BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting Report: 03/24/26

Discussion Topic: Scribing, and dealing with mistakes

 

The sixteen people in attendance heard Mark confirm that BPMS was the IPMS Region 1 Chapter of the Year for the third year in a row, something no other chapter has done, to the best of his knowledge. More good news, our own Julio L was named Region 1 Member of the Year. Congratulations all around.

Several BPMS members were among the 60 or so modelers at last Saturday's Japan Village group build. Photos are on the BPMS Facebook page. 

Replicon is Saturday, March 28 at the Freeport Recreation Center in Long Island and ValleyCon is Sunday, March 29 in Chicopee, MA. Whichever one you attend, take photos for the people stuck at home. 

Lou reports Border Models' 1/35 He-111 and Dragon's 1/48 Bf-109 E4 are available. Not surprisingly, Jimmy has already acquired the 109 and he gave us an impromptu in box review - 3D printed engine (with piping and wiring), single piece rear fuselage, different colored sprue. It comes in a plastic box with a cardboard sleeve, in case you're interested. 

We saw Vaughn's F-105, Kevin's Gamora and Medusa busts (Medusa is mounted on a wedding cake pillar), Mark's Goliath (he tried AK quick gen paint for the figures) and Porsche 935 (he stripped the wrinkled paint from the body by soaking it in isopropyl alcohol), Angelo's World War Toons Panther and Egg Plane Osprey, Russ' Huey Cobra and Vigilante and Gil's 3D printed RDA Helicopter (from Avatar). An Ornithopter (from Dune) and VMFA 232 decals were also acquired. 

This week's tool was from Amazon, not the Dollar Store. It's a set of flexible metal scribing templates from Hasegawa. Very useful for scribing geometric shapes.

We use various tools for scribing: the back of a hobby blade (#11or #12 or #22), a model company's scriber (like Tamiya's), a model tool company's scriber (too many to name), an awl, a wood chisel (for larger scale models), carbide scriber, old dental tools, and micro saws.  "Official" scribing guide tape is available but label maker tape, flexible rulers, and masking tape work too. Kevin has used a coat of UV curing resin to fix scribing mistakes, and Michael C used a thin layer of Nara air hardening clay (available at Hobby Lobby), to fix mistakes. Just remember to sand it before painting. Simon has used Mr. Surfacer 1000 and Tamiya's Surface Primer. Even though we use different tools and different techniques everyone agrees the key to successful scribing is to work slowly and carefully.

The next meeting is Tuesday, 3/31/26 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there. Or in Freeport. Or in Chicopee. 

 

~Russ