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Eleven people attended the first BPMS Zoom meeting of August. The evening’s theme asked ‘How are you better? What skills have you learned that make you a better modeler than you were 10, 20, 50 years ago?’
Retired BPMS President Jimmy revealed Tamiya’s surprise kit release at this week’s IPMS Nationals is reportedly an RSO/11 German Tractor in 1/35 scale.
Our own ‘plastic pusher’ Lu had no new kit arrivals to report. In response to the theme question, he said, “I learned thinning out the paint for airbrushing was the most productive thing for enjoying the hobby.”
Vaughan recollected as a youngster, “I could bang a model together in a weekend to hang it from my ceiling.” He now uses a Gaahleri airbrush and acrylics and takes on more detailed projects like the 1/72 scale S-64 Skycrane from ICM. “I’m going to have to paint it before I assemble it because everything is on the outside.” Vaughan noted that each Skycrane engine has 27 parts, some half the size of a grain of rice. “This is a very, very complicated kit.” Vaughan’s other work-in-progress was Monogram’s primitive A-5A Vigilante in 1/79 scale undergoing Dremel surgery for the tailcone of a 1/72-scale Revell RA-5C. “I’m stubborn. That’s my only positive attribute.”
Gordon lifted ZOOM spirits with an insightful T–shirt that declared ‘Life is a repeated, endless kick to the nuts.” He announced new $25 BPMS golf shirts are in development for cash orders at the September meeting and delivery by October. Gordon’s own modeling remains a learning process incorporating new tricks such as UV-cure resin to give eyes to his Gundam warriors and oil-based enamels to highlight panel lines. “I’ve gotten better, more knowledgeable through the years. It doesn’t stop.”
Hugh continues filling and sanding his 1/32-scale Hasegawa George fighter, relieved by a less demanding 1/72-scale Tamiya George finished in Alclad natural metal. He offered, “I started by improving my construction. If it doesn’t fit, find out why and fix it.” Hugh has come to favor gravity freed airbrushes compatible with lower pressures and Gunze Mr. Color paints and leveling thinner for smoother finishes. Gunze Mr. Mark Setter has also improved his decaling. “I used to sweat stencils on an airplane. Mr. Mark, that’s great stuff. Once I find something that works, I tend to stay with it.”
Chuck bought his first airbrush when he joined the BPMS and still learns with each project. ‘Keeping your skills up regularly -- you’re learning as you go along and integrate lessons into the way you do things.” On successive models, Chuck learned to trim flash, fill seams, and use less glue. “Ove the years, I’ve paid more attention to basics -- ejector pin marks, seams. I’ll go up and mess up my final paint to fix that.” He is currently working on an Airfix B-25. “The silver finish always gives me a little bit of trouble.” Chuck has learned to clean up hand-painted canopy frames with a sharp pencil rather than a toothpick to get better definition.
Russell has tried oil paint washes to enhance detail and now uses Tamiya pre-mixed panel liners. Frank took Russell’s neat work on a 1/144-scale Otaki Vigilante to heart and finished his own F-111E from the same 1975-vintage series. He hand-painted the camouflage on the small-scale Aardvark but said his bigger-scale modeling has benefitted from airbrush trial-and-error. “I learned how to airbrush camouflage – either free-hand or with Silly Putty masking. I’m also more patient than I was in my youth to let things dry.”
Bobby noted a fundamental change in his approach to building. “Years ago, the answer to everything was putty. If I do proper preparation now, I need much less putty than I did 10 or 20 years ago. The goal is to use as little as possible.”
Simon showed his progress on the 1954-vintage Aurora B-26 Marauder. “The thing looks like a B-26 There’s something solid about it.” Simon added, I’m not a modeler. I’m a guy who likes to slap together models of airplanes. I’ve gotten better because the products we have these days are better.” Simon has standardized on Tamiya paints and has started a 3-D printed Lavochkin LA-7.
BPMS President Kevin showed his Star figure from The Lost Boys movie, and a censored image of his Salome on a simulated marble base with scale column and potted plant. “You can get almost anything on Etsy,” he observed. Kevin’s modeling skills improved with practice after he retired. “Almost every day I had an hour or two in the afternoon. I got better at airbrushing.” More modeling techniques are available today on-line. “YouTube can be a friend.” Kevin noted the positive impact of becoming an IPMS judge at national and regional conventions. “You really get to see what’s going on.”
There is no secret to better modeling, noted Kevin. “It’s just practice and repetition. Quantity is better than quality. Quality will come with repetition. You build one, it looks okay. You build 500 of them, and it’s amazing.”
The next BPMS ZOOM meeting will be Tuesday, August 11. Invites to follow. The LIVE meeting on August 21 at the Bergen Beach Sports Complex is our 3rd Quarter Contest, and the always-popular BPMS Pizza Night!
~Frank
