December 2015 Newsletter

www.novaipms.org
December 2015 Newsletter
Editor: Tom Henderson
The IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers monthly meeting took place on 4 November 2015 at Fairfax High
School. 81 members attended the meeting with 24 models in the contest. The chapter welcomed new
members Christine Reynolds, Geoffry Murphy, Jeff Alger, Michael Dutcher, and Yuyang Chu.
Key topics covered during the business meeting were the annual elections and the annual Christmas
celebration which will take place at the December meeting. The election process was very short as all
four members of the current E-Board expressed their willingness to continue serving on the board.
That was just fine with the chapter as we unanimously re-elected President Tim Barb, Vice President
Mike Fleckenstein, Treasurer Mike Neyland and Secretary/Historian Mike Larson. IPMS NoVA is
fortunate to be so well led.
Left: VP Mike Fleckenstein preparing for the meeting and the program. Right: President Tim Barb
opening the business meeting while Secretary/Historian Mike Larson counts heads.
Tim described our Christmas celebration format to the membership. The chapter will provide some
food in the form of sandwiches that should be enough for everyone. The chapter will also provide
soda and water. To supplement what the chapter can provide, all members are asked to bring a food
item to share. A gift exchange will take place during the meeting. Any member who wishes to
participate in the exchange must bring a wrapped kit to the meeting. It should not have to be said, but
please bring a kit such that you would be proud to give to a good friend or would be pleased to receive
yourself. Leave the ancient poor quality, partially built kit with glue blobs, parts missing and ruined
decals at home. It has happened. The December meeting is also the Build the Same Kit contest, the
Revell P-47 in 1/48 and 1/72 scale, as well as the presentation of the Chapter Member of the Year
award.
Tim completed his announcements by encouraging the membership to attend the International Paper
Model Convention on 7 November. Treasurer Mike Neyland talked about the chapter’s IPMS subsidy
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Meeting Notes
(continued)
Left: New member introductions. Right: The gang settling in for Mike Neyland’s aircraft presentation.
Program. IPMS NoVA will pay part of the membership fee for any member to join or renew
membership in the International Plastic Modelers Society. Fill out the membership form, then hand it
to Mike with $10.00. Mike will take care of the rest to include paying the remainder of the $30.00
membership.
The program was the second installment of Mike Neyland’s incredible collection of color aircraft
pictures depicting classic USAAF and USAF aircraft from the 40s through Century Series and the cold
war - no lawn darts or twin tailed grey things, thank you. Trainers, fighters, bombers, transports, you
name it. Photo after incredible photo narrated by Mike and by the airplane guys in the audience.
There were so many Mike could not finish in time. He rushed through a few last P-51 pics after the
hard nosed VP gave him the cut signal …. twice. I strongly suspect we are in for a third installment
treat in the future. Can’t wait.
The contest winners gallery is next, followed by an article by Mike Fleckenstein describing his visit to
Scenic Express in Delmont, PA.
Left: Mike began by introducing the chapter to the incredible aviation career of his father who recently
passed away. Right: Just one of a great many pictures Mike walked through during his presentation. It
was hard trying do decide which picture to insert here - wish I could make them larger.
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Contest Winners November 2015
Aircraft 1/72, 1st Place
F-8 by Michael Johnson
Aircraft 1/72, 2nd Place
F-84G by Alex Tratensek
Aircraft 1/48, 1st Place
Fi-156 Storch by Michael Johnson
Armor 1/72, 1st Place
Pzkw III D by Dave Milne
Armor 1/72, 2nd Place
Panzer Draisne by Burt Thompson
Armor 1/35, 1st Place
Ford GPA by Burt Thompson
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Contest Winners November 2015 (continued)
Armor 1/35, 2nd Place
Hotchkiss H-39 by Gary Drovbay
Sci-Fi, 1st Place
Gundam Titan II by Stephen Mowdy
Sci-Fi, 2nd Place
Gundam Banshee by Kane Lee
Vehicles, 1st Place
Citroen Staff Car by Dave Milne
Master, 1st Place
P-51D by Mike Neyland
Master, 2nd Place
Fw-190D by Jim Fitzgibbon
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Contest Winners November 2015 (continued)
Special, 1st Place
AP-2H by Jim Rotramel
Special, 2nd Place
F-4C by Mike Neyland
Best Out of the Box
Hotchkiss H-39 by Gary Drovbay
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Contest Winners November 2015 (continued)
Best of Show
F-104 by Matt Shipp
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Seeing the Fall Scenery at Scenic Express
By Mike Fleckenstein
Actually, the title only tells part of the story
because Scenic Express, in Delmont
Pennsylvania, offers scenic foliage products
for every scale and a lot more. Since my
primary modeling focus is in small scale
aircraft and military vehicle vignettes I am
always in need of scenic items in small scale
to create settings for my models. As
modelers, we all have our own "Go to"
companies for the products we need. In my
case, Scenic Express fills that bill when it
It doesn't look like much from the parking area
comes to foliage items. Of course they do
but wait till you get inside!
sell online at www.sceneryexpress.com but
to get a true sense of what the final product looks like, I periodically take a trip up to their
Delmont warehouse.
