September 23, 2025 BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report

Six people attended. Frank C moderated. 

Lou reports three Atlantis kits are available: 1/48 M-4 Sherman, 1/40 Talos Missile and 1/40 Tactical Missile Set. 

The passing of Sergei Sikorsky at the age of 100 led to a discussion of his life (he served in the Coast Guard at Floyd Bennett Field during WW2, among other things), the Sikorsky family, helicopter development and where Igor Sikorsky is buried. 

Mark shared a photo of Dottie Mae, the P-47D that was recovered from the bottom of a lake in Austria, where it lay for 60 years. Restored to flying condition, it participated in several air shows. Thanks, Mark. 

Patcon is 9/28/25 , in Hudson, MA. Armorcon is 10/3-4/25 in Southbury, CT and the Hudson Valley show is 10/11/25 in Poughkeepsie, NY. 

We saw Vaughn's RF 101C and F-100 D (if you need 1/48 F-100D decals, ask Vaughn), Gil's 3D printed swamp buggy, Russ' M-109, Mark's H-39, and Frank C's JF-104 and F-35A. 

The featured tool is from Home Depot. It's a hex head PVC pipe plug. Put it on your bench head down and it becomes a sturdy paint bottle holder. Visit the plumbing department and find the size that works for you. 

The topic was road trip tool kits. We heard about kits ranging in size from tube glue and an X-acto knife in a pocket to a small container with tube, white and super glues, black, white, o.d. and silver paints, paint brush, toothpicks, tweezers, X-acto knife, tape, mini clothes pins, and sanding sticks. Others were somewhere in between. What'll be in your Hudson -Southbury - Poughkeepsie repair kit? 

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

~Russ

Phishing Notice from the IPMS/USA

 

An email notice from the IPMS/USA

 

                                                          

 

International Plastic Modeler Society

We want to make you aware that Phishing scams are on the rise again.   One of them that we are aware of is an email that appears to be from "IPMS/USA", and states that one of our officers, or local chapters needs you to "handle an urgent payment for them."  We will never ask you to personally pay for something for our organization.   

These emails look very real, use our real names and titles, but usually you can double check the actual sender email and see that they are not from our email address but rather another address.  

We get several notices a week from members that receive them and are concerned.  We can tell you; the organization is in good financial shape, and certainly doesn't need you to send us anything other than your annual membership dues. Thank you!

Tour on Saturday, October 25th, at Brooklyn's historic Floyd Bennett Field.

Message from Frank Desisto:

Greetings IPMS Brooklyn!

Some of you guys know me; some do not.
Regardless, yours truly is hosting tour on Saturday, October 25th, at Brooklyn's historic Floyd Bennett Field.
As a National Park Service Volunteer in my 15th year, I sometimes go to the field for various reasons. What may be of interest to modelers is Hanger "B", which houses the HARP (Historic Aircraft Restoration Project) collection. With a few exceptions, most are "warbirds", some of which were previously displayed at the USS Intrepid Museum.
The tour will begin at approximately 0930 (AM to us regular folks) and last for about two hours. This will be followed by a drive-through tour of the field and a possible visit to the Ryan Visitor's Center, housed in the recently restored terminal/control tower.
There are no vendors so if attending, please bring food and beverages. We will chow-down at an outdoor pavilion at the field's nature center.
It is possible that we may also be able to witness flight operations of the NYPD Aviation Unit, which is stationed nearby on the old Coast Guard Air Station, but that is not certain.
Please PM me on my Facebook page if interested, for more details. I do not wish to clog this group with any back-and-forth conversations. As taxpayers it is OUR National Recreation Area, so family and friends are welcome, but no pets. Oh, and BTW, access is free.

@frank.desisto.75

BPMS Meeting: Friday, September 19, 2025

 ACTIVITIES DIRECTING

By Bobby Pokorny

  

Welcome to SEPTEMBER! We have some important items this month to deal with so let's get to it.

 

 Remembering Don: Longtime member Don Illjes passed away in July. We would like to mark the occasion to ask for members to bring things to tell the group about that relate to memories of Don.  

 Holiday Dinner: Since the last meeting members have been contacting various venues regarding party menus. We MUST nail down a decision at this meeting so we can make arrangements. 

I am sure we will also discuss the latest IPMS News as I will be participating in the Region One Zoom the night before the meeting. 

 

Meeting Date: 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2025

Members start showing up by 5PM to set up.

Feel free to come early and hang-out!

