Bulletin: April, 2010

THE MINUTES

by Bobby P.

March was another impressive meeting despite the severe traffic delays. 25 members brought in 26 models.
March Meeting

DECAL SWAP NIGHT: I got in late, but I heard there were some decals out there. If so, it was the night to do it!

ALL’S COLD ON THE EASTERN FRONT: This was an idea that Hugh passed along to me so I have to give him credit for the good showing. Winter’s last hurrah had 13 models on display for this theme night. Nice work guys!

MODEL PLEDGE: March was the last month to get in on the deal. A couple guys got in some last minute pledges. This will be a fun activity.

NEW MEMBERS: We voted in our first new members of 2010! Say hello to Bob E. and Ed J.:

Welcome to the fold!

You can see pics from each meeting either at the Club Website or on Gordon’s blog: http://gmobile17.blogspot.com/

On the agenda: April

WORK IN PROGRESS NIGHT: Whatcha workin’ on? Your pledge? Nice! Bring it in to show the group what stage you’re at. Also be prepared if we ask you to tell the group a couple words about your WIP.

BASIC SKILLS CLINIC: We’ve added several new members in the last year or so and we’ve thought it might eb a good time to bring back some basic skills clinics. For this round it will be Charlie N, Frank C and your humble narrator discussing the early stages of model building. So we’ll likely cover (but not limited to) parts inspection, planning, instructions, cutting from sprues and resin lugs, prep, cement, putty, sanding, etc. Since there are three of us, and depending on time we might each take turns discussing our usual plan of attack. Hopefully we’ll share something you don’t know, and members can feel free to add to the conversation.

T-SHIRTS: The first wave of shirts arrived last month. The BPMS blue and white never looked better! Our t-shirt artist came up with another concept that we’re taking orders for now, too. Ask about it at the meeting. Approx. $11 a pop.

TAKE A PART / LEAVE A PART: Gordon will bring in a big basin monthly for “Take a Part / Leave a Part.” Please feel free to toss your spares into the big bin too! Gordon will bring the club parts box back for each meeting for members to add or take away from. This is something we can all benefit from!

GENERATING MONEY: The club will continue to sell magnets and patches and run raffles and to generate some extra money. Can we count on you to help fund various activities and sponsorships?

Reminder: Naval Aviation Theme will be in June!

Meeting will be on April 16, 2010

IPMS / USA News: The IPMS Forums

Chapter Contacts,

From Dennis T. at the IPMS USA forum

I'm pleased to announce that, effective today, the model building discussion forums of the IPMS/USA are open to non-IPMS/USA members. No longer closed to non-IPMS/USA members, we welcome modelers to our forums and hope to share our passion for model building with everyone.

We hope that opening the modeling forums will encourage non-members to join and give IPMS/USA members a chance to share their knowledge, experience and passion for our hobby with others.

Along with making the model building forums public, a new "Ask the IPMS" forum has been set up and John Ratzenberger will be hosting it. It is meant to be the public face of the IPMS/USA and will contain useful information for members and non-members alike.

The "From the Forum Administrator" forum will also be opened for comments. IPMS/USA members can now interact with me directly to discuss and debate forum policies. Feel free to post relevant questions about the discussion forums there also.

Finally, the former Open Discussion forum has been transformed into the new Bull Pen forum. This forum, open only to IPMS/USA members, will be a lightly-moderated forum set aside for members to discuss whatever moves them. It has its own set of rules to follow and no cross-posting or quoting from threads found within this forum will be permitted. What happens in the Bull Pen, stays in the Bull Pen. For those members who'd rather not even see this forum, I can modify their accounts to make that wish possible.

The goal of these changes is to make the IPMS/USA discussion forums more accessible to more modelers. It is hoped that their contribution to this site will transform it into something of value to IPMS/USA members and non-members alike.

Now that we have opened the doors, please remember that the modeling forums are for talk about models and model building. Any comments or criticism related to the IPMS/USA must be posted in the IPMS/USA Business section. I've instructed the moderators to be on the watch for this sort of thing and to move these threads to an appropriate IPMS/USA Business thread as quickly as possible. The person posting such items in the public threads will be warned.

By and large, the model building forums have been helpful and friendly places. Now more than ever, we want that to continue.

Dennis