Welcome!

TO PAUSE BULLETIN - PLACE MOUSE POINTER OVER THE SCROLLING MESSAGE BOX

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Standard Schedule of Events and Activities

January

Model of the Year Contest / Kit Sale Night

February

Show Us Your Tool / Contest Night 1Q

March

Decal Swap Night

April

Work In Progress Night

May

Parts Box Night / Contest Night 2Q

June

Theme Contest / Pizza Night

July

TBA

August

Contest Night 3Q

September

Swap Night

October

Work In Progress Night / Nominations

November

Contest Night 4Q04 / Super Raffle

December

Holiday Dinner /Theme Contest

General meeting details

How To Find Us

Our meetings are on the third Friday of each month at about 7:30 PM. We meet at the Bergen Beach Park Sports Complex. See directions below.

Getting there:

Bergen Beach Park Sports Complex:
  • Take BELT PARKWAY to EXIT 11N (FLATBUSH AVENUE NORTH).
  • Take FLATBUSH AVENUE to AVENUE U (Kings Plaza) make RIGHT onto AVENUE U.
  • Take AVENUE U to BERGEN AVENUE, make RIGHT onto BERGEN AVENUE.
  • Straight on BERGEN AVENUE 3 BLOCKS to SPORTS COMPLEX (ON LEFT).
See maps below:


map by yahoo maps


map by google maps


map by google maps

Thursday, May 12, 2005

RC1 Update: 05/11/2005

Here's the latest news in the licensing issues. Please share it with the officers and members of your chapter.

Semper Fi
Doug


RC's:

Please pass this along- it's the latest from the congressman involved in trying to legislate against the licensing of military models. He needs calls not e-mails and tell them to give IPMS a plug!

Dave

Mr. Noack-

My name is Paul Bauer, and I serve on Congressman Andrews' staff. As you may be aware, Congressman Andrews has been working in support of the modeling industry in an effort to prevent contractors from requiring licensing and fees for the use of military designs and likenesses. He is planning to offer the attached amendment to the Defense Authorization bill during a markup next week, Wednesday, May 18th, to address this issue.

Again, this amendment would require the Department of Defense to include a provision in their contracts with all defense contractors prohibiting them from requiring licenses and fees from model manufacturers, distributors, or sellers. Since these vehicles are manufactured at taxpayer expense, and the designations are assigned by the US military, we do not feel that the contractors should be able to require payment for their use, especially in instances such as these where it has an adverse effect on domestic small businesses.

Mr. Andrews would very much appreciate your assistance in gaining support for this amendment. It would be most helpful if The International Plastic Modelers Society could reach out to Armed Services Cmte Members this week and next week to urge their support, and possibly send out a fax to all cmte Members detailingthe importance of this initiative. You can find a list of the cmte Members at

http://armedservices.house.gov/about/members.html

Thank you so much for your interest and support. I would appreciate it if you could follow up with me and let me know what, if anything, you can do to help.

Paul Bauer
____________________________________

Paul J. Bauer

Legislative Assistant

Congressman Robert E. Andrews (NJ-01)

2439 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Phone (202) 225 6501
Fax (202) 225 6583

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Hobby Shop Listing

HOBBY SHOP LISTING

105 HOBBIES 718-441-7999
104-40 Jamaica Ave, Richmond Hill NY 11418

ACE HOBBY SHOP ???-282-9753
3019 Niagara Street, Niagara Falls, NY 14303
acehobby@localnet.com

AMERICA’S HOBBY CENTER 212-675-8922
263 West 30th Street (betw. 7th & 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10001-2801, www.ahc1931.com

AVENEL HOBBIES 732-382-7717
1111 Rt. 35 South, Colonia, NJ

BASELINE MODELS 516-877-2426
107 Main Street, Mineola NY 11501
dmzl@juno.com

BROWNIES HOBBIES 718-727-2194
124 Bennett Street, Staten Island, NY 10302

DAVE’S HOBBY SHOP 516 623-2750
384 Atlantic Avenue, Freeport, NY 11520
DaveHobby@aol.com

FANTASIA HOBBY WORLD 718-460-5671
171-69 46th Avenue, Flushing, NY 11358
www.fantasiahobby.com

HOBBY SQUIRREL 212-686-3280
234 5th Avenue (@27th Street)
4th Floor, #403, NYC, NY 10001
www.hobby-squirrel.com, sales@hobby-squirrel.com

