IPMS 2018 Nats In Review

EdGrune - If we drive, we will definitely make time to see other things!  Thanks for the heads up.

PatW - I was able to go to Scale Model World at Telford a few years ago and it was the most amazing model show I have ever seen!  It was far away, but worth it!

Brilliant photo's thanks for sharing. You must have quite a few large model shows in the USA. We just have one major one here in the UK and it's some distance to travel.

I don't tend to go as about 80% of the show is military and I tend to build more competition and beach buggy cars than anything else.

Hi G

if you plan on renting a car and driving the final leg to San Marcos be sure to add an extra day on either end of the trip.   

About an hour and a half west of San Marcos is Fredericksburg,TX.   It is the birthplace and childhood home of Admiral Chester Nimitz.  The museum of the Pacific War is located there.  There are a number of exhibits;  a Cactus Airforce Wildcat,  a B25, an Avenger, a PT boat,  one of the Pearl Harbor mini-subs.   Plus more.  The gallery which covers the prelude to the war with the historical conflicts between Japan and China is well done,  better than other WWII museums.  

I don’t know if the San Marcos organizing committee is planning a bus tour to Fredericksburg, but it is well worth it and will easily take a day to see it all.   

Oh, and the food, beer, and wine are good there too.  

Thanks for the flight info!

My cousins hunt wild boar in the mountains over here.  They use dogs and very large knives(!).  They then take the meat and put it in their smoker until it gets cancer.  Obviously they look nothing like me.  They are Klingon, I am the weenie Federation cadet with the big nose and large Adam’s apple.  We nerdy types are “townies”, because we don’t live country.

They’re not pigs.  They’re PIIIIGGGS!

I remember a couple of zip line guides on the north shore of the Big Island talking about how the puaa love the koa nuts and grow very large.   These guys grow on acorns and whatever else they root up

You can fly direct HNL to DFW on American and connect to Austin/Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA)

[quote user="Real G] 

So let me recall my high school math; a car travelling at 80 MPH collides with a pig travelling at 2 MPH perpendicular to the path of the car, assuming the car is 3,500 LBS and the driver does not apply the brakes, and the pig weighs 20 LBS, what is the pig‘s new velocity?

That depends upon his launch angle, any gradiant of the roadway, and a few other factors. 

I had the wonderful experience of the Advanced Traffic Collision Investigators course this past September. My brain still hurts from some of the math and problems presented...

Good to know a shuttle service is planned.  We were looking for a direct flight from HNL so it limits our airport options.  But driving can be fun, as you are free to go where you will.  The last time I went to Portland, I drove to McMinnville to the Evergreen Museum, which was definitely worth the drive!

So let me recall my high school math; a car travelling at 80 MPH collides with a pig travelling at 2 MPH perpendicular to the path of the car, assuming the car is 3,500 LBS and the driver does not apply the brakes, and the pig weighs 20 LBS, what is the pig‘s new velocity?

But I brake for armadillos.

Real G

Seriously though, San Marcos will require a drive from the airport, so THAT’S where the road trip happens!

191 MPH gusts recorded up on Mauna Kea on the Big Island!  I think that is a record.

Yeah, the local lingo is highly flexible.  I’m not terribly conversant in “Pidgin” - there’s a classic guide titled “Local to the Max” that has a lot of expressions I was unfamiliar with.  But I think the important basics to understanding us here in Hawaii can be summarized as follows:

Puka - A hole.  Used everywhere from the home to construction sites.

Mauka / Makai - A polar coordinate based navigation system used by locals.  Mauka is always towards the mountains (towards center of the island), Makai is towards the ocean.  So the directions change based on your geographical location.  Mainland people go nuts trying to figure this one out.

Bumbye - Like singer Don Ho said, it means later on.

HTH, and a big mahalos!

Real G

Greg,

BTW “kolohe” means rascal.  We have lots of kolohe kids over here!

 

I had looked it up (curious minds want to know).

Like so many Hawaiian words, "kolohe" seems to have lots of possible meanings, no? Knowing you to be a nice guy, I knew it was one of the light-hearted ones, and it is interesting to know that "rascal" was what you intended.

On a side note, I've been reading about the snowstorm in Maui. Wowie.

Greg,

BTW “kolohe” means rascal.  We have lots of kolohe kids over here!

Real G

Seriously though, San Marcos will require a drive from the airport, so THAT’S where the road trip happens!

I kinda figured something like that.

In the meantime, I'm pretty happy with my new Hawaiian name. Thank you, G!

Yeah, the trick is to get enough speed to hydroplane across 2,500 miles of ocean!   Ha ha Greg, you so kolohe as we say over here.

Seriously though, San Marcos will require a drive from the airport, so THAT’S where the road trip happens!

Real G

so maybe a road trip...

....from Honolulu to Texas, eh? Send pictures please.

Unfortunately I can't make it this year, as I have some heavy duty house improvements and repairs to attend to.  Next year it's in San Marcos, Texas, and I love Texas style barbecue, so maybe then.  A friend has already decided on going, so maybe a road trip...

modelmaker66

where is 2019?

 

Chattanooga, TN

http://www.ipmsnationals.com/

where is 2019?

Hey , RealG;

 I loved Ellie so much I copied her and put her over my bench . Where ALL visitors can see her ! Tanker - Builder

Ha ha, yeah love that Ellie!  I wonder if we can get a PDF file from the designer?

Glad to share the contest pics.  I got lazy this time and as a result there were lots of omissions.  Next time I go to a contest, I’ll take more comprehensive photos.  Pinkie promise.

littletimmy

Thank you for posting these !

Ther were "Many" Favorite's among your photo's, But the one I liked best  was this one...

I'm gonna "Steal" it and put it in my shop ! ( with a few drop's of Blood Red paint on the floor below it !)

