Greetings fellow modelers! Here is what's going on this month at IPMS Niagara Frontier.
At the last meeting, we kicked off a new series of educational seminars designed to teach us how to do a good job of judging models at BuffCon (and other shows if you opt to help out). Johnny Newman did an outstanding job with his "Judging Figures/Miniatures" presentation. For our reference, this presentation will be included on the club website shortly. This month's theme is "Judging Aircraft Models" and will be presented by club Vice-President, Justen Hanna. We've made arrangements with the Columbus Club to use their overhead projector and screen, so being able to see the presentations in the future will be much better. Thanks very much to Mr. Newman and his efforts and I know Justen will be equal to the task.
Another new feature we're starting is a modeling theme for each meeting. This month's theme is to honor the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, so if you have any kits, models, works-in-progress that represents the Great War, please bring them in to share with the club. Next month, to honor the anniversary of the Japanese attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor, we will be featuring any models (completed or works-in-progress) or kits, and memorabilia that relate to this historic event.
The December club meeting will be focused on our annual Christmas party. Pizza, wings, pop will be provided for all current, dues-paid members. As per usual, we are asking anyone who would like to provide "dessert" in the form of cookies, pies, cakes and what-not to share with the club, we greatly appreciate it.
Since the "Secret Santa" event was a great success last year, we're going to do it again. If you'd like, please bring in a wrapped, un-built model kit without a name or tag on it, to share in a gift exchange with other modelers who also opt to participate. The only thing we ask is not to "bust chops" and bring in any junk. It doesn't have to be an expensive kit, just one that's complete.
And last, but not least, it is also our honor to host our annual Toys For Tots campaign to assist the United States Marine Corps in helping children who are less fortunate than perhaps ourselves at Christmas time. Here are the guidelines, should you wish to participate: bring in a new, unwrapped, unmarked toy, game or other amusement to the December meeting and place it on the designated table. Again, it doesn't have to be expensive ($10 to $20 range is typical of what we see from year to year) but it does have to be NEW, UNWRAPPED and UNMARKED (no names, no cards, no notes). When choosing gifts, please consider the older children. There some nice MP3 players out there in that price range that would make some kid's day that wouldn't have any use for Thomas The Tank Engine, because they're a bit older. Thanks very much for your consideration. Also, I believe a representative of The Corps will be here to collect the toys and join us for the party.
Keep on modeling,
John R. Zaranek
President
IPMS Niagara Frontier
IPMS USA No. 47993
Model Table Round-up from the October meeting
Young Jacob Gadek offered up an outstanding figure of Herman Munster from the TV Show, "The Munsters". Jacob used the
Polar Lights kit and used Tamiya paints for the base colors. He detailed the figure with pencil crayons for the shading
and a shaved charcoal pencil for the shadows. Jacob relates that he's inspired by watching old television shows from '50's
and '60's and proudly announced that Herman took "Best Junior" at a recent model show in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Jacob also brought in his Polar Lights, "Superman" figure. He used Tamiya and Vallejo for the main colors. He used
"Rub-n-Buff" to simulate the metal base. Markers, pencil crayons and dollar store acrylics were used for accents and
details. Jacob states that he made "many mistakes with the shadows and shading - I must have painted Superman five times"
before he got it where he liked it. He overcame the mistakes by lightly using the airbrush to cover some of them. His
inspiration for the paint work is the kit's box art.
Michael Martinez finished his Pierce Arrow museum inspired project, the 1933 Cadillac Town Car. Mike pulled one of
his "improvise, adapt, overcome" techniques to replicate the fabric stitching on the rag top. He used the cotton string
from a bag of dog food rolled flat while wet and stuck it in place with black acrylic, another tip/trick to add to our
repertoire.
Rich Bernecki, in recognition of our upcoming WWI theme, brought in his Wingnut Wings 1/32nd scale Pfalz D.IIIa
biplane. Rich says he built it out-of-the-box and care was needed when removing excess plastic because it's very soft.
Rich also offers up a Tamiya 1/48th scale IL-2 Shturmovik. He will be using Eduard color cockpit detail parts and
is planning on dressing it in Polish Air Force livery from the 1945-1946 time frame.
Larry Osolkowski brings us a Starter 1/43rd scale Porsche 956 "Spirit of America" kit. Larry is using Alclad grey
primer on it and will be re-casting the headlights, scratch building the taillights and mirrors. Some minor problems
he's encountering include a very rough texture on the body which requires lots of sanding for a smooth finish. It's an
old kit so some parts are either missing or yellowed. Larry says that the good news is that the decals appear to be in
great shape and he won't have to source new ones from the aftermarket trade.
Larry also showed a newly acquired kit he obtained from M&S Hobbies for under $40, the Aoshima 1/24th scale Lamborghini
Murcielago R-5V "All-Inkl". The subject is a Lambo AND a race car - best of both worlds! Larry explains that it looks nice
in the box, will require a three color paint scheme and he's considering getting a carbon fiber decal sheet to really make
it stand out.
Getting off the ground from his usual automotive subjects, Larry presented a previous "Tony Bartozek Challenge": the
Glencoe 1/48th scale SPAD XIII C.1 biplane in Italian ace Francesco Baracca's markings. Interestingly enough, Barraca's
logo, the prancing horse, is the basis of the emblem for Ferrari automobiles. Larry airbrushed Tamiya acrylics for the
colors. He used artist's oils to simulate the wood grain on the prop and struts. Some work on the fit of the wing struts
and exhaust pipes were needed to get a good looking model.
