BULLETIN: February 2017

BPMS 

Bulletin

by Bobby B2 Blue Pokorny

The January meeting was an impressive way to kick off a new year with the BPMS. The weather was warm for January, so we had 25 members and two guests who brought in 30 models for display, and plenty up for sale. 

January Meeting 

NEW REGIME: Our new Prez Joe Bergman and Veep Bob Epley presided over a very organized meeting for their first time up at bat. Well done, gents! 

2017 Model Pledge: Looks like we got this working nicely now! Bring in an unbuilt model between January and APRIL 2017 to declare as your pledge model. Please have it finished for OCTOBER 2017, 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! We already have about one third of the active members signed up. Won’t you join the fun? 

KIT SALE: I think we might’ve had one of the biggest kits sales in a long time. There were tons of kits finding new homes during the meeting. Well done! 

MAY MEETING CONFLICT: There will be an issue with our meeting place in May. We can have the BBSC any night EXCEPT our usual night. Please have a look at your schedule so we can choose a different night for that month. 

JUNE THEME: While the group was mulling over ideas for the June Theme contest, Vinny Rosati and your humble narrator swooped in to sponsor STAR WARS theme contest. We have had theme science fiction theme contests in the past, but never one this specific. More details HERE. 

TROPHY PACKAGE: The group voted to sponsor a trophy package for the LISMS show REPLICON 28, Saturday, March 25, 2017. More details HERE.

RAFFLE: We had another raffle with an impressive assortment of prizes. The club is always looking for donations for these activities. 

On the agenda: FEBRUARY 

CONTEST NIGHT: This is the first quarter of the BPMS Annual contest. Feel free to bring in any model that hasn’t already been in a quarterly contest, and you are encouraged to bring in your entries from the last theme contest! 

SHOW US YOUR TOOL: This vulgar sounding activity is more of a simple BPMS tradition. Once a year we ask members to come to the meeting prepared with a tool or method they like to use to make their model building life easier. It could be a new product, something you made yourself, or a different way of tackling a problem. It’s up to you. Please be prepared to tell the group a couple words about what you have. 

PHOTO ROSTER: It looks like Russ and Gordon are going to take a crack at this. Gordon will start taking pics of members at the next meeting.

Meeting date:

February 17, 2017

Same time,

Same place!

Meet our Chapter Contact, Frank Colucci!

BPMS MEMBER INTERVIEWS: Starting this month the club will be treated to interviews prepared by a REAL journalist! Our IPMS Chapter Contact, and senior member FRANK COLUCCI will be interviewing members while I’m buried in tax returns at work. He’ll start with an intimate interview with himself! [~B2]

Introducing Frank Colucci 

BPMS Chapter Contact Frank Colucci has been building models since around 1960. “My father bought me some of the early Lindberg, Aurora, and Revell jets and a couple of the Strombecker space kits. It turns out he gave me a lifelong hobby and steered me toward a career.” As a professional aerospace and defense writer for the last 35 years, Frank has published technical articles in the American Helicopter Society magazine and many other industry publications. “My work centers on helicopters, but my modeling interests are still pretty much jets.” 

F-104 Starfighters, F-100 Super Sabres, and F-4 Phantoms are still at the top of Frank’s modeling favorites. “I finished another ESCI ‘104 last year in Canadian Cold War camouflage, and I’ve got an Italeri F-100D in the works to stick on a resin Zero Length Launch rocket booster. I’m drawn to build something by the history behind it. You learn an awful lot about world conflicts, politics, and aerospace technology just by building plastic model airplanes.” 

Frank grew up on Ocean Avenue and walked to PS-152, Hudde Junior High, Midwood High School, and Brooklyn College. The old neighborhood had Thrift Town on Nostrand Avenue, the Avenue S hobby shop, and discount stores on Kings Highway, Flatbush Avenue, and Mill Avenue, all with aisles full of plastic. “All the toy and hobby stores that sold models when we were growing up are gone, and today’s retailers such as Hobby Lobby barely bother with plastic. My wife can testify that the Internet is great for filling my basement with kits, but I miss browsing in stores.” 

Frank joined the Brooklyn Plastic Modelers Society in 1974 when the club met at Marcy Photo Studio on New Utrecht Avenue. “Joe Turner invited me to the Club when he was working at the Avenue S hobby shop. That one invitation gave me some of my closest friends, and it gave me something to do every third-Friday-of-the-month for 40 years. I learned modeling and airbrushing at the Club. If the BPMS wasn’t so worthwhile, no way would I drive in from New Jersey. We’ve got a very easy-going bunch of people in terms of modeling tastes and temperament. That’s why we’ve lasted so long.” 

Frank builds and enjoys the variety of combat aircraft available in all scales from 1/144 to 1/32 but still likes some of the older, simpler kits like the later Monogram jets. “I’m glad we have the accuracy, fit, and detail we do today, but some kits are too complicated to build for fun. I rarely use resin and photo-etch. I want to build an airplane and paint it in historic markings, not spend hours on wheel wells.” 

~Frank Colucci