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The Live meeting of the Brooklyn Plastic Modelers Society will be next Friday, July 1, at the Bergen Beach Sports Complex. It will showcase a Red, White, and Blue theme, so bring in your patriotic models for display in honor of America’s 250th Birthday.
NO BPMS ZOOM next week – 7/14/26
The 7/7/26 BPMS ZOOM drew nine participants.
Lou reported the Tamiya 1/35 scale M24 Chaffee and Tamiya 1/48 scale Me109G6 Late kits are now available.
The virtual meeting addressed Smelly Stuff -- workspace ventilation and safe materials -- and Contest Judging.
Hugh summarized, “To my mind, the best way to get rid of stinky stuff is never let it in -- be selective who you let in.” His purpose-built modeling room has a bathroom-style exhaust fan to expel airbrush overspray and other pollutants. A quick check with local building inspectors confirmed spark-less, explosion-proof fan motors are unnecessary for hobby spaces. Toxicity aside, Hugh finds lacquer-based Mr. Color gloss white airbrushes especially well using the company’s leveling thinner. He is currently applying lacquer-based Alclad to his 1/32 scale Japanese fighter.
Recalling his own house-hunting considerations, Frank long ago positioned his basement airbrushing station beneath an existing window exhaust fan. A respirator mask from Harbor Freight also helps protect from spray particles. A small desk fan provides workbench ventilation at the other end of the basement. Frank generally paints with odor-free acrylics – Vallejo, Tamiya, and Gunze. He uses rattle cans of lethal Tamiya white primer only outdoors.
Michael has a spray booth and uses a rechargeable desk fan on his workbench to disperse the heady vapors of plastic cement. “I just put this fan next to the glue to blow the fumes away. Don’t aim it at the model; it dries the glue too fast.” Michael finds professional respirator masks are heavy and hot, so he buys Pandemic-style fabric masks with built-in filters on Temu and Ali-Express.
Chuck conceded, “I’ve been banned from using turpentine to clean my brushes in the house.” He showed how he had repaired, re-sanded, and re-decaled his Do17 in progress and observed, “If you’re using something more lacquer-based, it’s a bigger issue. Acrylics not so much.”
BPMS President Kevin noted fancy waterfall fume hoods can cost more than $450. The retired New York firefighter observed, “I’ve inhaled more crap, so a couple of sprits or airbrush acrylics aren’t going to do anything more to me.” He added, “You’d have to spray all day, every day for months to do harm to yourself.” Kevin generally works with Vallejo water-based acrylics. His preferred Krylon matt varnish provides a good finish with a bad smell, so Badger Stynylres primer is an excellent alternative for styrene, vinyl, and resin kits. New Gaahleri Kaleido water-based primers are also very good. Benign Vallejo primers work but requires lengthy curing. “You need to leave it sit for a whole day. I’m not that kind of builder. I keep moving along.”
Simon agreed acrylic fumes are a non-issue but his modeling putty remains a mystery. “I can’t read Japanese -- I wonder what the level of toxicity is in those.” Simon advised modeling in a well-ventilated space. “I open a window over my desk and another across the hall.” After a career in healthcare, he concluded, “The need to make everything safe has made all of us a little bit crazy. Just use common sense.”
Back from Noreastcon in Rochester, New York, IPMS Region 1 Coordinator Mark admitted he does not have an exhaust fan in his windowless basement. “I do try to wear a respirator if I have a long paint session. Obviously, lacquers are the most toxic.” Even Tamiya acrylics go on better with their own lacquer thinner. A cheap hobbyist spray booth can keep air moving, but the filter soon builds up the lacquer smell unless cleaned frequently. Mark advised to spray water mist before painting to protect the finish from airborne particulates.
Mark noted that, for Region 1 modelers, the IPMS National Convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana promises to be “the last drivable Nationals for the foreseeable future.” Future conventions look to be in Huntsville, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Shreveport, Louisiana. Efforts to find a northeast National Convention chapter continue.
Mark also said a column by IPMS Journal editor Bob Lomassaro has sparked outrage with the writer’s comments on “expert” judges who sometimes impose arbitrary criteria on contest models. Frank agreed with the writer and said, “No-one likes a nasty know-it-all.” Kevin observed that competitive judging simply makes modelers model better. Hugh suggested, “I think the best things local clubs can do is popular vote.”