HERITAGE HOBBIES 203-834-0441
33 Danbury Rd (Rt.7), Wilton, CT 06897

HOBBYLINC
www.hobbylinc.com

HUNGATE’S HOBBIES 919-933-7671
University Mall, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
www.hungates.com

IMAGE ANIME CO. 212-631-0966 fax: 212-631-0955
103 West 30th Street
New York, NY 10001
www.imageanime.com

JAN’S HOBBY SHOP 212-987-4765
1437 Lexington Avenue (Betw. 93-94 St)
New York, NY 10028

MEGAHOBBY.COM 888-642-0093
megahobby.com (phone or internet sales only)

MIKE’S MODELS 631-581-4995
7 Meroke Lane, E. Islip, NY 11730

RIDGEFIELD HOBBY 201-943-2636
508 Broad Avenue, Ridgefield, NJ 07657
www.ridgefieldhobbies.com, www.rhobby.com
rhobby@aol.com, rhobby@rhobby.com

RUDY’S HOBBY & ART 718-545-8280
35-16 30th Ave, Astoria, NY 11103

SEAPORT HOBBY 609-296-4413
700 West Main Street (Rte 9), Little Egg Harbor, NJ www.seaportinc.com

TRAINLAND 516-599-7080
293 Sunrise Hwy, Lynbrook, NY 11563
718-436-7072 7 751 McDonald Ave, Bkln, NY 11218

WILLIS HOBBIES 516-746-3944
285 Willis Ave, Mineola, NY 11501

Monday, May 09, 2005

May 2005 Bulletin

April meeting had a great turnout in all categories. We had 27 members and 4 guests bringing in a bunch of models and WIPs to talk about.

APRIL MEETING!!!

WORK IN PROGRESS! This has to be one of the more fun activities. You don’t actually have to finish anything to join in. Heck, you’re expected to have stuff not finished. It’s the nature of our hobby. So the group certainly didn’t disappoint. We got to see all aspects of the hobby represented and many different methods to get things done. Very educational!

PUSH FOR INCREASED BUILDING CONTINUES: Jimmy ran another edition of the Re-Supply Raffle.

On the agenda: JUNE

CONTEST NIGHT – 2ND QTR 2005: Bring in your masterpieces that haven’t been in the competition yet for the second installment of the BPMS Annual Contest.

PARTS BOX NIGHT: Bring in those old leftover parts that you have no use for. Your trash can be another man’s gold.

BASIC MODELING SKILLS CLINIC: Hosted by Vinny and Bobby, we will try to cover some basic areas and maybe even have a trick or two that may save the seasoned veterans a little time and effort. Anyone who wants to join in and assist is welcome to do so.


THEME CONTEST REMINDER:

IN THE MOVIES THEME

IS COMING UP FOR THE JUNE MEETING!!!


IN THE MOVIES: Ted and Phil are sponsoring “In The Movies” in for June 2005. Basically build something, ANYTHING from a movie. This from the sponsors:
The parameters of this contest have been nailed. There will be no category judging just first, second and third places with honorable mentions. This contest is wide open, so build a scene, a prop, or anything else that is recognizable from a movie. It can be Godzilla leveling Tokyo, a space battle from Star Wars, a scene from Apocalypse Now, a monster from a classic horror movie, a plane from Top Gun, a naval battle from Ben Hur, etc, etc. This should be fun, its up to your imagination. Get ready because June will be here soon!
For December we have a CATS theme. Adrian, Russ, and Jeff have agreed to sponsor that one. Anything having to do with Cats will do. More details to come.

OTHER THEMES
Do you want to sponsor a theme in 2006? Some concepts we’ve kicked around are: Experimental, Take One for the Team, and Things That Suck. Contact the officers if you want to sponsor any of those or anything else for December. Also the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars is coming up... right when all the kits are re-issued!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Message from the RC1: 05/03/05

This just in from President Dave. Please note the time line mentioned.

Semper Fi
Doug


Hi RC's:

Here's the latest info for our members from Mike Bass and Trumpeter. Please pass
it along

Dave

John,

This is a good letter, but perhaps your organization didn't see clearly that these need to be phone calls, not letters. The Armed Services Committee meets in 2 weeks or so, and I can guarantee a letter will not be read in time for support. That's why my letter to the industry requested calls and contact names of the aides to whom one has spoken, not letters.

Anyway, have you made any calls? In your position, this would help. I need copies back to me of anyone having made a call as well as the phone number called and the contact name to whom one spoke, even if itis an aide.

Many thanks,

Mike

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

IPMS/USA Update for April (or Early May!)

