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Saturday, September 01, 2018

BULLETIN: SEPTEMBER 2018


BPMS Bulletin

by Bobby B2 Blue Pokorny

August meeting was Pizza Night, so we had members coming out of the woodwork! We had 25 members and no guests who brought in 26 models mostly for the contest.

August Meeting

PIZZA NIGHT: Possibly one of the all-time favorite BPMS annual activities. PIZZA! The group made quick work of the stacks of Brooklyn style. Your humble narrator couldn’t have been more proud!

NEW MEMBER: Brooklyn native, and ship modeler,  Michael Tricarico came to three meetings and showed us some his work so we voted him in! Welcome to the fold!

CONTEST NIGHT – 3Q17: So the third installment of the BPMS contest is in the books. There were some exquisite models on the tables so the members had a tough job voting.

RIVETS THEME CONTEST: With 1946 in the history books we can look forward to the December theme contest: RIVETS! Find contest details HERE. Sponsored by Russ Holcomb and Tom Knoll.

raffle: We had another fun raffle this month. We’ll likely have another for August.
On the agenda: SEPTEMBER

GREEN MODEL NIGHT: This is a Green theme night. Not a contest. Just a display. We invite everyone to bring in a model that is at least partially GREEN  to show and discuss.

Holiday Dinner: Yeah, yeah. It’s only September, but we only have a couple meetings before December. We should sit down and discuss options while it’s early.

2018 Model Pledge: April was the deadline; it’s now time to get to work! Please have your pledge finished for OCTOBER 2018, for a display. After October you may bring back your pledge for the November meeting for the last contest of the year. For your efforts you get an additional FIVE Super Raffle tickets for completing your pledge! Sweet! Easy enough!

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You can find meeting pics either at the BPMS Facebook Page!
  
A Report from Phoenix
By Kevin Kilkenny

As usual it was a great show from the Phoenix guys. The hotel was right across the street from the convention center which vastly expanded since the last time (this is my 3 trip to the Phoenix Nats).  To make things even more convenient, there was a train to the light rail, which drops you off less than a block from the hotel - all for less than $5.

There are images all over the 'Net, so you can look here for the gallery -

A copy of the award's Presentation is here - http://svsm.org/gallery/phoenix2018-awards

Going by the numbers, here are the preliminaries:
  • Contest Entrants: 424.
  • Models grand total: 3,523.
  • Models in competition: 2,723.
 Display 800 (including one CA member who had a collection of 700 armor vehicles).
  • -Jr 70.
  • -Aircraft 670.
  • -Military Vehicles 501.
  • -Ship 143.
  • -Dio 169.
  • -Misc 508.
  • -Auto 257.
  • -Space Sci-fi 168.
  • -Figures 237.
I brought two models. I had chosen carefully, for fear that the baggage handlers and/or the TSA would damage the models en route. In the end I chose the Huygens lander (as it was to be featured in a seminar), and a one piece dinosaur vignette.  The Huygens didn't score an award, but Fine Scale Modeler photographed it. Maybe we'll see it in print. The dinosaur did snag a 2nd in category 800... Dinosaurs. That was my first Nationals win. ;)

I didn't attend any of the side trips (Pima, and Orbital). There was a lot of good seminars, but trying to keep wifey happy at the same time, I did miss some that I wanted to see.

There was a good one of scratching building a McQuarrie style Y Wing.He covered building the internal support, and a bit on vac forming some parts.

Dem Brudders did a cool (and typically humorous) seminar on transporting and displaying your Models. It got me mad (not really) in that some of their techniques were so simple by using cardboard and some foam.

There was another seminar show and telling ways of keeping track of your models. From Excel thru Access, he ended up at software specifically designed for models from Suisoft. This one is pretty comprehensive and includes the ability to add images. I need some tracking ability, so I have to decide to just use Excel or go for the $44 and get Suisoft ...

Last but not least, I was part of the Real Space Modelers seminar. I talked about building my Huygens Lander and my partner Rob Schorry talked about 3D printing parts for real space models. At the end of the talk Rob announced a new kit by Real Space Models (designs by him) of the first US satellites - Explorer 1 and Vanguard in 1/24 scale. They are tiny, but in scale with the rest of what's generally accepted scale for unmanned satellites. The Real Space Modelers seminar also acts as a reunion for the members of the Yahoo group of the same name.

The Vendor room looked a little sparse until it was pointed out that the aisles were extra wide. I read somewhere (prolly on the IPMS USA site) that all the vendors went home happy. It is also a good time to meet up with some old friends.  I did get to meet up with a fellow I meet on SSM, whose alias is AZ Rhino. Mike had his own little venture now, Rhino's Tools and Models. I got a very nice Ma.K kit from him. His tables also hosted Andy from Andy's Hobby HQ, (You Tube channel and store in Glendale, AZ). A double strike out there, in that I missed the meet and greet, AND visiting his store. He builds mostly armor, but he's entertaining to watch. Look him up.

As usual, Rare Plane Detective was there and amongst his stash for sale was a number of Anigrand, and Fantastic Plastic kits. RPD sells collections and other kits gotten from estates etc... I looked and waited, and of course missed a few Anigrand kits I wanted. But I did manage to snag FP's Caprica's Viper.

The extra curricular around Phoenix was that I did get to see my first haboob. On top of the Hyatt Regency is a restaurant that revolves slowly to give diners a view of the city. At one point *everyone's* emergency alert on their phones went off at the same time declaring a haboob was coming. We revolved into the right spot to catch it coming up from the south -

There were plenty of places to eat within a few blocks of the hotel, including 4 places in the hotel and 2 in the convention hall. While I didn't get to Alice Cooperstown, I did hit the Hard Rock ...

Was a nice time, and I can't wait for Chattanooga next year.
~KK


Meeting date:
September 21, 2018
Same time,
Same place!