 

 

September Bulletin by Kevin K in PDF Format

September 9 2025 BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report

Eleven people attended. No Tuesday Zoom next week, the in-person meeting is Friday the 19th. We'll remember Don Illjes by telling stories and bringing in the types of models he liked to build. Hypothetical and real WW2 German aircraft, Sci-fi, fantasy, submarines and armor come to mind, but there may be more.

Lou was pleased to report Meng's 1/48 EA-18G Growler, Ryefield's 1/35 Leopard 2A7, M-109A Paladin, M-4 A3 76mm with full interior, Takom's 1/35 Tiger 1 (early production), Tiger 1 (early command), Israeli M1 Super Sherman and 1/32 Horton 229 Flying Wing are available. 

Talking about the 2026 IPMS Nationals got us talking about Cleveland (it's kinda close to Ft Wayne) and aviation pioneer Roscoe Turner, his accomplishments and his pet lion, Gilmore. 

A mystery was solved when Bobby told us how a pencil extender can be used. 

We saw Vaughn's F-100, Simon's Fw-200, Chuck's Me-262, Gil's 3D printed swamp buggy, Frank C's Blackhawk, Kevin's Fr. Karras bust and Russ' M-109. 

Acquisitions included: UH 60 M Blackhawk, Moon Hopper, and German Rocket Ship Airliner. 

Two tools this week - Gil's Steel Wall Target, from Gator, is designed to hold tools on the wall but lay it on your workbench, get a couple of magnets, and you have an assembly jig. Bobby's mobile phone pry bar, from AliExpress, can safely disassemble mismatched parts or entire models. 

The topic was precut masks. The general consensus was they were a good product requiring a lot of patience to get a good result. Even so, paint can bleed under them. Like photoetch, they may or may not be used if included in the kit, depending on the modeler. Gil showed us the sheet with 165 masks that came with Fujimi's 1/150 Water Taxi, Himiko (the model is about 8.5 " long - good luck). Many of us use liquid masks. Gil told us that silicone tipped shapers, available at Michael's, Hobby Lobby or online, can be used like paint brushes to apply liquid masks precisely. Just make sure the shaper has the right density for the job. And who can talk about masks without talking about stencils? Not us, but that's a topic in itself, one we'll revisit soon. 

The next meeting is Friday, 9/19/25 at the Community Center in Brooklyn. No invites needed. Doors open around 5pm. Meeting starts around 7:30. I seriously doubt you'll bring in as many models as Don did after lockdown, but you can try, we got lotsa tables.
 

~Russ

 

  

BPMS' AWARD ARRIVES!

 Congrats to all the members! Your work and efforts made this possible.

 

September 2, 2025 - BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report

It's official! The IPMS/USA Award naming BPMS Region One's Chapter of the Year for 2024 was delivered to Frank C, who provided the photo. If a picture isn't enough, you can see and, maybe, touch it (if your hands are clean) at the 9/19/25 meeting at the Community Center. Now back to our regular program.

Eleven people attended.
Jimmy told us about a recent delivery where figures from Evolution arrived in no name packaging. When asked, the vendor implied it was a shipping work- around. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Three tips - Simon found that acetone works as a solvent for both enamel and acrylic paints. - Kevin told us that UV light will penetrate Blue Stuff thermoplastic molding material, which is very helpful if you're casting UV Resin. - Gordon uses Tamiya Clear as an alternative to Future.
We saw Vaughn's F-100, and it got us asking why Trumpeter included a Navy EW pod in the kit rather than a M-117 bomb and what color would that bomb be, anyway? We also saw Kevin's Fr. Karras bust (from The Exorcist) and Omen vignette (with kid, dog & tombstone), Gil's 3D printed 60's era drag bike, Frank C's Blackhawk 2, and Russ' M-109.
Acquisitions included: book on Zimmerit, figures (in no name package) and Chengdu J-20.
The tool was a wireless soldering iron, $15.00, from Amazon. The tip is sold separately. It has a USB C plug and heats up very quickly. Gil likes it for working on strip lighting. We also discussed ultrasonic cleaners, silicone spatulas / bottle scrapers, and silicone eye makeup tools (that's what AliExpress calls 'em).
The topic was the model we were afraid to start and why. Maybe it's too big to display, or maybe we want to get all our references and aftermarket parts before starting or maybe it has way too many parts to begin with. A more personal reason is thinking we must improve our skills before we can begin building. But Kevin, who felt that way until he asked himself "how hard is it to remove paint and re-start" overcame that. And Simon reminded us that "getting started is the hardest part". So, get started on something for next Tuesday's meeting. 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there.
~Russ