BPMS: Zoom Meeting Report 7/23/24

Twelve people attended. Andrew L, who we met at the in-person meeting, wasn't one of them but he sent this photo of his 1/48 Hobby Boss Crusader. It came with straight wings. He folded them. 

 

The next group build is August 3rd from 2 - 6 pm at BrookLAN, 136 Troutman St, in Brooklyn. See the BPMS Facebook page for details. 

 

Lou reported Revell Germany's 1/48 F-89C is available. Erasmo shared photos of Benoist Plaza in St. Petersburg, FL, site of the world's first commercial air service. Kevin shared photos of his visit to the USS Midway, which led to a spontaneous game of name that aircraft.  

 

In progress and completed work included: Fletter 282 helicopter (Vaughn found the spring-loaded scissors on his pen knife were perfect for cutting small pieces from the sprue), A-22 Raptor, Circle of Life tableau, Tiger 1 E (Jimmy surprised himself by avoiding aftermarket parts), VW bus/tank conversion, Mirage 2000, A-6E, Type 5 Experimental Gun Tank (just because it's from Amusing Hobby doesn't guarantee a fun build) and Alien figure.

 

Following up on Vaughn's comment that stretched sprue is good for cleaning airbrushes, Gil showed us a set of reamers designed to clean tips on welding torches. They can be used to clean many small openings. Widely available and conveniently packaged. 

 

What we look for or avoid in vendors rooms was the featured topic. We avoid manufacturers that we feel go out of their way to get a large parts count or manufacturers that, in our opinion, have a reputation for making , let's just say, less than good kits. If the box is open, it has to be from a reputable company and the parts have to be in sealed bags. We look for shrink wrapped kits. We look for bargains. We look for experimental aircraft. One last piece of advice, if the box isn't sealed, look inside, or you might buy the box the vendor uses to hold his paperwork. Long story, don't ask.

The next meeting is Tuesday, 7/30/24 at 7:30 pm .Invites to follow. Hope to see you there. 

 

~Russ

 

Gundam Group Build in Brooklyn: August 3rd, 2024

From Julio:

Yes, there is another event however, this wasn’t one organized by myself but by Richie in the Sieg Zeon group. I just helped him hash out the details with the location and checked the place out in person with him to meet management. 

 

Some details: 

August 3rd, 2024 

Starts at 2pm until 6pm 

 

Location: BrookLAN 

339 Troutman Street 

Brooklyn, NY 11237 

 

The place is almost like an Internet cafe. I’ve known them for hosting major gaming tournaments either with video games or table top/ card games. There will be a vendor there selling a few Gundam models. Like any other build events, it’s bring your own stuff (or buy something from there if it’s available) and do the usual sit down, build a model, talk with some people if you want to.

We’ll also be doing $1 raffles there, with a few Gundam models to give away. They have a website if you want to check it out: https://www.brooklan.com/ They also have a full bar at the front and serve food as well. I’m pretty sure they have a menu on their website as well. It’s all bar food really but it is good, imo, having tried it myself.

BPMS Bulletin: July 2024 by Kevin.

  Minutes from the June Meeting

 

Attendance: Members – 28, Guests – 3, Models – 22
President Tom G. gaveled the meeting to order at 8:20PM.
Business: Tonight’s meeting is BBQ Nite as well as the D-Day Theme Contest.

 
•With the BBQ going on, it was eat first, talk models later. A big THANK YOU to chefs Vinny R. and Gordon C. Thanks too to all the members who brought in extra goodies.
•Was discussion continued of the possibility of a model exhibition at the Manhattan location.
•The July Meeting will be the Apollo Space Themed exhibition. If you have any NASA spacecraft, bring it in. Since it’s not a contest, an older model can be dusted off and brought in.
•The August meeting will be Pizza Nite as well as the 3Q Contest.
•Bob P reported on the Region 1 Zoom meeting on having better practices for the members. More on the Facebook page.
•A break was then called. The meeting reconvened at 8:50 with the monthly raffle. There were 10 winners.
•Judging was done earlier in the night and the Nelson’s handed out the Awards. See our Facebook page for the listing. Final activity of the night was the model Show & Tell.
•The meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM. 

 

Next meeting is July 19. Doors open by 6 PM. See you at the BBSC!

 

Download the full six-page PDF version HERE

BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting: July 9, 2024

Nine people attended. Jimmy was volunteered into moderating the meeting on short notice. He did an outstanding job. 

There's no Tuesday Zoom next week. The in-person meeting is Friday, the 19th at the Community Center and it is lunar landing theme night. Details are in the Bulletin, which is in the mail.

No news from Lou, but Jimmy found and posted some new items on the club's Facebook page. 

Julio is working on a new event for August. The place is BrookLAN, 136 Troutman St, Brooklyn. Details to follow.