Eric Hillebrand showed us his recently completed MPM Machine Gun Car and Verlinden "Kaiser". Eric explained that he
used Testor's paints and made no modifications at all.
Eric's other project is the Takom St. Chamond tank. He used Tamiya and Testor's paints and applied washes and pastels
for the weathering.
Justen Hanna showed us a conversion project he's completed: taking a Sopwith Tabloid and making it into a Schneider. He
says a lot of body work was needed. He solved it with plasticard and Mr. Surfacer to get a blended and smooth finish. He
applied Tamiya XF-1 (Flat Black) as a spot primer. Justen chose this project because "it's cool as all outdoors".
Dick Schulenberg's three projects were presented this month. The first is the Anigrand 1/27nd scale resin Grumman XP-50
US Army Air Corps prototype fighter from 1940-41. Dick explained that the kit needed lots of lead weight in the front to
keep that end down where it belongs. He also added weight by substituting the resin engine and props with metal ones from
Aeroclub. He finished the model with Tamiya spray can aluminum over Tamiya grey primer. The black and olive drab were brushed
on with acrylics from Vallejo.
Secondly, he showed us his 1/44th scale EC-121 (Navy WV-2) by Minicraft. Dick replaced the props with cast metal ones
from Aeroclub and corrected the diameter of the spinners. He finished it with Polly Scale acrylics over white Tamiya primer.
He used Future Acrylic Floor Finish as a gloss coat, then Tamiya Semi-Gloss from the spray can. The kit decals were used
throughout, but he did substitute the national insignia.
Lastly, he brought in Heller's 1/72nd scale Bf-109B in progress project. Dick says that the plastic is nice to scribe
and he'll be re-doing all of the raised panel lines. The kit went together easily and he will be using markings from the
Spanish Civil War's Condor Legion. He plans on brush painting Polly Scale acrylics over Tamiya spray primer.
Jason Wesolowski brought in a very impressive, scratch built fantasy-themed project, the "Warhammer Titan". Jason's
inspiration comes from the fact that the original kit retails for $650, so he decided to build his own from Evergreen
plastic stock. An interesting feature includes the use of magnets to hold the arms in place. Jason used Krylon grey primer
followed by color coats by Krylon and Folk Art and did some free-hand brush detailing. Despite the impressive size and
nature of the project, Jason says it took "forever" and he will never try something like this again.
Another impressive-sized model is Dan Marafino's HK 1/32nd scale Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress model. Dan says he wanted
the challenge of the large kit and says patience is definitely needed, especially when working on the weapons. He used
custom machine gun barrels on all guns (except for the lower ball turret). Dan used different shades of Tamiya Khaki Drab
throughout the airframe along with white, yellow and green. Model Master black, gun metal and dark grey were also used on
some of the parts. A reference book on the B-17G included custom decals for this subject, "Little Patches" which he used
for the project. It was a six month project that he tackled, "a little at a time".
Matt Klukowski is continuing with his model train layout buildings. This time, it's a Walter's flower shop, which he is
converting into "Alison's Bar". The HO scale structure is finished in Citadel acrylic green and brown and is finished with
a simple wash. Matt also added a "beautiful red-haired chick" walking out of her car and is also adding a sign of the building.
The only thing he needs to add is furniture and lights to the inside of the bar.
Another structure he's working on is "Ariana Nights", a nightclub being converted from a DPM HO scale auto parts building.
Citadel acrylic purple, lavender and pink are used as a finish along with a wash. Matt explained that one side of the
building's fit was "terrible" and needed to be sanded down a lot.
Cindy Klukowski completed a vignette of Tom's Farmer's Market. She converted an old Texaco gas station kit for it. She hand
brushed it a variety of colors from Tamiya and applied a Citadel acrylic wash. She procured packages to represent the produce
and added figures of people to the scenery. She relates that there were no problems with the kit and she had a lot of fun
creating the design and scenery.
Paul Hines had more artwork to show us this month. Two subjects were a Salt Lake Racer and a Harley Davidson soft-tail
motorcycle. Paul stated that his future paintings will now start to feature people in them, such as mechanics and pit crews.
Joe Szzygielski, in his continuing love of combat engineering vehicles and scratch building, offers up a Spanish M60 Base
Digger. He's taken the Tamiya 1/35th scale M60A3 hull and turret, then scratch built the excavator arm from Evergreen plastic
stock. Joe will be dispensing with the rubber-band kit tracks and will use the working link tracks from AFV Club.
John Zaranek offered up his current work-in-progress, the Hasegawa/Minicraft 1/72nd scale US Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol
aircraft. John says it's a large kit, old mold and features raised panel lines. He plans on rescribing all of them and will
finish it in an early US Navy Light Gull Grey over White paint scheme. He's also procured some aftermarket decals as the ones
for the kit are badly yellowed.
We had a few remaining models and new kits on display from unidentified members (or misplaced forms - sorry!).
Here's a shot of Johnny Newman giving his Figure Judging presentation.
Finally, some around the room pics of the meeting.
Thanks to Larry Osolkowski for the photography.
