We’ve set the dates for the IPMS McKinstry monthly meetings for 2027. The meeting location and time will not change.
We were able to book the standard 1st Wednesday of each month for 2027. There’s the usual caveat that we may need to reschedule a meeting if the Continental rents the room for another event, but for now…
The McKinstry Club build won a silver (2nd place) in the Group Build competition at the 2026 IPMS National Convention in Ft. Wayne, IN. For all those who participated in preparing the display and building models for the entry, congratulations!
The theme that we chose for our entry was “Made in the USA”, to commemorate the semiquincentennial of the founding of the United States. Since we have members who build a variety of genres, we wanted a theme that would accommodate the interests of as many as possible. The only criteria for inclusion in our theme was that both the subject of the model and the manufacturer of the kit be products made in America.
Eleven club members contributed a total of 15 models for the entry. A list of the members and the models they built follows the gallery of pictures from the show.
(These links will start mid-video, where coverage of the club build begins. The rest of the videos have great stuff – you’re encouraged to watch the entire segment, if you have the time!)
| Builder | Model | Manufacturer | Scale |
| Jim Batchelder | F-89 Scorpion | Revell | 1/48 |
| Jamie Berigan | JN-4D Jenny | Glencoe (ex Aurora) | 1/48 |
| Jim Chrzan | Shrimp Boat | Lindberg | 1/60 |
| Tugboat | Lindberg | 1/82 | |
| Paul Gasiorowski | GeeBee racer | Williams Bros. | 1/48 |
| Mike Hanlon | P-51B Mustang | Monogram | 1/48 |
| John Kauck | 1963 Corvette | MPC | 1/16 |
| Harley 1200 XL | Revell/Monogram | 1/8 | |
| Lee Lygiros | Bob Hoover Mustang | Revell | 1/32 |
| F3F-3 | Monogram | 1/32 | |
| Jerry McManus | Phantom Mustang | Monogram | 1/32 |
| Frank Ress | P-51B Mustang | Monogram | 1/72 |
| PBY-5A Catalina | Revell | 1/72 | |
| Martin Sorensen | P-40N Warhawk | Monogram | 1/72 |
| Eugene Siuda | Lacrosse missile truck | Renwal | 1/32 |
Congratulations to Lee Lygiros, winner of the 2025 McKinstry Member Participation Contest! Lee started the year strong and stayed in the lead all year to finish with 349 points. Great job, Lee!
Jim Batchelder was runner-up, with a strong showing of 281 points. We’ll be watching in 2026 to see if Lee holds his title for another year, if Jim steps up for the title, or if one of our other members takes up the challenge to win the 2026 contest.
We ask members to provide some background information about the models they bring to meetings, primarily so we can accompany pictures of those models in the newsletter. In an effort to make it easier for members to submit that information, we’ve created a fill-in-the-blank Word document, linked below.
To provide a write-up for a model, open the form in MS Word (or a compatible application). Enter the information about your model, and ‘Save as’ a new document somewhere on your computer. Include your name and some description of the model in the file name. Then just email a copy of the document to the newsletter editor.
We’ll take pictures of your model at the meeting, but feel free to attach your own pics to the email if you wish.
If you don’t have access to Word or something similar, you can use the outline provided below to send your write-up as text in the body of an email to the editor.
In cases where you bring more than one model to a meeting, please provide a separate email with your write-up for each model.
The alternative outline for non-form submissions is below. Just copy/paste the following into the body of your email and add your text.
Meeting Date:
Builder:
Kit Manufacturer:
Subject:
Scale:
New Build? (Y/N):
This Month In History – How does your model relate to this theme?:
Random Subjects – How does your model relate to this theme?:
Brief description of your model build (kit quality, complexity, paint and decals used, etc.):
Why did you choose to build this model? (include historic details, background info, etc. about the subject here):
