Time again for an electronic update for members and friends of the
Minnesota Military Figure Society. Once again we are combining 2 months
with the latest update.

September 2006 meeting

Members attending our September meeting were Scott, Bernie, Chris, Ed,
Mark, Dave Nelson, Dave Parson, Wayne, Don Burgoyne, Curtis and Rick.
Strange how we seem to have the same number of people each month but
different personalities. Tag team attendance!

Items for discussion at our:

- September meeting started with club shirts. At this point we are still
waiting for Don Scott to return as to ordering shirts for the club. We
do have an emblem that was decided upon.

- International Plastic Modeler’s Society national convention was
attended by several members of the MMFS. Don Burgoyne and Rick Ruble
ended up with inexpensive rooms because the hotel lost their
reservation. To make up for the inconvenience the hotel drastically
reduced their rate. Don also attended the cavalry museum tour at Fort
Riby as part of the attractions of the convention. There were 2200
models presented with a local modeler, Bob Steinbraum, winning best of
show. Another local modeler, Steve Hustad, won multiple awards at the
convention. Vendor rooms were well attended by MMFS members that helped
the vendors glad they sold their wares at the show.

- It was decided that the October meeting would be a ‘photo night’ to
photograph models for Jacques to upload onto the MMFS web site.

- Our key situation has been solved and it was decided that Chris
Barrett, Scott Primeau and Jim Thewies would hold keys for the MMFS
meeting room.

- Nordicon will be on September 22 and tables set up Friday the 21st.
$10 for unlimited entries and a new judging technique. Many members of
the MMFS are planning on attending the show.

- The annual MMSI Chicago show is coming up in October. Merrill is
looking for a ride. Quite a few members are planning on attending. This
year many MMFS members are planning on seeking out some of the
attractions that the Chicago area provides.

- Members were given information about Tank Rides a commercial
entertainment locally owned and operated by Chris Berg. Plans are for
Chris to attend our November meeting to explain and answer questions
about his business of selling rides aboard his T-34/85 Soviet tank.

September Demo

We were fortunate to once again be visited by Joachim Pusch. Joachim
prefers to go by ‘Yogi’ since many of us Americans have difficulty
pronouncing his name properly. Yogi served the 14th Infantry as an
artillery soldier on the eastern front during World War II that was part
of Army Group Center. His unit suffered as bad or worse than units
fighting at Stalingrad. Yogi spent 36 months stationed outside Minsk. He
described his time as “devastating, an unimaginable situation’. Yogi
included stories of knocking out a Soviet T-26 single handily, injuries
suffered that he baring lived through, comrades that died, ferocity of
the Soviet soldiers he fought against and his journeys west that ended
up with US soldiers near Rhein. He is quite an affable fellow that
possesses a fantastic ability to tell stories. Yogi is quite open about
any questions anyone would ask. Yogi would like to come back again next
year to grace us with his presence.

September Photographs

01. This is the front view of Curtis Wacker’s DML 1/35th scale BMP-2. A
difficult kit to make look good but Curtis has done a great job.

02. Rear view of Curtis’ BMP-2.

03. Curtis builds Eastern Express’ BRDM-1. Curtis must be on a modern
Soviet theme.

04. Rear view of Curtis’ BRDM-1.

05. Mark Jacques is into Merkavas lately. Here is a front view of Mark’s
Merkava I built from the Tamiya kit. It represents a vehicle used in
Lebanon in 1982.

06. A rear view of the Merkava I.

07. Mark also built the Merkava III from the Academy kit. This Merkava
represents recent history as a vehicle used in Lebanon in 2006.

08. Rear view of the Merkava II.

09. Scott Primeau is almost finished with his Princess Lea scratch built
bust (no pun intended). It is extremely interesting to see how Scott has
progressed with the sculpture.

