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Friday, July 29, 2022

BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report: 07/26/2022

Gil's cookout is Saturday, 7/30/22. Let him know if you're going.  
Despite the heat, seven people met for lunch at Wheeler's last Saturday. Suggestions for future lunch locations are always welcome. 
Sixteen people attended the Tuesday meeting. Several new releases were reported: Tamiya's 1/48 Desert Storm Challenger 2, Kinetic's 1/48 South African Cheetah, Squadron's book on the B-25 and Scale 75's Mount Suribachi vignette in 1/35. Watch for Eowyn vs the Nazgul Lord and Oz, both from Mindwork Games. Mark discussed how paint affected the performance of WW2 bombers and shared photos from his shipbuilding group. Speaking of ships, Kosta shared photos he took at the Tall Ship Festival held in Clevland earlier this month. Participants included: Trinidad, Pride of Baltimore, Niagra, Empire Sandy and others. He also sent videos of the ships under sail the group email list. Joe told us about his 1980-era Tamiya John Player Special that's resistant to glue. Any recommendations? It was said (but confirm for yourself) that Japanese items ordered through Amazon.com.jp arrive quicker than ordering through Amazon.com. Shipping costs are said to be similar (also confirm). Another tip, with the Euro at an all-time low, depending on the item, it may be cheaper to order from an overseas distributer than one in the US.
Probably because of the heat, there wasn't much in progress work, just a Phantom F4-B and an M-48 A5.  Same thing for acquisitions, M-41 Walker Bulldog and Ma. K Altair.  The featured tool was a Locking Rotary Bit Holder from treelineusa.com. Very useful if you tend to knock stuff over. Very timely, too because, as we found out, most of us use some kind of rotary tool for grinding. Seems like everyone has a Dremel or a knock-off,  even if they're rarely used. When space is tight, a flex shaft attachment is handy to have. We saw Tamiya's build it yourself "Electric Handy Router" (unbuilt at the moment). We were warned that ball headed burrs can skip across the work surface, damaging the workpiece and, more importantly, you. Ceramic burrs are less likely to melt plastic as they don't get as hot as their metal counterparts. Milwaukee's rotary tool can be used on modeling projects but it's really intended work in the real world. The battery powered engraving pen from American Science and Surplus is at the other end of the spectrum. Gordon closed the meeting with a demonstration of how to turn a battery powered toothbrush into a small disc sander.  He added an AC adapter because, hey, who wants to buy batteries? 
The next meeting is Tuesday 8/2/22 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow.  Hope to see you there.
~Russ   

 

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