Hi Everyone:

Way less than 100 days to the Nationals in Atlanta- starting to get excited. I delayed the e-mail update a few weeks so that I could bring you a couple pieces of news. First, in the next Journal will be a ballot for a change in the constitutional amendment. This one recommends a change to the CBL to change the chapter chartering fee to allow it to be raised by the E-board. This fee has not changed since the early 1980's so this would go a long way towards having he chapters help pay the insurance costs for the meetings and contests. Second update deals with the E-board. This is an election year and the following people are running for office and since there is no one running against anyone, this will be the board that takes place office in February 2006:

President- Jack Kennedy
1st VP- John Noack
2nd VP- Ron Bell
DLC- Dick Montgomery
HPD- Jim Woody
Secretary- Jim Corley

Non-elected positions that are remaining-
Office Manager-MJ Kinney
Treasurer- Ed Kinney
DFL- Glen Broman
IPMS General Counsel- Mark Gustavson
Junior Coordinator- Steve Dottavio
Internet Coordinator- Bob Hester
Journal Editor- David Von Almen

Also, Mike Bass from Stevens International (the people who bring us the lovely Trumpeter kits) is working against the licensing issues and needs modelers help to get our voices heard through the government. I have attached his letter below in John Noack's section from the 1st VP.

I also have a MAP update. I know that we got a lukewarm reception to the last go around but we still want to offer it as an option for our members and a committee has been working on it and I have an update from Jerry David, it's chairperson.

My only other subject is one that is near and dear to my heart. Currently (See MJ's update later), our membership stands at 4400. That is the lowest total in over 15 years. We are on the eve of what is expected to be the largest Nationals ever, we have improved the web site, the Journal, beaten all others to reviews of the last two major releases and improved the functionality of IPMS and yet our membership numbers struggle. To say the least, the Board is very frustrated. We have drafted a letter explaining some of this and are open to ideas. IPMS isn't going away but changes may be needed to keep our service level to the industry, it's members and everyone who isn't a member but enjoys all the work done by our members. On to the update which is pretty quiet this month**.

1st VP- John Noack
· Added several new sources of review products during this period.
· Starting new "super review" process that combines a new or recent kit release with updates and accessories. First one will be the Trumpeter USS Lexington incorporating several aftermarket upgrade and conversion kits. Stay tuned!
· Exclusive sneak preview of test shot build of Academy's new 1/32 F-16 is underway.
· Preparations underway for meetings with industry folks at Atlanta Nationals
· Dragon Models' Atlanta Convention has added a bunch of industry representatives and I will meet with them during both conventions.
· Reviewers' Corps going strong with over 55 members.

Letter from Mike Bass and Stevens International:

Greetings,
For the past year Stevens International has undertaken the issue of licensing and royalty-collecting by the defense contractors for the making of model kit and toy replicas of military planes, tanks and ships. The issue here is that these companies (for example, Boeing, Lockheed, Grumman, Sikorsky, etc) are demanding contracts and payments from the model manufacturers in the hobby industry for the right to reproduce military replicas in miniature. The items in question were not only paid for by the USA taxpayer, but the designationsthey are registering may not even belong to them: these are designations whichwere chosen by the US Department of Defense (P-51, F-14, etc). In addition,IMMA's contention is that these vehicles would not even have been made had itnot been for the US Government and the US taxpayer: you and I among them. How, then, is it proper to claim these as their own and to have the gall to charge our industry makers for the right to manufacture miniature replicas? This not only adds cost to the products (royalty percentages, bookkeeping, etc), but the ethics of this is certainly questionable. For the past 6 months, Congressman Robert Andrews (D-NJ) has been diligently working with us to enact legislation to prohibit these actions by thedefense contractors. He is a very dedicated business-minded man who tries to right any wrong affecting small businesses, particularly those in his district. Next month, he will present this as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill and it will be brought to a vote. The amendment basically states "The
Secretary of Defense is to prohibit those entering into defense contracts with the US Government from requiring fees or licenses from toy and hobbymanufacturers, distributors or merchants for the use of military likenesses or designations". If passed this will open the door for the manufacturers to make kits as they wish, to release them quicker, and without the worry of "BigBrother" trying to regulate it. In order to get this passed, Andrews' office is asking anyone in the hobby industry(hobbyist or shopkeeper) who lives in or has a shop in the district of any of the members of the Armed Services Committee to call that office to speak to either the legislator or an aide to offer support for this amendment (letters may not work, as by the time they are read it is likely the bill will have already been up for a vote). You may invoke the name of Congressman Andrews and advise that you know this amendment will be brought to the Committee when it meets in late May. You may even state the quoted text above. A link to the list of Armed Services Committee members is below:

If you see any in your district, Republican or Democrat, click on their name and all the contact information will appear. Mr. Andrews is also seeking a Republican co-sponsor of this amendment in order to improve its chances of passage.