The next BPMS Zoom meeting will be on Tuesday, July 21. Invitations to follow.
~Frank
NO BPMS ZOOM next week – 7/14/26
The 7/7/26 BPMS ZOOM drew nine participants.
Lou reported the Tamiya 1/35 scale M24 Chaffee and Tamiya 1/48 scale Me109G6 Late kits are now available.
The virtual meeting addressed Smelly Stuff -- workspace ventilation and safe materials -- and Contest Judging.
Hugh summarized, “To my mind, the best way to get rid of stinky stuff is never let it in -- be selective who you let in.” His purpose-built modeling room has a bathroom-style exhaust fan to expel airbrush overspray and other pollutants. A quick check with local building inspectors confirmed spark-less, explosion-proof fan motors are unnecessary for hobby spaces. Toxicity aside, Hugh finds lacquer-based Mr. Color gloss white airbrushes especially well using the company’s leveling thinner. He is currently applying lacquer-based Alclad to his 1/32 scale Japanese fighter.
Recalling his own house-hunting considerations, Frank long ago positioned his basement airbrushing station beneath an existing window exhaust fan. A respirator mask from Harbor Freight also helps protect from spray particles. A small desk fan provides workbench ventilation at the other end of the basement. Frank generally paints with odor-free acrylics – Vallejo, Tamiya, and Gunze. He uses rattle cans of lethal Tamiya white primer only outdoors.
Michael has a spray booth and uses a rechargeable desk fan on his workbench to disperse the heady vapors of plastic cement. “I just put this fan next to the glue to blow the fumes away. Don’t aim it at the model; it dries the glue too fast.” Michael finds professional respirator masks are heavy and hot, so he buys Pandemic-style fabric masks with built-in filters on Temu and Ali-Express.
Chuck conceded, “I’ve been banned from using turpentine to clean my brushes in the house.” He showed how he had repaired, re-sanded, and re-decaled his Do17 in progress and observed, “If you’re using something more lacquer-based, it’s a bigger issue. Acrylics not so much.”
BPMS President Kevin noted fancy waterfall fume hoods can cost more than $450. The retired New York firefighter observed, “I’ve inhaled more crap, so a couple of sprits or airbrush acrylics aren’t going to do anything more to me.” He added, “You’d have to spray all day, every day for months to do harm to yourself.” Kevin generally works with Vallejo water-based acrylics. His preferred Krylon matt varnish provides a good finish with a bad smell, so Badger Stynylres primer is an excellent alternative for styrene, vinyl, and resin kits. New Gaahleri Kaleido water-based primers are also very good. Benign Vallejo primers work but requires lengthy curing. “You need to leave it sit for a whole day. I’m not that kind of builder. I keep moving along.”
Simon agreed acrylic fumes are a non-issue but his modeling putty remains a mystery. “I can’t read Japanese -- I wonder what the level of toxicity is in those.” Simon advised modeling in a well-ventilated space. “I open a window over my desk and another across the hall.” After a career in healthcare, he concluded, “The need to make everything safe has made all of us a little bit crazy. Just use common sense.”
Back from Noreastcon in Rochester, New York, IPMS Region 1 Coordinator Mark admitted he does not have an exhaust fan in his windowless basement. “I do try to wear a respirator if I have a long paint session. Obviously, lacquers are the most toxic.” Even Tamiya acrylics go on better with their own lacquer thinner. A cheap hobbyist spray booth can keep air moving, but the filter soon builds up the lacquer smell unless cleaned frequently. Mark advised to spray water mist before painting to protect the finish from airborne particulates.
Mark noted that, for Region 1 modelers, the IPMS National Convention in Fort Wayne, Indiana promises to be “the last drivable Nationals for the foreseeable future.” Future conventions look to be in Huntsville, Alabama; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Shreveport, Louisiana. Efforts to find a northeast National Convention chapter continue.
Mark also said a column by IPMS Journal editor Bob Lomassaro has sparked outrage with the writer’s comments on “expert” judges who sometimes impose arbitrary criteria on contest models. Frank agreed with the writer and said, “No-one likes a nasty know-it-all.” Kevin observed that competitive judging simply makes modelers model better. Hugh suggested, “I think the best things local clubs can do is popular vote.”
The next BPMS Zoom meeting will be on Tuesday, July 21. Invitations to follow.
~Frank
