BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting: April 30, 2024

Fourteen people attended. On short notice, Gil moderated the meeting. Thanks for stepping up, Gil. 

 
Lou reported ICM's 1/48 B-26 Marauder, 1/35 Studebaker US6 truck and SdKfz 251 ambulance kits are available. He also told us about the new EPA ban on methylene chloride, which many of us use, especially for plexiglass. Production will be phased out over time. Check the EPA website for details. 

 
Get ready to visit Manhattan. Fleet Week is May 22-25 and the next modeler's meet-up at Pier 57 is on May 25th. 

 
In progress and completed work included: S-67 (Vaughan has been busy correcting the intakes, rear deck and rotor droop), 1/8 scale Eleanor Mustang (from Gone in Sixty Seconds), Sherman Jumbo, F-104G, Phantom (Frank finally got the Hellenic AF colors he was looking for), Schwimmwagen, Merkava 3, M1A2 SEP Abrams (it was on Gordon's shelf of doom for a long time) and Flying Taxicab (from The Fifth Element). Acquisitions included: George Bailey & Mary Hatch vignette (from It's a Wonderful Life), Flash Gordon bust, 1/72 German AFV antennae and No-Name's battery powered airbrush. 

 
Switching from Moderator to Tool Guy, Gil introduced us to the Vinyl Weeder (aka scrap collector). Designed to remove scraps of vinyl from blades, it looks like it could be used to remove tape (think masks), decal backing or anything that collects on your blade. 

 
The topic was model mistakes discovered after the project was finished. We heard about cutting wires too short on kits with electrical components, misspelling hand painted vehicle markings, using incorrect decals, not realizing a kit part was oversized until it was attached and attaching pieces upside down (on the plus side, this led to an interesting discussion on the crawler NASA used for the Space Shuttle and how it operated). Kevin, who never considers his kits to be truly finished, corrects mistakes as he finds them, even years later. Other guys put the kit back in the box if it didn't come out right. 

 
But don't you make the mistake of missing the next meeting, Tuesday, 5/7/24 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. You should be back from the Kentucky Derby by then. 

 
~Russ