This is a real one-time chance to make something big happen for the benefit of the hobby industry, and you can help us do it. The executive board of IMMA is deeply involved in this, and have already contacted their reps. I ask you to do the same. I ask only one favor: If contact is made with either your committee member or an aide, please advise me at once at email address mbass@stevenshobby.com . Andrews' office wishes to follow up with any congressional office where contact has been made in order to acquire additional support.

Thanks, and with your help we can hopefully rid the hobby industry of this persistent nuisance.

Mike Bass
Stevens International
PO Box 126
706 N White Horse Pike
Magnolia, NJ 08049 USA
PH: 856-435-1555
FX: 856-627-6274
email: mbass@stevenshobby.com
www.stevenshobby.com

2nd VP- Ron Bell

· Everything is well on-track for the Atlanta Convention
· IPMS Orange County is the only current bidder for the 2007 convention

Director of Local Chapters- Jack Kennedy

· I am up to 202 charter renewals. Two more than last year.

Office Manager- MJ Kinney

· V17J3 of the journal was sent to 4401 members - down 80 from the previous issue. To date we have 232 new members in 2005.
· For the convention in Atlanta - The convention cancellation insurance has been secured, shirts and hats have been ordered to be sold at the National Table and 3 part new member/renewal forms have been ordered for the convention.
· Recent back issues of the journal are now being sent from this office as the orders are received.
· We need to remind our members to notify us of all address changes. It seems that we have had more of these lately than usual and each time the post office has to advise of an address change, it costs the society 70 cents, plus the cost of the journal and the initial postage to send it. (The journals are not returned.)
· New members names and addresses for the past several months were recently sent to the Regional Coordinators for them to contact the new member and welcome them to the society.
· See you in Atlanta - Mary Jane


Guest Contributor- Jerry Davis, MAP Chairman

Over the past several months, a group of IPMS/USA members from around the country volunteered to serve on a steering committee. Its mission was to refine the concept of a Modeler's Achievement Program (MAP) that would recognize individual modeler achievement while supporting the goals of IPMS/USA.

This MAP steering committee worked long and hard in devising a program that supports the goals of IPMS/USA while recognizing individual modeler achievement through a national IPMS/USA recognition program.

The MAP program allows a modeler to receive recognition at various skill levels without being involved in a contest. This provides an outlet for those who do not want to compete and will thus build toward the value of IPMS/USA.

The Mission Statement of MAP is:

1. Promote the fun of the scale-modeling hobby.

2. Improve IPMS/USA membership and public perception by recognizing individual member participation in the scale-modeling hobby.

Participation in MAP is on an individual basis and is voluntary. MAP is designed to motivate the membership and new incoming members to IPMS/USA to build better models and participate in the society. The MAP is in effect, a guide to assist the membership in learning to construct better models incorporating skill sets from basic through mastery levels of modeling.

IPMS/USA encourages participation in MAP which we feel will increase IPMS/USA membership and motivate current IPMS/USA members. It is a program that raises the awareness of the hobby by creating levels of achievement and sufficiently recognizes members that achieve higher levels of success of having fun in modeling.


Dave Morrissette
President, IPMS/USA

Monday, May 02, 2005

Pics from the April 2005 meeting

Lots of works in progress for WIP night!


This is a converted 28mm figure by Kay.


Jimmy discusses a figure.


Charlie shares a few words with the group.


Frank jests about Blue Thunder.

Some WIPs"








And some completed work:







You can find a lot more pics in the BAXOJAYZ Gallery on Hobbyfanatics.
http://www.hobbyfanatics.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album1015&s=

REVIEW OF THE POLAR LIGHTS U.S.S. ENTERPRISE & KLINGON D-7 BATTLE CRUISER “SNAP-TOGETHER” KITS

REVIEW OF THE POLAR LIGHTS U.S.S. ENTERPRISE & KLINGON D-7 BATTLE CRUISER “SNAP-TOGETHER” KITS

Kit numbers: Enterprise: 4200
Klingon: 4202
Issued: 2003, 2004
Scale: both 1/1000 (according to manufacturer)
Price: approx. $12.99 (2005)
Availability: purchased Feb. 2005 through Ace Hobby, also available on E-Bay
Water Slide Decals and Stickers: multiple versions included with both
Special Materials included: Enterprise - some clear parts; Klingon - some chrome parts and one very small clear red detail

The Polar Lights (Praying Mantis) U.S.S. Enterprise Kit has now been around for a few years and has a reputation for being the most accurate to date, so I figured I’d give it a shot. The downside is that it is a “snap-together” kit and is also the smallest of the major Enterprise kits issued thus far (with the exception of the 1980’s & 1990’s starship “sets” from AMT).

