BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting: March 21, 2023

Featured topic The Eyes Have ItWhat do you do to take better photographs of your models? Maybe President Tom will tell us how he got his Panther D in the Jan/Feb 23 issue of the IPMS Journal?

Fifteen people attended the meeting. Two shows are coming up soon, Replicon on Saturday, 3/25/23, at the Recreation Center in Freeport, NY and Mosquito Con on 4/1/23 at the PAL Hall in Wayne, NJ. Noreastcon comes later, 4/29/23, in Albany, NY. 

Lou reports several Trumpeter kits are available: 1/16 Stug 3 G, 1/32 F-35 A, 1/72 Leopard 2 A-4 and Strv MBT, 1/700 HMS Belfast, HMS Exeter and Jean Bart. Model Collect's 1/72 Horton H.XVIIIA was also mentioned. 

In progress and completed work included: Convair Kingfish, Mothman figure(Kevin's latest Cosclay sculpture), B-47, F/A 18, Tarzan figure, Convair XF7 Pogo, C-130 Hercules A(Belgian markings), Silbervogel, Jagdpanther, monocycle with rider, Mig-19 PM, U-2 and Cthulhu. Acquisitions included: XP-79 B, IWATTA airbrush cleaning tools, Convair 990, Wyatt Earp figure, '32 Ford and '57 Chevy Nomad. 

In the tool segment, Gil described how to make a paintbrush cleaning station form a steel junction box cover plate, a magnet, a bottlecap and a pipe screen. Come to think of it, a cover plate and some magnets would make a good (cheap) assembly jig. 

We shared tips on photographing models. Some swear by their digital cameras for their versatility and some swear at them for their complexity and many rely on their phones. Take pictures outdoors if the sunlight isn't harsh or it isn't too windy (paper models are just paper, after all). If indoors, get sunlight through a window. If using artificial light, don't mix colors. Staying indoors, light boxes give good results. Photoshop and apps like those from irfanview.com are useful for improving your images. Old school photographers bracket their shots and pick the best exposure. More tech -savvy photographers use an endoscope to get a driver's eye view from inside a model car. Various materials, like projector screens, yoga mats, pillow cases, etc. can be used as infinity screens. 

The next meeting will be Tuesday, 3/28/23 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there. 

~Russ