the ALAMO SQUADRON /IPMS SHOW ON the 20th of this month

Hi,from cloudy/cold TEXAS.Well, I went to the show mainly to check out the vendors this year and got invited to judge!Let me tell you, I think ARMOR/AIRCRAFT modeling has progressed by leaps and bounds.ESPECIALLY the young folks.This disproves the idea that modelbuilding is a dying hobby!! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing meticulously applied zimmerit and other things.I do have to remind all plane and armor modelers-Check your info.PLANES are not worked on(electronics et.al.While the plane is armed!! The armor modelers forgot retaining straps on pioneer tools,no antennas where there should be and lite skinned vehicles had no paint or dirt on the inside of the tires and on the bottoms-Shame on you!! The heavy tank builders had one problem that I believe is easy to overlook.Hey,guys when you look down on the engine deck of that tank you should not see the tabletop below! The Racecars and street autos were well done(Ididn,t judge there because I had two automotive entries and two ship entries.) On that note,may I suggest ,if you are going to do a what if type ship ,make sure the guns you use look and are in proportion to the ship their on!! FIGURES! that is a scary group to me!,But I saw unbelievable excellence in all classes of figures!!I wish I could do them that well,I just leave them off.The vendors were fairer in pricing than last year.(oh, there were some high prices)but not as ridiculous as last year.The selection was good too! Everyone seemed to have a great time ,I think, and there were a few in all categories that took home multiple awards.The IPMS way of classing still leaves something to be desired though.If you have a 1/350 ship in 1/400 and larger, your ship will be overwhelmed by the 1/72 sub right next to it.This should be reviewed ,I believe.Other than that I thank ALAMO SQUADRON and IPMS for a fine show and a good day of modeling camaraderie!!!   tankerbuilder