BPMS Zoom Mini Meeting: June 2, 2026

Featured Discussion: Using AI in the hobby.

 

Thirteen people attended.

This coming Saturday, 6/6/26, Frank D will host a tour at Floyd Bennett Field's Hanger B at 10 am. If you're interested, let Bobby know by Friday. 

The June theme contest, Vertical Flight, is Friday, 6/19/26, at the Community Center in Brooklyn. It's also Picnic Night.

Lou reports Great Wall's 1/72 Me-323 D-1 Gigant and 1/48 Fw-189 A-2, Takom's 1/35 US Army 1/4-ton Armored Truck (aka Jeep) and Ryefield's 1/35 M-109 A-7 and Tiger 1 (maybe Tiger 2? Sorry, I don't recall) with full interior and clear hull & turret are available.  

We saw Vaughn's S-38 (the kit's resin struts caused him no end of problems. Simon suggested some options), S-64  Skycrane, and Eurocopter HAP Tigre, Hugh's Kawanishi N1K2 "George", Michael C's large-scale 3D printed AT-ST Walker, Kevin's Regan (from The Exorcist) and Evel Knievel, Simon's Hiller X-18, Gil's Battle Angel Alita on a motorcycle, Russ' Huey Cobra and Bobby's VF-1 Valkyrie Gerwalk. Just one acquisition, 1/144 JMSDF P-1. 

Last week's tool was the endoscope. This week's tool was a lot smaller, an otoscope; a Bluetooth enabled camera designed to inspect ears. Around $5 on AliExpress. It's similar to the paintbrush camera Micro Mark offered a while ago. Maybe ship builders could use it for rigging/tying knots?

We had a very informative session on artificial intelligence (AI). Hugh shared made to order images generated by AI for contest materials for his club. He had less luck getting an accurate document about the history of a Squadron he served in, back in the day. Lee uploaded reference photos and kit instructions to Google Drive and had Claude AI look at the information and make suggestions to improve his vintage Convair Pogo kit. It gave him a panel scribing guide. Claude also handles simpler tasks, like tips on painting. When he's going to be a vendor, Gil uses AI to check prices. As we talked, Frank C. asked Google Gemini for 1/144 markings for a Zairian C-130. He didn't get what he expected but, by the next day, he was a lot closer to what he wanted. You can ask him about it at next Tuesday's Zoom. Meeting starts at 7:30 pm. Invites to follow. Hope to see you there. And/or at Hanger B this Saturday. 

 

~Russ