154: May Minutes

Only a few items for the meeting.  We spent the majority of our time talking about models (that's the point, right!?).  22 members again attended, but only half the kits showed up at 17.  That's a real indicator that nice weather has arrived to compete with our modeling time.

We confirmed the 2017 theme list, breaking the tie.  Yellow Perils (aka Trainers) will be the January 2017 theme.  The updated post reflecting the voting is here.  You can also see the list on the right hand side of the blog.

Chuck noted that he'd received an invite to TidewaterCon 16 as a vendor.  The event is 30 Sep - 1 Oct coincident with the Biplanes & Triplanes Airshow on 1-2 Oct.  Yes, you're reading that right; the airshow is Sat/Sun but the Region 2 IPMS show is Fri/Sat.  I'm planning an all day trip and hope to see some of you there.

We discussed and agreed to NOT have a cake for the anniversary at our June meeting.  If anyone wants to bring one, feel free.  We will of course have the pizza (I will arrange that) and adult beverage of choice (YOU bring that).

Finally, Dave will make his final club order with both Hannants and Scale Hobbyist in early June.  I've already started my list...

Thanks for looking.

Regards,
Tim

154: May Show and Tell

153: April minutes

Well, not much for minutes actually.

We had 22 members show and they brought 37 models.  That's a bunch of models to talk about!

We also had a few more hang out at Red Robin afterwards for some more socializing.  This is getting popular and always fund to talk models and other things with friends.

Regards,
Tim

2017 Themes

Below are the voting results of the 2017 Theme ballots. We had 10 themes make the "top 9"; a roll call vote at the 19th May meeting of all members in attendance chose "Yellow Perils" as our 9th theme for 2017.

Some additional statistics:

• 70 ballots went out
• 6 were known duplicates; 
• 2 were standard ballots not used 
• 4 were resent as links because of network provider issues
• 34 total ballots were received with votes

As far as surveys or voting goes, 50% response/turnout is pretty good.

Please note the month for the theme.  With the exception of June, I simply tracked backwards from November's meeting getting the top votes = most important so everyone wants to ensure they have their kit done so that means the maximum time to finish.  Follow that?

December is the Christmas Party, October is the "Build the Same Kit", August is "Amnesty" and June is always "Anniversary".  June 2017 will mark 17 years for the club.

Votes	Theme	Month
25	A+ Attitudes - Any attack aircraft like A-1, A-10, AH-1, A-6…	November
19	Skunk Works — any subject made by Lockheed (but not Lockheed-Martin)	September
19	Big Mac - Any subject made by McDonnell Douglas (but not Boeing)	July
17	Yellow Wings - Any pre-WWII military aircraft	May
16	Out of Office - Any subject from a manufacturer no longer in business (Curtiss, Loening, North American, Kaiser, etc)	April
16	I Spy - Any subject related to espionage, reconnaissance, or covert operations	March
15	Red River Yacht Club - Any subject that flew over North Vietnam.	June
15	Low and slow - Any ground based subject, not supersonic, like ground attack, cars, tanks, etc.	February
13	Yellow Perils - Any training subject	January
Add the below to the 2018 Theme Ballot
13	Hold your horses - Any subject named after a horse (P-51 Mustang, Ford Mustang, Bronco, etc); or any horse themed artwork (Norfolk Souther, nose art, etc).
12	Star of David - Any Israeli subject
12	Aces - Any subject associated with a famous (or not so famous) ace
12	Chicks dig weasels - Any wild weasel, iron hand or related subject
12	Turning the Tide - Any subject related to key turning points in major theaters of wars; Midway, Stalingrad, Gettysburg, El-Alamein, etc.
12	The Great War - Any subject from 1914 - 1918.
10	Junkyard Dogs - Any subject abandoned or in the boneyard; or rebuild a kit that’s from your junk pile.
9	Hooked - Any subject that “got you hooked”; car, motorcycle, aircraft, tank, ship, boat, person…
9	Gentlemen, start your engines!  - Any racing subject, real or imagined.
6	Breaking the barrier - Any subject that was designed to break the sound barrier, or was the FIRST to do so in its class.
6	League of Nations - The New NATO - Any subject from a country that as joined NATO since the fall of the Soviet Union
6	Hail to the Chief - Any subject related to a President (USS Harry S Truman, GHW Bush’s TBM Avenger, JFK’s Lincoln, Air Force One, Navy One, etc)
5	Old School Demos - Any demo team subject that is pre-Hornets and pre-Fighting Falcons.
4	Two Tickets to Paradise - Any subject that takes you to your place of paradise; train, plane, automobile, scooter, skateboard…
3	Team Building - Two or more members team up to build a model or diorama
0	Aim High Alongapo - Any Philippine Air Force subject

Speaking of BTSK...below are the results of that voting.

Votes	Kit
15	BTSK  - Monogram — Any original Monogram kit.
Add the below to the 2018 Theme Ballot
10	BTSK - Eduard 1/72 MiG-15 kit, any boxing.
5	BTSK - Revell 1/48 Stearman
1	BTSK - Airfix 1/72 Hurricane

For both lists, everything below the yellow lines I'll throw into the ballot for 2018 and we'll add whatever new ideas anyone can come up with.

Thanks for looking!

Regards,
Tim

152: March Show and Tell

Lots of great models, we had 27 members in attendance showing and talking about 34 models!

As agreed by the members, not commentary on the individual models here, but we will continue to upload the photos:

Modeling at the Museum

Last Saturday went so well that a few of you want to repeat it. Sounds like another winner, so to formally announce it...at least 2 people have confirmed they'll be at the Pax River Naval Air Museum Saturday afternoon 19th March.  Doors close at 5pm, so plan to start about 1pm.  You'll be surprised how quickly 4 hours of modeling chat goes by and just maybe you'll get some plastic glued together.

Last week we had 4 show up: myself, Chuck, Darrin, and Steve.  We learned that space is available, just set yourself up a table, grab a chair and ensure you bring a light and extension cord to reach the outlets on the back wall.  Expect the museum visitors to walk by and ask questions and you may even get hijacked into providing a quick tour.

Chuck and I both made progress on our Big Bomber Build models, Darrin got his F-4 Phantom to stick together well enough (still concerned it may "pop" like those oven fresh rolls) and Steve got his second of two Airfix Zeros going for the BTSK build later this year.

I should be there with my modeling kit and a couple of kits.  See you there!

152: March Meeting Minutes

We had another great meeting. It just gets better every month. Of course, if Collin would show up regularly we would spend less time catching him up and more time talking about models.

I counted 34 models and 27 members in attendance last night! From John Bray's metal winning figures to Dan Yakel's tanks and the smattering of jets and props. We even had Doc's research vessel nee ice breaker (but no E-boot).

Formal minutes...

• Time to start thinking about 2017 themes. Already! Send me your thoughts and ideas, if we have more than 9 I'll put it to a vote, as usual.
• Meeting location...we decided to let this sleeping dog lie until it is a real issue.
• Newsletter. Technically we are no longer doing a formal newsletter, however I'll still post to the blog any news, announcements, photos of models, etc. Anyone should be able to post comments (see below) but not to individual photos. Again, because not everyone is on some social media site.
• Model shop orders as a group will end with June's order. Dave has been graciously aggregating our orders each month to take advantage of shipping rates but now it's time for him to pass that task on. Given the Summer arrival of Dave 2.0 he will be very very busy with other tasks...like sleep. So if anyone is willing to step into this role, speak up.
• 23rd April is a kit sale at the Veteran's Museum. I'll post a separate note on this with links and directions.

Until next time...keep the glue on the plastic and build what YOU like.