came home with 7 kits each, so a nice haul for us). We both bought a few kits from one of our club members who had a good sized selection.
We also saw a fair number of younger kids carrying models out or carrying their purchases as they looked for more goodies to buy. It was good to see the younger crowd there. It looks like the hobby is still being passed on to the next generations.
Over 700 were on the judging tables, and the quality of the work that we saw in person and later on Facebook posts was superb.
All in all it was a nice day out with a fairly short drive time (including short border wait times). Looking forward to attending next year!
Tim Carson sent in some photos of a recent project. Tim said "The 32 Ford Roadster is a 2022 re-issue
from Revell. The kit has a few options for assembly, including the "fender-less" version that you see
here. Other than the bent (and unusable) windshield bracket, it went together very well. Painted with
Tamiya paints (rattle can and brush), this was a very enjoyable kit."
Moving to the April meeting tables, Rob Downs displayed his '72 Ford Custom Van. Rob said this was a
model of his dad's custom van built in 1973 when Rob was 13. He added that the interior was all scratch-built.
Justin Schroeder showed us a Nylon Power 3D print, done for him by a friend with access to a high-end
3D printer.
Justin also displayed his Star Wars diorama based on a Bandai 1/72 Y-Wing fighter. His diorama won first
place in its category at BuffCon, and took a 2nd place at HeritageCon.
Frank Blonski brought in a bunch of stuff. The models included a Jim Salemi Pro Comp Gasser in pieces
after it was dropped on the floor, along with a new mold and cast body; a Library Display build of a WWI
ambulance in 1/35 scale; an old build of a Tony B. Challenge A37 Dragonfly; a '41 Plymouth Pro Mod with a
cut, chopped and reshaped body that's been in work for a year; an old build of a chopped rat rod in 1/16
scale; and finally, a Tony B. Challenge '41 Willys in candy red with added details.
Larry Osolkowski brought in a few items this month. The first was another work-in-progress, an
old Monogram 1/24 Quaker State Porsche March Indy Car. The floor pan has had sink marks filled, and
along with the radiators and associated plumbing, got a coat of Alclad gray primer. The engine cover
is having its vents opened up.
Larry's second item was his further progress on the old 1/24 Heller kit of the 1938 BMW 328 race
car he's been working on for a few months. The rear axle has some brake lines installed, the front
suspension is going together after finding the leaf spring that was lost a few months ago, and
scratch-built pulleys are being constructed for the engine. A small black rubber band will be used
for the fan belt.
Lastly, Larry showed us some detail bits from online shop
RB Motion, including machine turned aluminum 1/43 valve stems(!)
and detail nuts, and molded silicone rubber spark plug and distributor boots. These are very high quality
parts available in several scales.
Jim Greenfield displayed his Revell 1/400 Hunt for Red October Submarine. He used Citadel, Mission
and Tamiya paints, with washes and dry brushing for weathering. Jim modified the intake and exhaust for
the caterpillar drive which the kit doesn't provide. He said the kit was easy to build, and he picked
the subject because he liked the movie.
Paul Hines had three new pieces of automotive art this month. The first was an orange/red 1966
Shelby GT350. Paul's comments: "the Mustang reworked by Carroll Shelby was one hot car. I liked the
color combination as it just seemed to fit the car."
Paul's second painting was a "1973 Porsche Carrera 911, a true road and race car. I painted the
sky a deep blue to accentuate the white body."
Paul's third painting was a "1934 Ford Phaeton with a Porsche engine. I enjoyed painting this open
wheel car and adding side flames to set it off."
Al Germann brought in three models for our edification. The first was a 1/24 Porsche 911, 1970/1971
Advent (vintage kit), finished with his favorite Krylon paint. Al changed the body from a hardtop coupe
to a Targa top. He said the going has been rather easy, and he owned a car like this as a 10 year old car.
Al said he likes how it's coming out.
Al's second model was a 1/25 AMT 1950 Ford Convertible. He used Testors Lime Ice lacquer from a rattle
can, and Tamiya spray white. He added custom front and rear ends, the bulge on the hood came from a Jaguar
XKE and the interior came from a 1963 Impala. Al also added chrome trim leading from the taillights, fender
skirts and different wheels, and scratch-built the door panels. He said the model was a gift, and his
father had a 1950 Ford hardtop in stock condition. Al is happy with how it turned out, but it still needs
a few details.
Al's last model was a Revell 1/25 1964 Mustang Convertible from Ollie's. Paints used included Testors
Duck Egg Blue, airbrushed from a 10+ year old bottle from Niagara Hobby, and Krylon Red Primer for a base.
He added some rust holes and used tissue with white glue for the convertible boot. Weathering was done
with salt chipping, washes and pastels. Al said this model was another gift (he gets great presents!),
and his father had a winter car like this in the late '70s. He said it was a fun build, and he likes
doing heavy weathering.
Andrew Van Brocklyn displayed a Warhammer 40K Grey Knights Chaplain figure. It was finished with
Citadel and Army Painter paints using both brush and airbrush. Andrew used a cork board for a base, and
filled in the halos on the skull. He added weathering with Nuln Oil, Seraphim Sepia and Agrax Earth
Shade along with Citadel technical paints. Andrew said that this was one of his better painted models
as well as one of his favorite unit types.
Steve Weller brought in some B-24 Seamless Turrets in 1/32 scale for the Hobbyboss kit from
Coldwar Studio in Bulgaria. The replacement parts fix the problem with the kit parts, which have
joints and seams where they should not be.
Tom Brown Sr. showed us his Hank Mascot Bison from Buffalo Wild Wings, finished with acrylic
paints. Tom made up new horns, used red body putty to build up the main body, and cut out the extra
plastic between the tail and body and between the legs. He built the model for the Buffalo Theme
for BuffCon People's Choice. Tom said no one took him up on the challenge so he won the very nice
trophy.
Ted Szczesny displayed and demonstrated his Tamiya 1/14 Scania 770S 6x4 truck with Tamiya
MFC-03 Multi-Function Electronics package with Futaba 4 channel radio, receiver and servos. Ted
used Tamiya Light Blue Pearl spray paint for the body and Tamiya acrylics for everything else.
Aluminum wheels replaced the chrome ABS plastic kit wheels, and lighting was added using extra
LEDs from Evan Design (3mm, Pico and Zs prewired for 5-12V) and from Ebay aftermarket 1/14 truck
additional lighting fixtures. Ted demonstrated the lighting and engine sounds, and said that the
kit will operate on a 4 channel radio system which allows multiple RC operations.
Mike Butry displayed his 1/35 North Africa base that will be used for a Kubelwagen along with
some figures. He used Tamiya and Vallejo paints in brown and sand colors. Mike started off by
selecting a 3D mounted picture frame, which will be installed later. He used Vallejo's Ground
Texture, an acrylic product, for the sand, and a Mile Marker from Custom Dioramics and Tamiya
fuel drums. Mike said the main weathering was done with an airbrush and everything else was
drybrushed. He mentioned that he wanted to do a Kubelwagen in DAK service and decided on a small
diorama.
A large collection of model magazines were free for the taking.
There were a couple of unidentified objects on the tables.
Finally, some around-the-room shots.
Thanks to Bob Conshafter for handling the model tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photos.
