The Connecticut Society
Transcript of The Connecticut Society
www.ctshipmodels.org
The
Connecticut
Marine Model
Society
March 2019
Newsletter
Our club is only a few short
weeks away from hosting
the annual Northeast Ship Mod-
eler’s Show & Conference in
New London. I’m glad many
members have signed-up to dis-
play their models this year; our
club has typically had at least a
dozen excellent models — or
more — at recent shows.
This month’s corollary theme
is about determination and
persistence. To illustate this
point, I’ve included four pages of
photos dedicated to one
member’s striking model: Paul
Goldberg’s HMS Agamemnon -
1796 (pictured here). He started
his build of the English kit in
mid-2014, the last year our club
hosted the annual event. Paul’s
superb model is now complete
and he’s bringing it to the show
later this month. Hang-in there,
gentlemen. Rome was not built in
a day (nor was Paul’s Agamem-
non). Ron, Your Editor
Secretary’s Report: March 9, 2019
President Duff Griffith opened the
meeting by introducing Sue and Anne
LaPerla who presented the Club with
a $500 check in honor of Steve
LaPerla who recently passed away.
Sue spoke about how much the Club
meant to her husband and his daugh-
ter told us about her father’s enjoy-
ment of building model ships. The
gift was given to the Club for use as
we see fit. Anne asked if it would be
possible for her father’s last model to
be exhibited at the upcoming North-east Ship Model Conference in April.
There was a clear consensus that we
would like her to do so. Arrangements
will be made to transport and exhibit
Steve’s model.
Secretary Al Saubermann gave
an update on the status of the Joint
Clubs’ Conference we’re hosting this
April. Registration appears to be on
pace with last year’s. A similar num-
ber of models will be exhibited.
Treasurer Pete Carlin, provided an
update on our treasury that reflects
the registration fees that have been re-
ceived and expenditures made in
preparation for the Conference. The
main raffle prize of a Foredom flexi-
ble shaft rotary tool has been ordered
by Vice-President James McGuffick.
The other participating clubs are pro-
viding door prizes. We currently have
four of the five clubs who have pro-
vided volunteers to do table-top
demonstrations. Judges for the Jim Roberts Award are still needed;
Justin Camarata has volunteered to
be a judge from our club.
Following last month’s discussion
about the Peoples’ Choice awards, the
Club’s officers were charged with
considering how to maximize the
number and quality of awards. The
officers met to discuss this issue and
decided that we will offer one overall
Best in Show award and three awards
- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place - in each cat-
egory of Sail, Power, and Other. The
choice of category is self-defined by
the model builder. It was also decided
that we will have engraved, high-
quality plaques mounted to wood
bases. Ballots will be provided for
each category and for the Best in Show award, a total of four ballots to
be printed on one page. The winner
will be by a simple plurality of votes;
whichever model in a category that
gets the most votes wins 1st prize,
next highest 2nd prize, and 3rd prize
goes to the third highest vote getter.
For the Best-in-Show, there will be a
separate ballot where the model with
the plurality of votes wins.
Our next meeting will be held on
April 13th at the West Haven Cam-
pus, University of New Haven at 10
AM in the Westside Building Room
S111. Directions and a reminder will
be sent to all members.
Respectfully submitted,
Al Saubermann, Secretary
2
The club’s President, Duff Griffiths, accepted the generous gift from
deceased member Steve LaPerla’s wife, Sue and his daughter, Anne.
Good Stuff From The Bench March 2019
3
Dave Dinan brought in his work-in-
progress British Navy Corvette. He
explained how he prepares precise
templates to subsequently create cus-
tomized pieces of polystyrene that he
will use for the model’s decking as
well as various structural pieces.
Dave’s specialty is taking a small-
scale conventional plastic (or resin)
“steel navy” model kit and modifying
it to make an entirely different ship.
Good Stuff From The Bench
Member Fred Kerson explained that he’s now at
the six month mark and his “important word” for
his fellow members was “progress.” He thanked
Paul Goldberg for tips on how to handle the
copper plating on his 1/48-scale HMS Surprise.
“I love working with acid. I like the serendipi-tous, happy accidents that occur. The ‘smutzy’ look to the metal pieces.” He added: “I am spoiled now. I do love boxwood. But, saying that, I’ll never give up balsa.”
He also had postive words for the kit’s in-
structions and that he’s learned how to work in
European metric measurements.
It’s no Surprise that he’ll be displaying his
impressive model at the upcoming April show.
4
“I love working with acid...”
Members were treated to an interesting
description of building techniques to
properly shape scratch-made boat’s oars
by Bob Siegler. Fashioned from yellow
cedar for his 1.5”=1 foot Skiff, he ex-
plained the various cutting and sanding
steps involved with making deceptively
complex, three-dimensional tapers by
using accurate templates. It took several
attempts to get the process right; however,
at the end of the day, Bob nailed it and
made the three needed for his boat. Sam-
ples of his work were passed around.
Everyone agreed they were very nicely
done! The cast metal oarlocks are from
Bluejacket Shipcrafters in Searsport,
Maine.
Good Stuff From The Bench
5
6
Good Stuff From The Bench
Rick Abramson brought in his model of the
U.S.S.Constitution,“Old Ironsides.” He built
the 1/96-scale Revell kit in 1980 and during a
recent move he “noticed how crappy the rig-ging was.” One month ago he decided to re-
rig the model that he says: “... was a nice departure from the other ships I build.”
He noted that some of the old paint was
peeling off, but we all agreed Rick will find a
way to fix this problem somehow.
“Pssssst, Rick. Your Stop n’ Shop discount loyalty keyfob is showing.”
Howard Williams will be bringing his modi-
fied kit tugboat, Astrid, to the Northeast Show in
New London this April. He told us that “he’s
98% finished” and has just a couple small
details to add. The wheelhouse is wired for LED
lighting and somehow I think he’ll figure out
how to simulate some thick, grey/white smoke
pouring out from the workboat’s stack.
Good Stuff From The Bench
7
The Connecticut Marine Model Society is a
member of the IPMS, Connecticut Chapter
CMMS Club Meetings are the
second Saturday of the month
September thru June
† 10:00 AM to Noon
The University of New Haven
Orange & West Haven Campuses
Connecticut
CMMS Officers: Richard “Duff” Griffith, President
James McGuffick, Vice-President
Pete Carlin, Treasurer
Al Saubermann, Secretary
www.ctshipmodels.org
Ron Neilson, Editor [email protected]
Next Meeting: April 13, 2019
Front Photos: Member Paul Goldberg’s HMS Agamemnon. Additional photos of Paul’s build of
Admiral Nelson’s “favourite ship” starts on page 8.
Rear photo: A last glimpse of our mild, but cold
winter at the serene Orange campus of the
University of New Haven.
All photos by the editor for the Newsletter,
Ron Neilson