By the time of our meeting, the IPMS Syracuse (SYRCON) contest will be over. I will have attended and hope other club members did also.

IPMS Niagara Frontier Meeting Agenda - October 21, 2019

7:00 PM to 7:10 PM - Place models on tables with description forms - members trading kits.

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 models that were on display in the cabinet at Section 8 Hobbies have been removed, and can be picked up at the meeting. Any models not picked up at that time will be disposed of. If you have a model and can't make the meeting, contact an eBoard member as soon as possible.

Here is the schedule of presentations for upcoming general club meetings:

• October - model roundtable discussions by category
• November - presentation by Maryann Germann on the Sword & Brush show she attended in Ontario, Canada
• December - annual holiday pizza party and Toys for Tots collection

The October 2019 newsletter of the IPMS Patriot chapter is available HERE.

Any member who needs a club name tag should see Paul Hines at the meeting. We will be ordering name tags in the near future.

The minutes from the September 2019 general meeting are included below. Thanks to our Secretary, Al Germann, for the meeting minutes.

September 16th - President Rich Bernecki led the meeting.

• Rich brought up the previous meeting's minutes and there was a motion to approve them. There was a second to the motion and the minutes were open for discussion. There were no questions or comments and the general membership voted to approve them.
• Old Business:
  • Rich restated that E-Board member Tom Brown Jr. is active with military service and the E-Board will need to select a replacement until the next election. Rich will be talking to a few individuals about this need and to serve on the E-board.
  • A reminder that the E-board meetings are at E-board members' homes on a rotating basis.
  • The club's display case at Section 8 Hobbies has to be moved and will be given away. If any member is interested, contact Rich.
  • The club shirts came in and were distributed.
• New Business:
  • A review of the recent RoCon show was discussed. 220 models were in the competition.
  • Rich talked through the schedule for the demonstrations during the general meetings.
• The floor was opened to the members.
  • Mike Patskin pointed out the the retail store Ollie's Outlet has a large supply of toys that are suitable for the Toys for Tots Christmas program.
  • A few members pointed out the magazines brought in on the model tables are free for the taking.
• Members' models on the tables were presented via "passing the mic".
• This month had a presentation from Al Germann on recovering from a model disaster.

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.

October 14 - President Rich Bernecki led the meeting.

• Old Business:
  • Rich thanked Al for forwarding the recent meeting minutes from the NorEast Con planning committee and gave an action item to Al to forward them to the rest of the E-board.
  • Rich brought up the need to backfill the E-board position of Tom Brown Jr. as he is serving in the U.S. Marines. Rich has the action item to pursue this with the candidates discussed.
  • Larry O. has an action item to post the general meeting presentation schedule in the October newsletter.
• New Business:
  • Additional sites for the E-board meeting were identified with the following members volunteering hosting it at their homes:
    • November: Maryann & Al Germann, Williamsville
    • December: Jeff Keenan, Clarence
    • January: Rich Bernecki, Buffalo
    • February: Jeff Keenan, Clarence
    • March: Paul Hines, Depew
    • April: Jeff Keenan, Clarence
    • May: Dick Schulenberg, Silver Creek
  • Larry has action item to stop sending the newsletter for unpaid members.
  • Tom F. stated that the cost of the Knight's hall for the general monthly meetings is increasing by $300 per year. This was thoroughly discussed with the result of accepting the new cost through 2020 but a committee was formed to look into alternatives for the general meetings in 2021 and beyond. BuffCon location is not expected to change. The "Location Assessment" committee comprises Maryann (Chairperson), Tom and Jeff.
• BuffCon 37 2020:
  • Rich and Dick led discussion on review of the event flyer that Frank B recently emailed out. Dick has an action item to follow up with Frank on some final details with layout and categories.
  • Related to the addition of Gundam type categories and some other changes, it was suggested that we review and align the judging rules and possibly the criteria. More to come in the upcoming months.

Member Name: Eugene Paveljack

What kind of modeling? What scale?
Military, Tank support and Artillery 1/35 scale.

Member Name: John-Allen Price

What kind of modeling? What scale?
Aircraft, mostly 1/72 but I will do larger scales occasionally (1/48 & 1/32).

Model tables from the September meeting:

Tom Brown, Sr. displayed a collection of 1:1 scale firearms. They were all built out of the box and finished with a variety of paints. Tom said he needs to work on his "wood look". He also mentioned that it's fun finding out of production kits, and the guns are not real - they don't fire.

Nick Carluccio showed us his 1/25 Jo-Han 1963 Oldsmobile Starfire. He finished it with Painter's Touch Gloss Black for the exterior and Testors bottle paint for the interior. Nick said the model was based on another eBay glue bomb that he rebuilt. He used the Micro Mesh polishing kit on the bodywork, and picked the subject because he's a "car nut".

