Spielwarenmesse Nürnberg 2020

Thanks to the German chapter of IPMS, here you will find all the new items announced at this year’s Nurnberg hobby trade show.

Its a podcast

I’ve been blogging now for about 11 years.  Recently at the suggestion of a long time modeling friend, Mike Baskette, he and I have begun doing a modeling podcast.  It has just gone live. Give it a listen.  Send any comments to plasticmodelmojo@gmail.com.

November MMCL meeting

MMCL had its November meeting last night.  35 members in attendance.  Presentations on LEDs and on static grass.  Great raffle and a lot of show and tell items.

Airfix Me-262 build

Over on his website, Model Paint Solutions’ John Miller has a beautiful build of the newish Airfix Me-262 in an unusual paint finish.   Having seen this model in person at the Chattanooga IPMS/USA Nationals I can attest to the fact that it looks as good as it does on the website.

MMCL Meeting night

Last night was MMCL’s monthly meeting. Had 35+in attendance, which may be a regular meeting record.

Random modeling thoughts

A few thoughts/observations from the little bit of time I’ve managed to find to do some modeling.

1. I’ve said before that I love Mr. Surfacer Black from the spray can as my go to primer.  That faith remains unshaken.  I was talking recently with fellow modeler Mike Baskette and he wondered if the black color prevented seeing flaws, thus diminishing its usefulness as a primer.  In my experience it does not.  In fact, under strong light the shiny black finish seems to make flaws jump out more than say they would if the color were gray.
2. As I have said before, too many modelers are too reticent (oh, look it up) to get rid of old paint, sanding sticks and X-Acto blades.  This leads to frustration and time wasted.  I have become ruthless when it comes to discarding these things in favor of fresh items.  Do it.  You can thank me later.
3. I love the IPMS/USA Nationals.  I know I’ve said that before.  I am still on the post-Nats high, possibly because this one was the best of the 24 I have attended.  Among other things, the Nats always gets my modeling juices flowing.

IPMS Nationals wrap up

Well, not really a wrap up, as I will have more to say and more pictures to post, but it is a summation of my general impression, with appropriate comments.

I’ve been to 24 IPMS/USA National Conventions over the years.

1985 Indianapolis, IN, 1988 Dayton, OH, 1991 St. Louis, MO, 1993 Atlanta, GA, 1995 Albuquerque, NM, 1996 Virginia Beach, VA, 2000 Dallas, TX, 2001 Chicago, IL, 2002 Virginia Beach, VA, 2003 Oklahoma City, OK, 2004 Phoenix, AZ, 2005 Atlanta, GA, 2006 Kansas City, MO, 2007 Anaheim, CA, 2008 Virginia Beach, VA, 2009 Columbus, OH, 2010 Phoenix, AZ, 2011 Omaha, NE, 2012 Disney World, FL, 2014 Hampton, VA, 2015 Columbus, OH, 2017 Omaha, NE, 2018 Phoenix, AZ, 2019 Chattanooga, TN

I’ve kept an informal list of my top 5 conventions, with, up to now, the number 1 convention being 1996 Virginia Beach.  That is now no more.  The 2019 Chattanooga convention is the clear number 1.  This convention was well run, from beginning to end.  Convention chairman Mike Moore and his team deserve a ton of credit.  Ron Bell, the retiring president of IPMS/USA also deserves credit.  When he was 2nd vice-president, the person at IPMS/USA in charge of the national convention, he made significant changes that brought stability and order to the task of putting on a convention.  His changes made it much easier for a chapter to host a smooth running convention.

In no particular order, Chattanooga had a great vendors area; a well lit spacious model room which accommodated the record setting 4600+ models entered; the best lineup of seminars that I’ve ever seen at a convention, and a bunch of great attendees who I got to spend a ton of time around, hanging out, talking models and eating and drinking way too much.  All in all this was great.  If someone put a gun to my head and made me find something to criticize, I could say that the $150 a night room rate for the convention hotel was on the steep side, but seriously, in this day and age, the time of the $99 convention hotel room has long sense passed.

Bravo to everyone involved.  Can’t wait for this team to bid again.

 

 

IPMS Nationals (even more photos)

IPMS Nationals (more photos)

MMCL IPMS Nationals dinner