June 28, 2022 BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report

School's out, time to travel. Gil is hosting a cook out at his place in Connecticut on Saturday, 7/30/22. If you'd like to attend, contact Gil directly so he can get a headcount. Details to follow. Closer to home, there's a lunch meeting at Wheelers, 1705 Sheepshead Bay Rd, Brooklyn, (accessible by Q train) on Saturday, 7/23/22. Details to follow.  A field trip to the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City LI is under consideration.  

Fifteen people attended the meeting. Not much in the way of new stuff. Trumpeter has an upgraded BTR-80 in 1/35, Squadron has two aircraft books. For in- progress and completed work, we saw: 3 D printed Scorpion figure (Julio made the print),  Comanche conversion (man, Vaughn really knows his subject), Sherman M-4 A3,  Arsenal VG-36, Blackburn Bucaneer, RF-4 Phantom (Hellenic Air Force markings), Bf-109, Ork Wazbom Blastajet and, just to annoy someone, a "World War Toons" Panther.  Acquisitions included: M-50 Bounder, F-80 C, Mig-15 and Aerosan RF8 GAZ. Mark shared photos from the Empire State Aerosciences Museum, near Schenectady NY. Mr. K told us about the one-day model show in Havelock NC on 7/2/22.  Swivel blades were this week's tool. Good for cutting curved patterns for masks or working with stencils. Available in different sizes from different manufacturers. We talked about homemade and purpose-built tools to apply superglue and we learned that if you have to fill seams with spackle, use the lightweight stuff. The featured topic was workspace organization. Funny thing, everyone said they were disorganized and followed it up by talking about paint racks they built, containers and trays they found to hold tools/parts (including baseball card protectors to hold photoetch tools), wheeled carts with drawers and shelves, repurposed tool boxes, cardboard USPS boxes, portable storage cases and various iterations of "part catching" aprons. Yeah, real disorganized.

 

The next meeting is 7/5/22 at 7:30. Invites to follow. Have a safe 4^th of July.

 

~Russ

6/21/22 BPMS ZOOM Mini Meeting Report

Featured Discussion - the longest day

Fourteen people attended the meeting. New releases, Takom's  V-1 launch site and Meng's T-72BCM, both in 1/35. Frank reported getting a delivery from Models UA in Ukraine. That's good to hear. It started a conversation about increased shipping charges and how that's changed (or hasn't) our buying habits. Kosta told us about a Tiger 1 look alike he saw at the Museum of American Armor near Old Bethpage Village. He also said Revolutionary and Civil War re-enactments are planned for 0ld Bethpage Village in the next two weeks. See https://www.oldbethpagevillagerestoration.org/ for details. Jerseyfest 2022 is still up in the air according to Kevin. He'll keep us advised. 

 

In progress and completed work included: Wyatt Earp bust, James Dean bust, Jabba the Hut, Comanche (conversion to production version),  PHM Pegasus, Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate, USS Grenville, Pretorian Guard figure, '63 Nova Station Wagon, Yak -28, Panzer 4 G, Field Marshel Rommel figure, F-84 (Greek markings), Blackburn Buccaneer and P-51 B. Acquisitions included: Krrsantan (Wookiee bounty hunter), RJ McCready bust (from 1982's The Thing), Big Muddy Monster and Lacrosse Mobile Launcher. 

 

We had tips on straightening resin parts, organizing tools and eliminating seams. I expect we'll revisit these topics in future. There were several interpretations of the longest day theme, from aircraft and people associated with D-Day to submarines, where many long days are spent underwater, to Stonehenge, where they (Druids? Aliens?)  measured the longest day and to those model builds that just go on and on. The next meeting is 6/28/22 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there. 

 

~Russ

 

 

 

BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report: 06/07/2022

The next LIVEly meeting of the Brooklyn Plastic modelers will be on Friday, June 17 at the Bergen Beach Community Center. We have scheduled a GREEN model night, so bring in anything Green. Bobby P. suggested even a clean-exhaust Toyota Prius was okay.

Remember, there is no BPMS Tuesday ZOOM meeting during the week of the Friday in-person meeting.

Our June 7 ZOOM meeting drew 15 people. The Lu kit report brought news of the Atlantis box-scale Bismarck battle cruiser from ancient Aurora molds and a German Sd. Kfz. 251/21 Drilling halftrack in the Dragon 1/35 Smart Kit series. Squadron Publications have revived with a new F-18 In Action edition.

Kevin K. reported Escape Hatch Hobbies is due to release a Vampire figure from London After Midnight. Moebius promises an all-new plastic kit of The Fly. Kevin continues work on his Wyatt Earp bust and showed how careful painting can put realistic shadow on a face shaded by a hat.

Charlie N. continues work on the Tamiya P-51 Mustang with Old Crow markings from the less-than-great kit decal sheet. Jimmy T. began work on a Trumpeter M117 personnel carrier.