Tim Grieve brought in a Revell 1/72 ME 262A-1A/U3 Reconnaissance Version. It was finished with Testors and Vallejo paints, and he added the radio antenna from the cockpit to the tail. Tim said he wanted to do a 262, and the project was a quick, one week fun build.

Tim also had a Revell 1/72 Dornier Do335A-6 on display. He used Vallejo and Testors paints, and weathered the exhaust from the engine. He added Swastica decals from his collection, and said there were no issues with the kit. Tim mentioned that he liked the layout of the aircraft.

Ilya Grinberg showed us his current work-in-progress, an Ammo 1/72 T-54B. No painting has been done yet, but he used PE parts by PAPT in addition to the kit PE and added resin fuel drums. Ilya said this is an outstanding kit.

Al Germann displayed his Revell 1/25 1956 Ford Foose Pickup. He used Tamiya spray can gunmetal paint and sprayed the chrome wheels with smoke tint. Al said he built it out-of-box, with added spark plug wires, painted wood bed using artist oils, added turn signals, and added bracing under the hood. The kit was a gift from his son, and he's pleased with the results.

Maryann Germann is working on an Airfix 1/12 Anne Boleyn figure. She's using Tamiya paints, and finds the subject interesting.

Larry Osolkowski brought in a couple of automotive subjects. The first was a new issue from Tamiya, a 1/24 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid Le Mans race car. He said the kit looks amazing in the box, and he also acquired a Studio 27 carbon fiber decal set, and some additional detail decals from Indycals.

Larry also displayed a new resin detail set and a photo-etch detail set for the Hasegawa 1/24 BMW 2002 Turbo. He had brought in the kit a few months back, but recently discovered the resin set which adds a complete engine compartment to the model. It comes from a Ukranian aftermarket company called USCP, and has finely cast resin parts with excellent detail, and full instructions that were downloaded from their website. He also found a photo-etch detail set from Renaissance that adds some nice detail bits including resin steering wheel rims that attach to a PE core. The detail sets were obtained from Spot Model, an online company based in Spain.

Bob Conshafter showed us his Hasegawa 1/32 P-51D Mustang, an old 1973 issue. He used Tamiya spray paints and Mr. Surfacer 500 and 1000 for finishing. He's building it out-of-box and it's a work-in-progress. Bob said the kit had classic, well known fit issues, but it's good for practicing modeling skills like puttying and sanding. He picked the subject because he thought it would fall together; unfortunately, not so. Bob also wanted to thank Rich Bernecki for supplying a missing instruction sheet and some decals.

Rod Adam displayed his Glen Tanner wood ship model. Rod said this was his father's ship from the 1930's.

Rod also showed us his Diamond Alkali ship model, which received lifeboat covers, new stern, new bow paint, new boom, new wheelhouse roof, rudder rework, new bowsprit and rear flagpole as a restoration project.

Mike Butry displayed his Tamiya M20, Marder III and Dragon Jeep which all won 1st place trophies at Rocon, the Rochester show. He also took additional 1st and 3rd place awards, and said he had a really good time hanging out with friends and talking shop.

David Safe brought in a 1/25 Revell '48 Ford Woody. He finished it with Tamiya, Testors and Rustoleum paints. David used veneers from a cigar box, cut and sanded to fit, and used clear yellow for the shellac effect and put stain on after to simulate the wood grain. He said his biggest problem was trying to stop paint bleed onto the wood grain, but he loved the look. David said it was a great kit to build.

Jeff Keenan showed us his Imai 1/12 Archduke Ferdinand II figure, painted with Citadel silver and gold. Jeff said the seams were a pain, but the model is different and interesting.

Paul Hines had another pair of paintings that returned to automotive subjects. The first was a 1911 Marmon Wasp, which was the winner of the first Indy 500 race in 1911. The second was an early 1930 Miller 91 race car. Paul said he's always had an affection for open wheel race cars and these are two of his favorites.

John-Allen Price displayed his Fujimi 1/72 A-4E Skyhawk VA-155 USS Constellation. He used Model Master, Polly S and Humbrol paints for finishing, with no weathering yet. John-Allen said the kit had very complicated sub-assemblies, but he liked the unusual color schemes of the aircraft.

Brian McFee brought in his 1/48 F-16 that took a 1st place in its category at Rocon, as well as special awards for Best USAF Jet and Best US Naval Aircraft.

Ron Mikol displayed his Studebaker drag car that took Best Automotive at Rocon.

There was one unidentified model on the tables. Please make sure that Larry Osolkowski gets your info sheet before you leave.

Tom Faith distributed the new club shirts to members who had ordered them. They look great.

Finally, some around-the-room photos.

Thanks to Rich Bernecki for passing the microphone around for the tables, and Larry Osolkowski for the photography.