When assembled the Enterprise is approx. 11.3” long, 5” wide and 2.75” tall. The completed Klingon model is about 9.9” long, 7.1” wide and 2.3” tall and appears to be a little larger than it should be when compared to the Enterprise (both are not at exactly the same scale). Both come molded in a light gray plastic, the Klingon ship being slightly darker.



The biggest problem with both kits is that there is no practical way of testing the fit before assembly because it was designed as a “snap” kit. Many parts are very difficult to take apart once “snapped” together. Therefore, you may wish to “disable” or remove the “tabs” and “pins” if you wish to make a more permanent and better fitting model using glue. I built both models straight out of the box without removing the pins and tabs, but I also used glue. The fit of most parts would have been much better if I had removed all of the “snap” features. I recommend that you cut and sand the parts to a relatively “loose” fit and then glue them on.

On the Enterprise, the forward Warp Engine caps (“Buzzard Collectors” for you fans) and upper & lower bridge and sensor domes are represented entirely in clear plastic, which means you’ll have to paint part of them with a color that matches the molded plastic color of the ship, or repaint the whole ship.

Major caveats: When assembled, the Enterprise warp engines will not align correctly! Their orientation will be off by a few degrees (as if the engines themselves “rotated” on their mounts). Some kind of modification has to be made to either the pylon or the engines, or both. I also had trouble assembling the spheres to the rear engine caps (one of them cracked). They will not fit unless you remove the “tabs” and glue them in place. Also, the stands that come with both kits are very flimsy; the Enterprise stand is virtually unusable without reinforcement or replacement.

I’ve heard reports that the “boom”/”neck” on the Klingon ship goes on skewed, but I did not have this problem and if you remove the “tabs” you will have more control during assembly.

I found it easier to assemble the Enterprise Secondary Hull first (without the Main Sensor Antenna), then attach it to the unassembled lower saucer. Test fitting revealed that it is extremely difficult to attach the Secondary Hull later because the force required to snap it in may damage other parts. Also, you may want to save assembly of the Warp Engines and the Main Sensor Antenna as the very last steps. This allows the model to be handled easier during construction without damaging the delicate pylons or the antenna.



But they look good when completed. The Enterprise kit has many virtues. First, I do find it to be the most accurate yet (especially if you want to duplicate the larger “11-foot” studio model instead of the smaller “3-foot model with no lights” seen less frequently on the TV show). They finally got rid of the circular ridge on the bottom of the saucer – that ridge was only on the “3 foot model”. The top of the saucer is clean – no raised “gridlines” as on the first AMT kit (it is now known that the famous gridlines were only drawn on the “11-foot” model as very thin lines which can’t even be seen on the TV show, and the 3-foot model never had gridlines at all).

Second, the Enterprise kit contains extra parts & decals to allow you to build all three versions of the ship – the first pilot version (seen in “The Cage”/”The Menagerie”), the second pilot (“Where no Man has Gone Before” when they added lights) and the final production version (when they added the engine effect lights). This is the first time that this is possible in any commercial model kit of this subject.

Third, the decals are excellent - especially the ones for Enterprise, which also allow you to build a “U.S.S. Constellation”, “Exeter”, “Defiant” or the conjectural (but never shown) “parallel universe Enterprise” from “Mirror, Mirror”. This subject depends heavily on its decals for its appearance, and be warned that there are many of them - patience will be required!

The Klingon kit contains extra decals to build different versions (including a “Romulan” version).
It allows you to build a version which is very close (but not exact) to what was shown on the 3rd Season TV episodes (“Elaan of Troyius”, “Day of the Dove”, “The Enterprise Incident”).

All things considered, I am glad that I bought these kits. Now that I’ve completed them and know what to expect, I plan to build several more in various different versions. As long as you are aware of the fit problems and compensate for the relatively small size, you should be able to build an attractive and accurate model. As I Sci-Fi fan I can honesty recommend them and would rate them 8 out of 10.

-Louis G.