Arriving at the Elks Lodge, I waited with a few others from the club for someone from the lodge to open the building. Once that happened, I moved my stuff into the meeting hall and got ready for the meeting. After waiting for a few others to arrive and for the hall's audio-visual system to be readied, I called the meeting to order.
I made a few announcements, and opened the floor to Show & Tell, for members to tell of their in-progress modeling projects and other news of note. I brought in a 1:32 scale MiG-21PF kit I am working on.
This month's meeting had the club's second Modeler of the Year contest, delayed by one month. I entered two models that I built in recent weeks in this contest. A 1:48 scale Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis was entered in this month's Special Category, "Roaring Twenties," for 1920s subjects. I also entered a 1:306 scale destroyer USS Fletcher in the Ships Category. Both entries finished second in their respective categories (my Spirit of St. Louis lost to another Spirit of St. Louis model!), but I have no quibbles about my contest showing.
In addition to the contest, Marion Morris presented a demo on paint shading. He used the audio-visual system to project images and videos he took of an aircraft model he used to demonstrate how to vary the shades of paint to produce realistic weathering and wear effects. Marion also showed off the materials and tools he used to create the effects. I thought it was a very nice presentation, and apparently the other attendees agreed.
IPMS/Gateway's next meeting is on Tuesday, 21 July, and will feature our annual SLAM FEST. It's a quick model build and contest, with the building and finishing in two hours, followed by a People's Choice contest. This is usually fun.
Later.
