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

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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.


5

6


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.


7

Paul Goldberg’s HMS Agamemnon - 64 (1796)

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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

[email protected]

James McGuffick, Vice-President

[email protected]

Pete Carlin, Treasurer

[email protected]

Al Saubermann, Secretary

[email protected]

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

the connecticut society

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