BPMS ZOOM Mini Meeting: 04/21/2026

Featured topic - always and never: What should a builder always do, and what should a builder never do? And remember, we're only talking about building models.

Erasmo shared photos of the very large Luchtvaart Hobby Shop, aka avationmegastore.com, near the Amsterdam Airport, where actual aircraft hang from the ceiling, and the Royal Military Museum in Brussels, where aircraft, armor, artillery, uniforms, and more are on display. Thanks, Erasmo. Mark shared photos of the Hudson Valley club's Pokémon make & take. But to be honest, he was more excited about sharing a photo of his new grandchild.

Kevin was impressed with the work he's seen on Box Dioramas.com and Frank C was impressed with the Harrier decals he got from Twobobs. 

 
We considered the pros and cons of allowing professional model makers to compete with people who build as a hobby. What's your opinion?

We saw Vaughn's F-101 C and Sikorsky S-28 (anticipating masking difficulties, he painted the components prior to assembly), Kevin's Star figure (from The Lost Boys) and Gigantor, Gil's 3 D printed Wedge car trailer, Jimmy's Ornithopter (from Dune), Mark's Honda Prelude and M 5 A1 Stuart (he says the National Archives website is a good source for reference photos), Hugh's captured FW-190 F8 in US markings and Bobby's VF 1A Valkyrie. Jimmy acquired a lot of aftermarket items including an Angry Kitten ECM pod, which led to an interesting technical aside.

The tool of the week was a handheld, single AA battery powered, Ansai reciprocating sander, about $16.00 on Amazon. It comes with a selection of 3D printed sanding heads. Gil believes another 3D printed attachment could turn the sander into a light duty saw. We'll see if he's right.

The topic was things we should always do and things we should never do. Lou kicked it off by saying we should always buy kits and never return them. Nobody disagreed. We heard a lot of things to always do: Study the instructions before starting, look for errors or alternate construction sequences. Look for a YouTube build of your kit. Look up the history of the prototype. Wash any release agents from the parts. Add aircraft nose weights early in the build. Have all paints, tools, and aftermarket items on hand before starting. Once you pick the variant to build, don't change your mind halfway through. Double check part numbers. Put each part in a secure container, not the kit box as soon as it's off the sprue. Pick up a part as soon as you drop it. Dry fit parts and sand mating surfaces before gluing, especially on older kits. As for things we should never do: Never work when you're tired. Never give up, just walk away and return to the problem with fresh eyes. Never try new paint types on your model, use a paint mule. Never have too many (you pick the number) half-built kits on your bench. And never miss a zoom meeting. The next one is Tuesday, 4/28/26 at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there. 

 
~Russ