March 2014 Meeting

     Greetings Northern Colorado scale model fans! Secretary Nuge here to update you on the latest shenanigans of the High Plains Modelers!
    On Tuesday, March 25th, HPM gathered once again at the usual hideout to talk all things styrene, resin, and oatmeal. We had eighteen attendees, even including a guest (a brave, brave man to enter into this den of scum and villainy). For once the weather cooperated and there were no accidents on I-25, making attendance slightly easier.
    The club spent a few minutes discussing business. Preparations are underway for our 25th High Plains Con, and a firm date was set for October 11th, 2014. Check out the contest page for further details. Tentative discussion was held on moving to a custom style award rather than medals and on the idea of adding a supplemental description form for models entered in the show.
    Dave floated the idea of a quarterly in-house model contest, with a $5 fee to fund a prize for the winner at the end of the year. Models would be properly judged on construction and finish as opposed to the popular vote we take for the monthly contest. Points would be awarded on a basis of a 1-4 rating. Tony and Dave decided to hammer out the details on this in the coming month.
   HobbyTown will be having an open house the 2nd weekend in May, and will be hosting HPM for a day-long Build & Bull session to bring increased exposure to plastic modeling. HPM will be featured right out front-and-center on the main floor of the store as opposed to our usual haunt in the basement. Should be a fun time.
   This month's modeling clinic was Figure/Face Painting by Michael Adams. He gave an excellent presentation on the nuances of figure paints, tools, and techniques. Thanks, Michael!
   But enough about mundane club business! Let's get on to the pics we know you all want and love. Check out the builds as well as the photo feature of Michael's demo below:

Chris brought Tamiya's '80's vintage 1/48 A-10A Warthog. The 'Hawg!

Scott brought this SS-100 Luftwaffe heavy tractor. Look out for the giant hand!

Gary's 1/35 Kangaroo. Basically an M7 Priest converted to APC duty.

Another shot of the Kangaroo.

Marty's 1/72 Airfix Typhoon blew our doors off.

Tomasz with a squad of German armor.

A better shot of Tomasz' Elefant.

Chip brought in an F-4S in 75th anniversary markings for VX-4.

Another shot of Chip's F-4. 

Cody's 2007 Nissan 350Z by Aoshima. It looks fast standing still.

Dave brought in a 1/72 Mustang by Airfix.

Another shot of Dave's P-51.

Michael begins his demo on figure painting.

A shot of some of Michael's work.

Demonstrating a figure secured to a paint bottle with Blu-Tac.

Add caption

Closeup of pen useful for painting eyes.

The master at work. Everybody quiet!

     That's it for this month, folks. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode when HPM meets in April, featuring a demo on decals by Randy R. Auf Wiedersehen!

February 2014 Meeting

   Hello modeling fans!Sit down and strap in for the latest update on the shenanigans of High Plains Modelers!

    A fast blizzard rolled through the northern Front Range, making the trip to The Ranch treacherous, to say the least. Only 11 club members and two guests managed to make it, but we did have a great time in spite of the circumstances.
     Thanks to the efforts of Pablo, the club was able to enjoy a 2 hour presentation on resin casting given by Reynolds Advanced Materials. Topics covered included the various forms of resin and urethane available for use in casting copies of model parts or in making your own unique creations. John Hamilton did an excellent job of demonstrating the various resins as he cast several car bodies, a Millenium Falcon, a seat, and other parts. Samples of the parts as well as mixtures that were still curing were passed around, and it was neat to feel the heat from the chemical reaction as the quicker-curing products did their job. Although the club was not able to conduct very  much business due to time constraints, the 2 hours of resin casting demos were more than enough to make up for it. Lets give Pablo a hearty round of applause for arranging this demo, and also huge props to John and Jesse from Reynolds Advanced Materials for coming up to perform the demo.
     Here are some pics of the resin casting demo:

John prepares a resin mixture.

John separates a two-part mold of a spark plug.

Spark plug mold. Note detail of threads and electrode on the plug.

John diagrams the construction of a box mold for a scale saddle (shown in cross section view).

Mixing more resin. Some of the quick-cure resins generated so much heat the cup was hard to hold. Very hot.

Pouring catalyst for the resin.

View of work table with various sample molds and products.