Soon-to-be-southerner Don I. reported Vallejo acrylics are now available with 16 oz. spray cans. He also brought news of a new kit of the Platt-LePage XV-1 outrigger helicopter.

Bob K. finished an Accurate Miniatures IL-2 Sturmovik in 1/48 scale and announced he was ready to sell items from his 2,000-kit stash. Interested parties should email their wants to the address in this report.

Gil H. showed his Oldsmobile Aerotech speedster in process and talked about a new Dead Center mini-awl from the Scale Pro Shop – the pin-vised tool helps mark engine parts to locate scale wires.

Mark N acquired an A6M-2 Zero Fighter Type II two-seat trainer.  Mike continues work on a 1/720 Pegasus Hydrofoil from the Dragon kit.

Especially welcome was the return of Gordon C. with his recently completed Samurai Gundam, immaculately masked and painted with Alclad metallic blue and steel.  Gordon found that hand-brushing Microset decal setting solution over Model Master acrylic dull-coat smooths the appearance of the entire model.  He believes Vallejo flat varnish has a similar formulation.

See ya Friday.

 

~Frank

BPMS BULLETIN: June 2022

BPMS
Bulletin

by Bobby B2 Blue Pokorny

The BPMS is back with a vengeance! We had 27 members and 2 guests who brought in 61 models, nearly half by Don, and mostly for the first quarterly contest since the reopneing.

May Meeting

CONTEST NIGHT-2Q22: Technically this is our first contest of the year, but the calendar says it’s the second quarter. We had a HUGE number of entries, and the work was impressive. We got to see what some of the guys have been working on during the quarantine.

PARTS BOX: We didn’t have a whole lot of parts, it seemed like the contest was the big attraction.

BPMS 50th Anniversary: It seems perfect timing that the club could get back to meetings in time for our 50th Anniversary. We opened discussions and due to the occasion the group is interested in something more reflective of the celebration. We were kicking around ideas about steak or Italian food possibly during the months of September or October, before the holidays set in. Please continue to explore places that might have a room so we could make this a more intimate party. Discussions will continue!

Photo-Phone List: Gordon addressed the group that he would like to get back to recreating this list. It also makes it easier to associate a name to a face.

Raffle: We had another raffle with a remarkable assortment of prizes. The club is always looking for donations for these activities.

ZOOM RAFFLES: In the early days of the ZOOM meetings we held raffles with donated items. Unfortunately, your humble narrator had photos of the items and who won them. Well, I did. Last week the computer I kept that data on was officially declared DOA at my local repair shop. If you know who won what, please let us know!

WEEKLY ZOOM: Even though we are back to having regular meetings, the weekly ZOOM will continue! New day and time: Tuesdays at 7:30 PM. Every week EXCEPT for weeks with an in-person meeting.

2019-22 Model Pledge: 2019-22 declaration period is now CLOSED! You already showed me something unbuilt. Please have it finished for OCTOBER 2022, 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!

On the agenda: June

GREEN MODELS: Bring in anything that could be interpreted as GREEN, or contains some green, to put on display. A tank? A Prius? It’s up to you!

SWAP NIGHT: Bring in models to swap or sell. Please also bring cash, you never know what you might find and there is no tab at this bar! 

Meeting date:

June 17, 2022

SAME TIME

SAME PLACE!

 

May 31, 2022 BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting

Fourteen people attended the meeting. In industry news,  Kinetic has re-tooled its 1/48 F-16 A/M and Reskit, in Ukraine, is back online. Jimmy reports Men at Arms Hobbies in Middle Island is still in operation; games mostly, books, some kits and lots of paint (reminds me of The Complete Strategist on E 33 St in Manhattan). Michael D shared many (but, hey, he builds models, so you know he took a whole lot more) of his photos from Fleet Week 2022. We saw USS Bataan, its USMC detachment and its aircraft, USS Milwaukee, HMS Protector, USCG Dependable and other vessels. Thanks again, Michael. 

In progress and completed work included: Japanese Type 10 tank, NASCAR Monte-Carlo (with aftermarket decals), Gundam, Pittsburgh class USS Columbus,  SAAB J-21 A3 and J-21R, Comanche,  M-3 Stuart, Beaufighter Mk 6, M-29 Weasel conversion and F-84. The tool of the week was a mirror scribe (photos attached). We heard that Plastic Magic glue, from the UK, works on styrene and ABS, that True Colors paints match Model Master enamels and Vallejo metallic paints work well . The featured topic was paint compatibility, a timely subject as old product lines fold and new ones appear. Not all brands can be mixed to get that special color you need (mix a trial batch), some topcoats will interact with primers (let the primer dry - use a food dehydrator), airbrushes can get gummed up (keep 'em clean), know when to shoot at low/high pressures. Tamiya and Vallejo primers seem to work well. The next meeting is 6/7/22 at 7:30 pm. Frank C will send the invites. Maybe Bobby will talk about the green model theme for June's in person meeting. 

~Russ