Meeting Minutes for February 5, 2026
Present were Brian D, Dick D, Tony F, Steve H, Bill H, Henry H, Chris K, Mike O, Brad S, Reedis T, John W and Norm W.
Dick reminded everyone of the Silent Auction on the back table.
For Tony’s Vice-pres report, he informed all that IPMS/USA offers a scholarship to IPMS members and their families. Application deadline is April 15, 2026. Information can be found at https://atila.ca/scholarship/ralph-forehand-ipms-usa-scholarship-2026-6xjd92n9. Our application for Capital City Comic Con has been received and processed; there is no additional information at this time.
The transition from Chris L to Mike O hasn’t happened yet, so Mike had no Treasurer report.
Dick reported a recommendation had been offered to revise CAMS Bylaws to expand “Family Membership” to include spouses. Criteria would then read: “Family Membership is available to a family (adult, spouse and all children of the family under the age of 18) that pays the annual dues of one adult member.” After brief discussion, the revision was unanimously approved. Bylaws and Membership Application will be changed accordingly.
Dick reviewed upcoming events. The 4-M Mayhem, Saginaw, is Feb. 7; those attending and carpool arrangements were identified. The presentation of the Army Guard display is Tuesday, Feb. 10; those participating will rendezvous at 1:30. Dick noted the BlizzCon 2026, Hilliard, OH, Feb. 21, and 2026 Mad City Modelers’ Annual Contest, Madison, WI, March 7. He reminded everyone that Chris K keeps upcoming events up to date on our web page.
Chris K said there were 3 at the Lansing Makers Network build night, Wed. Jan. 21. This month’s build night is at Evolution Games, Wed., Feb. 18. It was decided next month will be at AFK Games, March 18; Dick will confirm this with AFK.
Brad gave an update on the Convention, noting that sign-up for volunteer positions is open. He reported that CAMS participation is going well, but encouraged members to continue signing up, and added that volunteering during the convention will also be credited to CAMS.
Brad presented his idea of a field trip to the US Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH. He anticipates it would be a Friday to Sunday outing and would probably be in late August or early September. Several members expressed interest. He said he will come back to this in the future.
There was lots of discussion about future topics at club meetings. Tony gave a brief overview of topics he suggested. This created a lot of discussion. It was decided that for the March meeting, Norm will give a video presentation on designing and producing 3-D printed modeling. For April, members are to send photos of their modeling space to Brad, who will assemble them in a video presentation; members need to be ready to describe the photos and answer questions. Future topics, dates to be determined, including Henry giving a presentation on wooden model kits and Bill demonstrating photo-etch.
The rest of the evening was devoted to showing and describing various tools and techniques for cleaning and preparing kit seams. A couple items that generated discussion: Norm showed a Monument Hobbies seam scraper, available at AFK Games, Holt; and Dick showed multi-grit sanding sticks and blocks by Tropical Shine available at Sally Beauty, W. Saginaw, Edgewood & Marsh Rd.
Our next meeting is Thursday, March 5, 6:30 p.m.
P.S.: Tanuki’s Trading Post’s owners told us at 4M Mayhem they will be opening in their new location on Turner in Old Town on March 1. The possibility of build nights and displays to be determined.
Some of the upcoming meeting topics:
1. Model Room Setup – Several members put together a joint presentation on how their model building areas are set up. They could talk about storage for tools and paints, how they arranged their space to facilitate their workflow and where and how they store their stashes. The idea would be to give members ideas on how they could improve their modeling areas.
2. Scenery – A presentation on how to make scenery for dioramas. Things like how walls, roads, building fronts, fences and wooden gates are constructed.
3. Engine Painting & Detailing – A presentation on how to paint a realistic engine and how they can be detailed to bring life to them. This could be two presentations. One could be on vehicle engines and another one on airplane engines.
4. Water Effects – A presentation on how to use resin to make realistic water effects for ships, dioramas etc.
5. EZ Line Installation – A presentation on how to use EZ Line like products for aircraft antennas and ship rigging.
6. Canopy Painting and Glueing – A presentation on all things canopy/windshield painting and glueing. There seemed to be a lot of questions on canopy glue during the last meeting so this might be something people need more info on.
7. 3D Printing – A presentation on 3D printing. Everything from buying 3D files to making your own files on Fusion 360 or Blender. Types of printers and what each type is good for etc.
8. Color Modulation – A presentation on the different methods to modulate the base color on a model.
9. Mud and Dust Effects – A presentation on the techniques and products to produce realist mud and dust on a model.
10. Battle Damage – Presentation on how to add battle damage to Gundam, Aircraft, Armor and car models. Several members could combine to present this information.
11. Scratch Building – A presentation on scratch building techniques. How to add realism to a model with few simple techniques.
12. Model Builds – A series of presentations by members that provide a step by step description of how they built a specific kit. The members would take pictures of the process they used to build a certain kit then put those images into a Powerpoint presentation describing the techniques they used, about how the build went and the quality of the kit. Along the way members are going to learn pitfalls and new methods as people describe how they worked their way through a specific project. The nice thing about this is people will learn techniques from all modeling disciplines.
13. Photo etch – A presentation on the tools and techniques required to add photo etch to a model.
14. Cockpits – A presentation by the club’s aircraft and vehicle modelers on how to make a fantastic looking cockpit. It would provide people with tips and tricks to make both vehicle and aircraft cockpits more realistic.
Capital Area Modelers Society 