After the resin casting demo, the club conducted an abbreviated "Bring & Brag", where we voted on the models members brought, but did not discuss. Gary won this month's contest with his Hudson Hornet racer. Let's check out what everybody brought!

Chip built this 1/144 MiG-31 interceptor. Nothing like the brute look of Russian hardware!

Here's Cody's Mercedes. It even had car show posters in the back seat. 

Gary's Hudson Hornet.

72 Scale Scott brought this building. It's square, has two stories, and features a yellow roof and some reddish brickwork. Did I mention it's square?  ;)

My favorite was New Scott's F-84 Thunderjet. He did a great job on the NMF and on masking the canopy framing. I hate masking.

Well, that's it for this month. Stay tuned for another action packed update after our next meeting in March. Model on!

January 2014 Meeting

     Ahoy and salutations! Welcome to 2014! 

    In their inaugural meeting of the year, High Plains Modelers converged on the McKee 4H Building at The Ranch in Loveland for an evening of models and model accessories. We had great attendance again, with 15 or 16 guys showing up.
   HPM would like to welcome Tony as our new incoming President for 2014, and thank him for stepping up to the challenge. It's not easy herding cats! Thanks Tony! Our other officers remain the same for the new year. They are Jeff Brown as Vice Prez, Randy Robinson as Treasurer, and Chris Nugent as Secretary.
    Lots of business was discussed at the meeting, including the scheduling of modeling clinics for 2014, events such as a swap/brown-bag/UFO build (UFO= UnFinished Objects), dues, the renewal of our nonprofit status and charter, and our 2014 annual show in October. As this will be the 25th HPM Model Show, our theme this year will be Anything Silver. Chris also floated the idea of a monthly rotating trophy for winners of the monthly contest. The club voted on it and approved. Yay! Randy also suggested creating a custom, "signature" type award style for our awards in our annual show, much like the CoMMiES do with their industrial figurehead in acrylic awards. The club voted to investigate the cost on this so Randy will follow up on that, but the issue was also tabled for more discussion later.

Upcoming Events

CoMMiESFest -- Saturday, Feb. 15  www.commiesfest.com

West Fest, Grand Junction, CO --CANCELLED for 2014. They hope to be back next year.

HobbyTown USA Model Contest/ HPM Build & Bull Open House  April dates TBD Stay Tuned!

Chili Con 3, Albuquerque, NM -- June 6,7    http://www.abqscalemodelers.com/Region-10_Chile-Con-3_Home-Page.htm

High Plains Con XXV -- Oct. TBD     http://ipmshpm.blogspot.com/p/landing-page.html



2014 Club Dues are Payable Now--Support Chris's Trip To Europe

Dues Cost: $15

2014 Modeling Clinics/Events Are Posted On The Clinic Page


High Plains Con XXV Theme: Silver

Help High Plains Modelers celebrate their 25th model show & contest. Build and bring something SILVER!


Oh, you'd like to ogle some model pics now? There's a charge for that. See the treasurer. ;)

Chris brought a couple WIP's. The old Italeri 1/35 Chaffee tank ended up in a diorama, and the Tamiya 1/48 Warthog in work.

Gary's M7 Priest. It's an older kit that he somehow managed to pry the fossilized stone off of.

Tomasz' gorgeous 109. Tom, when ya gonna build a car? ;)

Michael brought this flock, er, bevy, er, herd, ....er HORDE of 1/100 T-34's.

Another great looking plane, this one an F6F-5 in 1/48 by Hasegawa. Dave brought this one in.

New Scott brought in a Hellcat as well, this one a 1/72 Cyber Hobby kit. 

Senior Scott (not Old Scott!) brought in this good looking ISU-122 in 1/72 scale.

An Albatros D1 by Roden in 1/72, masterfully created by Marty. You like dem fancy words, yeah?

We are beginning to suspect that all Pablo has in his stash are A-4's. This is a Hobbycraft kit, much easier on the wallet than Hasegawa's, by all accounts. 

Chip managed to slap together this slick looking F4U-1D by Tamiya with hardly a fingerprint at all. Nice job, Chip.

Cody blinded us with Fahrvergnugen with this lemon-yellow Super Beetle. This was the Revell 1/24 offering.

Randy built a 1/12 CHP motorcycle by Aoshima and unleashed flashbacks of '70's television ruthlessly upon us all. Mercy.

That's it for this January 2014 update. Have a great modeling month and see you in February!