 

 LM_AO ! That IS a good one.

Real G, Thanks for sharing your pictures of the show.

Hey , Real G;

So True on the Skoda . When I first saw one I couldn't stop laughing !

Tanker-Builder,

The space avocado mech is a Black Knight by Love-Love Garden.  I got mine from Hobbylink Japan.  Since it is a resin conversion kit, it goes in and out of stock.  Right now it is listed as discontinued.  But Hobbysearch also carries it, but it is also OOS:

https://hlj.com/product/LLVMAK011

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10327919

If you can order the kit, I would recommend the one without the Hasegawa White Knight plastic kit parts, as it is cheaper and both boxings lack the necessary decal sheet.

The White Knight by Hasegawa is a regular injection molded kit and goes in and out of stock:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10289605

All of the decals I used came from the White Knight kit, except for the yellow "II" markings which were made from white decal film spray painted yellow.

The squid is from a kickstarter project, of which a friend who builds wargaming minis buys stuff from.  I thought it was pretty big for a gaming piece.  I too was impressed by the paint job as well as the exquisite detail molded on the figure.

The Skoda PA-2 is truly a wacky design.  When I first saw illustrations of it, I thought it was from some steam punk artist's imagination.  The real thing was cramped, overweight, underpowered, and had skinny tires which made it unsuitable for off-road terrain.  But I love it.  The crazy-quilt paint scheme only makes it better!

Just Think !

 You could take the Skoda's turret off , add windows on both ends and the sides and have a multidirectional auto that would be at home in this " New " world of Ugly cars . So Ugly it's fascinating as to what kind of " What If " could be done with it . How about a Pick-up - You know a "technical " ?

 I would just have to really enjoy looking at that awesome Squid !

Hi;

 Well , you certainly have done some of us a service . Thank You so much . The photography is excellent . I would like to know where you got the Mecha you won Second with . Oh , Nice win by the way . I see no shame in that build ! 

 And for me , that you were asked by F.S.M for a photo session . Capitol !! 

Little Timmy, we are all fans of Ellie!

Armornut, thanks, and yes try to get to a Nats.  You see a lot and you learn a lot!

  Congrats Real G, great looking entries you were up against. Maybe some day I will have a chance to put something on a Nat. table.

    No money from me tonight LT, sorry, I do like that poster though.

Thank you for posting these !

Ther were "Many" Favorite's among your photo's, But the one I liked best  was this one...

I'm gonna "Steal" it and put it in my shop ! ( with a few drop's of Blood Red paint on the floor below it !)

Last pic.  My only model kit purchase was a Wave Destroid Defender.  For some reason, it has yet to be re-popped despite the Tomahawk and Phalanx coming back at least once or twice.  A nice, lucky find.

https://flic.kr/p/29T6f6H][/url]IMG_8421 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The USS Franklin is for a friend, so it doesn't count.    For me, this is a record low number of kits brought back from a model trip.

Okay, my dust is settling.  What did everyone else who attended see?

Here are some of my favorites from the show:

https://flic.kr/p/29NFEoy][/url]IMG_8307 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I know it's almost become cliche', but I always love looking at a 1/32 Zoukei Mura Ho-229 stripped down.  I was lucky to get to chat with the fellow who built it, who was a very nice guy BTW.

https://flic.kr/p/29NFHf5][/url]IMG_8276 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

An excruciatingly tiny (1/350) Mitsubishi "Pete".

https://flic.kr/p/28v2o6H][/url]IMG_8359 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Monogram's 1/48 B-58 Hustler is a challenging kit to build, and even more so to do it well.  And the builder even did it in my favorite scheme!

https://flic.kr/p/28MuASd][/url]IMG_8341 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Japan Airlines' livery was always nice looking, and this very pretty model only makes it more so.

https://flic.kr/p/L823ZP][/url]IMG_8375 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Sorry, I have a soft spot for weird vehicles.  This is Skoda's PA-2 "Turtle", a pre-WW II armored car.  Yes, it was real!

https://flic.kr/p/29SWsqa][/url]IMG_8368 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

This model of a German tank destroyer (Nashorn?) captures the "Geman Armor Feel" to a tee.

https://flic.kr/p/L824dz][/url]IMG_8373 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

There's nothing like Cold War Soviet hardware!  I believe this is a missile guidance radar system.

https://flic.kr/p/28wyNbP][/url]IMG_8460 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

There's something about this vignette that just bursts with life, despite depicting a quiet scene.

https://flic.kr/p/279EyYQ][/url]IMG_8487 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

A "flat" of the Red Baron.  A rather teeny one, but with amazing paintwork.

https://flic.kr/p/2766mWN][/url]IMG_8350 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

By far, my favorite sci-fi entry was this kit bashed race car that scored an 11 on my Bazongas Meter!  It was primarily made up of a Nu BSG spacecraft.

https://flic.kr/p/L64agV][/url]IMG_8488 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

While the Hummel is not my favorite Fledermaus variant, the beautiful execution of the mottled camouflage made me keep going back to marvel at this entry.

https://flic.kr/p/29LCFLS][/url]IMG_8327 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

Industria Mechanica resin kits rock, and this one particularly caught my eye.  There was a massive mecha (Briegel?) that towered over the competition, but I liked this one best.

https://flic.kr/p/2765VWY][/url]IMG_8267 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I have a soft spot for monster squids, and this one is the coolest one I have ever seen.  The paint job just rocks!

https://flic.kr/p/MLW7Mo][/url]IMG_8284 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/279Ezs5][/url]IMG_8411 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I saved the best for last.  This was a junior entry that got my attention from the moment I saw it.  It has everything - concept, execution, and presentation.  Simply brilliant.  Now THAT is what good modeling is about.  And the builder was a young girl - take that, you diorama moguls!