BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting: Feb 25, 2025

Featured Discussion: What have you built after seeing one on TV or in the movies?  

 

Fourteen people attended. We're trying something new for the Long Live the King theme contest in June.  Everyone on the mailing list can enter by sending a photo of your king related model by 6/15/25. Photos will be displayed alongside the actual models at the June in-person meeting. If you still haven't figured out screen sharing, this is a good way to show off your work. 

Lou reports Trumpeter's 1/16 Tiger 1(late), 1/72 A6E TRAM, 1/350 HMS Argonaut and 1/35 German AA crew are available. Jimmy posted several new Rye Field kits on the BPMS Facebook page. 

In what became a "Let the Buyer Beware" discussion, Kevin told us about a scammer using Facebook to sell vendor's tables at shows and reminded us to only deal with the event's official representatives. Then, Frank C recalled ordering a "too good to be true" deal from Amazon that never arrived. Fortunately, Amazon refunded his money. And the high-priced Airfix Vulcan that Vaughan found on E-Bay was no better than the MPC Vulcan he planned to trash. The good news is that buyer took it back. The bad news is that the newer Airfix Vulcans are expensive.

Get ready for Replicon in Freeport, LI on 3/22, Mosquitocon in Wayne, NJ,  on 4/5, two group builds at Pier 57 on 4/19 and 8/2 and another at Japan Village, 934 3 Ave, in Brooklyn, date TBD. 

We saw Vaughn's S-38, Mosquito and Fiat G-55,  Mark's T-55 Enigma, T-62, Predator drone, Mercedes C9 and Porsche 911 G+3, Erasmo's Hawker Hurricane night fighter and Lockheed Electra, Kevin's Kh AI-3, Gil's 3D printed Oriental Queen bust and Frank C's F-84 E and KC 135. 

Acquisitions included: Silver Knight and Nightmare figure (based on the painting from 1871). Kudos to Frank G for identifying the artist, Henry Fuseli. 

This week's tool was a pipe cleaner. Gil has used them to clean air brushes clamp parts and streak paint and he challenged us to find more uses.

We discussed the movies, shows and comics that influenced our model building habits. Here's a partial list: 633 Squadron, Battle of Britan, Sahara, When Worlds Collide, Destination Moon, Star Wars franchise, Space 1999, Battlestar Galactica, MASH, Dukes of Hazard, car race films, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants, Walt Disney's Man in Space TV shows from the 1950s, Macross, Anime and comic books. 

 

The next meeting is Tuesday,  3/4/25, at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there. 

 

~Russ

 

 

 

BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report: February 11, 2025

Fifteen people attended. Nestor was one of them. Welcome back! 

 

No Tuesday Zoom next week, the in-person meeting is Friday, the 21st, at the Community Center. It's the ever-popular Show Us Your Tool Night (for all you Gil wannabes) and the first Quarterly Contest. Also, we're still collecting dues.

 

Lou said three Hobby Boss kits are available, 1/35 T-54, 1/48 F-18E Super Hornet and 1/72 TBM Avenger with folding wings. He believes this is the first 1/72 kit with folding wings and he should know.

 

We saw Nestor's 727-200 conversion to 727-100, Vaughan's S-38, Jimmy's Panther G, Frank C's F-84 E, Gil's Thunderbird 3 (3D printed in 3 colors), Frank G's Pan Am Space Clipper and Erasmo's Lockheed Electra and Hurricane. Seeing the Electra and the 727 got several people talking about aircraft designs and personal histories, which happens, from time to time, at the Zoom meetings. 

 

Acquisitions included: Airfix Vulcan (the MPC kit isn't working out), Little T hot rod (a nostalgic purchase from eBay), Sasquatch figure and the book, Wings Over Water.

 

Sometimes a modeling tool is right under your nose and you don't realize it. Case in point, the toothbrush. Gil uses old ones for clean-up and weathering/splatter effects. Don uses them to strip paint. Has anyone ever used one to hold parts?