     

10. Another view of Scott’s creation.

     

11. Jim Thiewies is at it again by converting another DML figure. Here
is a front view of Jim’s SS Sturmann.

12. A rear view of Jim’s SS Sturmann.

13. A second converted figure by Jim. This times a Volkssturmmann. Look
at all the careful details Jim has added.

15. Bernie brought in another set of fine vehicles. The first one is a
Katyusha built straight from the box using the Alan kit.

16. Rear view of the Katyusha.

17. A work in progress according to Bernie is this Italaerei 1/35th
Leopard 1A2.

18. Rear view of the in progress Leopard.

19. Bernie is another person to finish the excellent new Tamiya Char B 1
bis kit. Awesome job Bernie

20. Rear view of that cool Char B.

21. Dave Nelson brought along a couple of in progress pieces of armor.
DML’s Porsche Tiger I included Eduard photo-etch zimmerite.

22. More photo-etch zimmerite adorns Dave’ Tamiya Brummbar.

23. Members getting psyched up for Yogi’s talk.

24. Remember this dude? After a long vacation in Colorado Dave Nelson
returns to the MMFS. It’s great to have you back Dave!

25. Yogi, the center of our attention for over an hour. He has more
energy than many of our younger members.

26. Yogi describes his difficult times as a German soldier on the
eastern front during World War II.

27. Here Yogi is using reference that he has been able to find about the
14th Infantry on the eastern front.

October 2006 meeting

We had a great turn out for our October meeting that included members
Curtis (we forgot his membership card again), Jerry (attending because
he broke his hand on-the-job that he works on Friday nights), Jim, Mark,
Merrill, Chip (finally getting some time off his Friday night job),
Scott, Don B., Dave N., Chris, Kyle Nelson (Dave’s son, BRING IN THE
YOUNGSTERS!), Winston Verilyea (owner of Wings & Treads), Mike Jacques
(Mark’s brother) and Rick. Great turnout guys!

Items for discussion:

- Nordicon was great for all the MMFS members that attended. Many of our
members were awarded with some rather impressive medals.

- On Sunday October 22nd there will be a show in Fargo, North Dakota
called ‘Plastic on the Prairie’. Most members however will be attending
the MMSI show in Chicago.

- We reaffirmed that our November meeting will be featuring Chris Berg
of ‘Tank Rides’. This should be interesting to see how Chris has made a
business selling rides aboard his T-34 tank.

- Another show was mentioned this time being the model show in Wausau,
Wisconsin. Later in the month in October it is mostly a car show.

- No new information about our club shirts.

- Dave Nelson mentioned that he also discovered the MSM club that meets
on Tuesdays in the northern Twin Cities area. Bernie is a charter member
of the MSM.

- Many of the ‘older’ members reminisced about the old hobby shops in
the Twin Cities. It is quite a shame how few are left.

- Chip gave us a treasurer report. Currently we have $190 available
which will easily pay for next year’s room rental fee. Chip wanted to
remind members of the $10 dues that will be due in December for the 2007
membership.

- Chip gave us a heads-up preview of ‘Flags of our Fathers’. Chip was
able to see the movie prior to the official release. He said the movie
was good and well worth seeing.

- Winston brought his ‘wings 7 Treads’ store along (how in the world did
he get all those models in that little car?) for members to shop. Many
helped Winston by purchasing several items. This was a great treat for all.

October photographs

Both photos show the wealth of models and accessories that Winston
stocks for his mail order/on-line store.

     

November meeting

Our meeting will include topics:

- Recap of the MMSI show. How and what did members do at the show?

- Any news about the club shirts?

- Update of our web site.

- Plans for the December party meeting.

- Sign-up for demos in 2007

- Plan on bringing dues for December meeting.

- November demo will be Chris Berg talking about his business ‘Tank Rides’.

Remember our meeting starts at 7:30 pm Friday night November 10 at
Fleming Field in South St. Paul. Hope many of our members will be able
to attend. SEE YA THERE!

Photography © Minnesota Military Figure Society