In-progress and completed work included: vintage Sikorsky S-55 (Vaughn was surprised by how well the decals worked), Igor bust (from Young Frankenstein) and Circle of Life tableau (Kevin has many interests), Mirage 2000 (Frank needs an Orpheus pod, Jimmy has one he doesn't need - problem solved, thanks to BPMS), A-6E, P-47D (Russ used a straw dipped in paint to put ID bands on the bombs) and 3D printed Akuma (from Street Fighter - for easy of  transport, Julio used magnets, not glue, to join the components). 

We compared notes for successfully masking straight lines. Tamiya tape got high marks, but don't forget to burnish the edges. Metal or plastic straightedges are essential for drawing guidelines on the model and for cutting fresh, sharp edges on "no name" tapes. In some cases, an index is all you need to paint a straight line. Speaking of masking, Kevin had an unexpected problem when he removed Igor's Silly Putty mask and pulled up everything down to the resin surface. A stubborn mold release agent was the most likely cause. 

The next meeting is Friday, the 19th at the Community Center in Brooklyn. Doors open around 6pm, meeting starts around 7:30 pm. The Lunar Landing was 55 years ago so you've had plenty of time to build something related to the Appolo program. Let's see how many LEMs, moon buggies, astronauts with golf clubs etc. we can fit on the display table. Hope to see you there. 

~Russ

PS: Post it notes work very well. Always a straight line and you can stick them to the model and the glue won't lift the paint. ~Steven

PPS:Sharing my 1/35 Dragon Panzer III Ausf. F build. This was my first experience with a Dragon tank kit. Unfortunately, it could have been better. Unclear instructions and the DS tracks nearly killed me. But at least my spares box ate well! 

Aside from that, the PIII is a fascinating vehicle. Its upgrade/obsolescence trajectory offers parallels with the German army as a whole in WW2. 

https://www.igluemodels.com/post/panzer-iii-ausf-f

Hope you enjoy!

 ~Mido

BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report – July 2, 2024

Twelve people attended the July 2 Zoom meeting.

New product announcements were topped by Mike’s 1:1-scale Baby Felix, destined for early BPMS membership.

Lou announced arrival of the more mundane 1/48 F4U Corsair with ground crew from Magic Factory, 1/48 J-20 Chinese stealth fighter from Meng, and 1/35 German StuG.III Ausf.G Early- Mid- and Late-Production versions from Takom. Takom also surprised with a 1/35 scale Mk. 45 5 in. naval gun. Likewise in 1/35 scale, Tamiya has released a German machine gun set and a KS600 motorcycle with sidecar.

Lou was winner of the night’s Theme Horror Story – When I Opened the Box Surprises. In the days of Gateway Hobbies, he opened a 1/24 scale Airfix Hurricane to find all the parts melted together in one large plastic pancake!

Few other meeting modelers have encountered similar kit disasters. Chuck bought a Mr. Hobby SE5A with missing wing struts and filed sprue to shape. Vaughan’s bargain-shopping at estate sales has provided a few disappointments he vows to repeat. On the plus side, Frank was fortunate to buy a Minicraft KC-135 tanker at Mosquitocon to find two complete kits in the box -- a rare BPMS win at the annual Jersey show.

Finished work and Work-In-Progress included Vaughan’s heloerotic S-67 Black Hawk from Anigrand in 1/72 and the ancient Revell S-55/H-19 in 1/48 scale.

Kevin proudly displayed a bust of Young Frankenstein’s Frau Blücher complete with terrified horse. He used an extra-fine brush to paint the fine detail around the lady’s collar and cuffs.

Frank C tempted fate with Revell’s 1/48 scale A-6E Intruder.

Mike showed greater courage with Revell’s 1/48 P-40B, and revealed an absolutely beautiful 1/35 German 38T tank. Mike is also building a Tamiya 1/35 M3 Stuart which he intends to hand-paint with new and supposedly reformulated Vallejo colors.

The South’s Bob K had two 1/72 scale A-37Bs in process from the Encore combo kit. His new purchases included the 1/144 scale AC-130A from Minicraft and 1/144 scale TU-134 from Zvezda. Also new in the mail was a foam ship’s cradle from Micromark meant to make ship building easier.

Gil showed off a 3-D-printed Wonder Woman modeled on Gal Gadot and painted with fleshtone ink and Tamiya metallic blue for her dress.

Gil’s tool session talked about scale rivets made with a Pounce Wheel and super-fine solder balls. You just draw the rivet line with the pounce wheel and nudge microscopic balls into the depressions to simulate rivets. (Right)

Gil also noted that Scale 75 has issued a monochrome paint set to finish move models in good ol’ Black and White.

The next BPMS Zoom will be Tuesday, July 9. 

 

~Frank