 

A few weeks ago, we asked Kevin to talk about his scratch-built Bumble from 1964's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer TV show. The result was a PowerPoint presentation on sculpting with in progress photos of the Bumble, a discussion on materials and techniques used and a list of YouTube channels and books with information on sculpting miniatures. Don't worry if you missed the meeting. Kevin agreed to repeat the presentation at a future in person meeting. Thanks, Kevin.

 

The next meeting will be Friday, the 21st, at the Community Center in Brooklyn. No invites needed. Doors open around 5pm. Wondering how many Valentine tanks will be entered in the Quarterly Contest? Come to the meeting and see for yourself. 

 

~Russ

 

 

BPMS Meeting: February 21, 2025

On the agenda:

 

Contest Night: The first installment of the BPMS Annual Contest. This is your first opportunity to gather votes across our various categories. If you brought something to the December theme contest that you would like to bring back, that would be fine, although I am not sure if your Build Like An Eleven Year-Old entry will fare well in this contest...

 

Show Us You Tool! One of our more vulgar sounding yet hugely fun activities. We invite everyone to bring in some tool, product, or process to let the group know about as it might help others. 

 

 

Meeting date: 

February 21, 2025

Members start showing up by 5PM to set up.

Feel free to come early!

 

 

February 4, 2025, BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting

Twelve people attended. Bobby wasn't among them, and Frank C agreed to be our Moderator for the evening. Thanks, Frank.

 

Lou reports Border Models 1/35 FW 190 A6 and Stug 3 G, late (with interior) are available.

 

Returning moder Eric asked about 1/35 Tigers, and was surprised to learn how many kits and manufacturers there are. Good points and bad points of various kits were noted. Any Tiger geeks who missed the meeting are encouraged to share their recommendations here.

 

We saw Vaughan's Vulcan and S-38 (poor fits, missing pieces, old decals - nothing deters this guy), Kevin's Mangalore,  Mark's Porsche 934, Chuck's Albatross, Gil's 3D printed Mysteries (?) figure,  Frank's F-84 E and Russ' French 75 (some say artillery is the KING of the battlefield . Get the hint?). Acquisitions included:  The Reptile (from the Hammer film of the same name), Kh-AI-3 aircraft,  B-26, Schwerer kliner  Panzerkampfwagen and an inexpensive LED work light from American Science and Surplus, suitable for a small workbench. 

 

A Bauer cordless screwdriver from Harbour Freight was the featured tool. Fitted with a glass/tile drill bit and working at low speed, it's good for drilling 3D printed and resin parts. 

 

Most of us have built the same kit more than once. Sometimes it's intentional, like building the same aircraft with different squadron markings, camouflage patterns or ordnance loads. Sometimes it's not, like when you build a kit that you built when you were a kid but forgot about. Or, being nostalgic, you build that old kit again, hoping for a better result. Some people anticipate building a second kit to correct mistakes they made the first time. Most of us have built the same object in different scales. Then there's "comfort plastic", like Tamiya's M-113 or Italeri's F-5E. Can't have too much comfort. 

 

The next meeting is Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there and hope you're lucky with your Super Bowl box pool picks.

 

~Russ

 

June 2025: Long Live the King!

 

 

Long Live the King

Theme Contest

The theme for the June 20, 2025 contest is "Long Live the King". The rules are simple, any scale, any genre, fictional or real. Some examples: King Tiger, Sea King, aircraft of VF - 92 (Silver Kings), Kingfisher, Cobra King (first US tank to enter Bastogne), King Kong, HMS King George V, a King from Lord of the Rings, a King from Shakespeare, Sky King, Elvis (aka the King), Richard Petty (aka the King). Anything with a King association. 

And we're encouraging the guys and gals who only know BPMS through Zoom to build something for the contest and share the photos at the June 24th Zoom meeting.

Frank C, Kosta L and Russ H. are the sponsors.