Ten people attended. As we signed in, Vaughan and Frank chatted about helicopters, incidents and near accidents. Hearing conversations like this is a good reason to join the meeting early.
Mosquitocon is this Saturday in Wayne NJ. If you're taking Route 80, watch out for sinkholes.
Mark shared photos of last Sunday's Valleycon (the one in Chicopee MA, not the one in Fargo ND). Turnout was good, with a large "display only" table in addition to the competition tables.
Jimmy found a set of 1/35 3D printed hands with realistic gestures that, with aftermarket resin heads, will greatly improve the appearance of any figure. Russ reported on a hobby shop he visited in California, Burbank's House of Hobbies. Lots of kits, supplies and accessories at reasonable prices.
We saw Mark's Porsche 911 and Type Vll C U-Boat, Chuck's P-61 Black Widow, Kevin's Iroquois warrior and scratch-built Elvis Presley, Gil's 3D printed female Samauri and Frank's Phantom ll. How many of these kits will appear in the June theme contest? You'd be surprised.
Acquisitions included: F-4 C Phantom ll Wild Weasel, FMC 36 light tank and Value Gear Desert Storm stowage set.
Foil cardstock is Gil's latest Dollar Store find. Each pack contains a variety of sturdy foil faced cardstock sheets that could be used for screens on instrument panels, AFV optics and discotheque dioramas. And Bobby found tools that were new to him, finger drills, small bits permanently attached to small, knurled handles.
The featured topic was filling seams and gaps. We heard about hobby specific products like Vallejo Plastic Putty, Deluxe Plastic Putty, Avies Epoxy Putty, AK Interactive White Modeling Putty, Tamiya White Putty and Mr. Surfacer (500) as well as items like Zap a Gap superglue and accelerator, automotive glazing putty, Starbond black superglue, old gooey black enamel paint and Wite-Out (in bottles with foam applicator or shake & squeeze pens). Careful clean up and dry fitting make it easier to eliminate seams. Vaughan, who uses tube glue, allows it to overflow slightly while clamping and scrapes away the excess after it dries, eliminating the seam. Resin kits may require a different type of filler. Gil uses Icing Polyester Finishing Putty. It's strong stuff. He uses a downdraft vacuum exhaust when he works with it.
The next meeting is Tuesday, 4/8/25 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there.
~Russ
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