It's not a retail store in the true sense but rather a combination manufacturing and internet
order processing facility where the public is always welcome to browse and purchase. Be
prepared however. It is quite a long trip from Northern Virginia or Maryland but we usually
combine it with several days to photograph the fall colors in the area.
Row after row of floor to ceiling scenic products
When you arrive at Scenic Express, you won't find any fancy retail space as you would in a
hobby shop. What you will find is a big box store size warehouse stocked to the ceiling
(literally) with thousands of products. The entire rear of the building is given over to
manufacturing the items they don't source from other manufacturers . When you enter, the
friendly staff will hand you a catalog and shopping basket and send you off to find the
products you are looking for among the rows of floor to ceiling shelving.
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Scenic Express
(Continued)
Scenic Express employee Cindy showed me
around the warehouse for photos………
…… and made sure I didn't fall off the ladder!
It's not as daunting as it seems because all the shelves are clearly marked with item numbers.
Of course this is also necessary for the order filling staff to efficiently find the items people
have ordered online. The staff won't have much time to help you search because they always
seem quite busy filling the orders as they appear on the displays at their work stations.
On my most recent visit the owner, Jim Elster, was on hand and we spent some time talking
modeling. Other than Jim, the only other employees present when I was there were two
ladies filling and boxing the orders for shipment. One of them, Cindy, was able to spend some
time with me while I took the photos accompanying this article.
Employee Cindy hard at work filling orders
Packing for shipment with plenty of bubble wrap
While the business is intended to satisfy the needs of the model railroad hobby, the obvious
cross over into scale models is obvious. I especially like their line of Silfor® products to represent
grassy or overgrown areas and their Super Tree® line to create incredibly realistic trees.
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
Scenic Express
(Continued)
You can find out more information on their
website or contact them at:
Scenic Express, Inc.
175 Sheffield Drive, #100
Delmont, PA 15626 USA
Phone: (800) 234-9995 (US & Canada
Customers Only) or (724) 468-3106
Email: sales@scenicexpress.com
International Modelers Friendship
By Rafy Levy
Some of you may remember Mitko and Nushi Nikitov, the
husband and wife modelers from Varna, Bulgaria who attended
Model Classic 2015 and presented a friendship plaque to the
chapter. In October, Susan and I were fortunate enough to be
able to visit Bulgaria, and were able to visit Mitko and Nushi in
their country. Our first modelling related stop took place in
Sofia. We were invited to the annual Sofia Model Show, run by
the Bulgarian capital area Scale Models Club Bulgaria. I was
pleased to present an attractive IPMS NoVA plaque to club Vice
President Alexander Nenov. Mitko and Nushi were there, both
winning gold medals in their categories. In Varna, we received a
similar invitation to the IPMS Odessos club meeting where we
presented a second plaque to President Peter Petkov and Vice
President Vladislav Dimov.
Plaque presentations by
Rafy to the Scale Models
Club Bulgaria (above) and
to IPMS Odessos
Sofia Gold medal winning entries by Mitko (left) and Nushi.
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers - December 2015
December Meeting Program and Contest Theme
Program: Christmas Party
Contest: Build the Same Kit - 1/72 and 1/48 Revell P-47
Visit the club website at www.novaipms.org and join the club Yahoo group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/novaipms
Both locations will allow you to access the monthly Contest/Program Schedule as well
as information about IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers.
We’re also on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Virginia-IPMS
IPMS Northern Virginia Modelers
Chapter Officers
Chapter Volunteers
President:
Tim Barb
Vice President
Mike Fleckenstein
Contest:
Walter Schlueter
Treasurer:
Mike Neyland
Secretary/Historian:
Mike Larson
Webmaster:
Sunil Gupta
Join IPMS/USA: www.ipmsusa.org
Chapter Contact:
Tom Henderson
tomhenderson51@verizon.net
Raffle Coordinator:
Mike Poreda
Make & Take Coordinator:
John Figueroa
Upcoming Events in our area:
February 27, 2016
IPMS Richmond Old Dominion Open
The Henrico Building, Richmond Raceway Complex
Richmond, VA
http://ipmsrichmond.org/contest.html
April 30, 2016
Northern Virginia Modelers - Model Classic 2016
Fairfax HS, 3501 Rebel Run, Fairfax, VA
www.novaipms.org
August 3-6, 2016
IPMS National Convention
Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center
Columbia, south Carolina
http://www.ipmsusa2016.com