Sunday, May 16, 2021

BPMS Zoom Meeting Report: May 13, 2021

The May 13 BPMS Zoom meeting drew 16 people, including the welcome return of Peter K, studying at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA. We are still waiting for word about when our Bergen Beach meeting place might re-open, but plans call for Zoom meetings to continue even when live action resumes.

Beginning next month, the BPMS Zoom meeting will be closed-captioned to make sure our hearing- and otherwise-impaired friends can join in. Our virtual meeting organizer Russel H requested the service from Zoom, and a trial run showed the very readable screen text keeps up with English conversation but cannot spell the names of German vehicles.

Industry Informant Lou brought news of a 1/700 scale USS Missouri from Very Fire, a 1/32 scale early-model SPAD S.XIII from Roden, and two 1/72 scale Stryker fighting vehicles from Dragon armed with anti-tank missiles and 40 mm gun. Joe B showed a newly acquired 1/72 scale rail flatcar from T-Model, supplied with a pre-cut photo-etch detail fret. Keven K presented a ¼ scale resin-cast Liz from the Hellboy movies. Vaughan A had a 1/72 scale Piaggio Avanti from AModel.

Vaughan also showed off the attractive improvements he made in an otherwise primitive 1/48 scale Tempest V fighter bomber from ESCI/ERTL. Roger P had his impressively re-painted large-scale Mustang reclaimed from an unnamed toy. Gil presented his beautifully weathered and detailed 1/32 scale Moebius Raptor from the recent Battlestar Gallactica TV series. He also showed off a simple but universally useful tool – inexpensive glass stirring rods with round ends are handy to mix and transfer paint and easy to clean. Vaughan suggested wire twist ties bent into a loop can be precise applicators for one drop of touchy cyanoacrylate glue.

Work In Progress included a 1/48 Phantom FGR.2 being built by Frank C, a 1/72 scale Swordfish and Hurricane underway by Chuck C, and the Sonhorst 1/72 scale land battle cruiser being assembled by Don I. Howell S paused his carpet search for a missing diving plane jettisoned by his 1/350 scale Trafalgar nuclear submarine. Mark N showed off his yet-to-be-painted 1/35 scale Sd Kfz.222 from the Tamiya kit.

Our discussion of modelling trauma included tales of the Great Phantom Fog-Over when a clear finish turned opaque white in high humidity; paint pollution when dog hairs and fingerprints appeared in pristine paintjobs; and self-mutilation when the hobby knives really came out. Don shared his unique memory of a model airplane wing glued to a 50 lb cat. All the disasters were fixed by sandpaper, cutting boards, brush touchups, and fur clippers. BPMS members finally considered a profound question: Why are modelers not born with four hands?

Next Meeting Thursday, May 20. See ya then.

~Frank

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