This year, at the invitation of my friend Steve Mohlenkamp, I attended my first International Plastic Modeler’s Society Nationals meet in Omaha Nebraska. For those who’ve never been, it’s a combination of model/diorama contests and vendors selling kits/books/tools/finishing products. I have to say as a car builder, I found the show to be pretty disappointing – not much in the car categories entered in the contests, and not much in the way of car kits/accessories in the vendor areas. There were some things, and I did come home with four kits and some tools, but the show was definitely more weighted to military builders.
That said, first and foremost I’m a model builder and I can appreciate great builds from any genre, and in that respect, I was totally blown away with all the builds that were entered, regardless of category. Some were incredibly detailed, incredibly realistic, or incredibly creative. From a model of Alan Sheppard golfing on the moon, to a display of every ship named “Enterprise”, both real and imagined, all in scale to each other, the variety was endless. So with that, I’ll let the photos do the talking. If any of these builds belong to you, please post a message telling us more about it and I will make sure your comments get posted!
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- A guillotine – complete with head basket (no head in the basket).
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- A Japanese submarine. A fairly simple subject taken to extraordinary levels with incredible detailing and weathering (this was approximately 4-5ft long)
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- A different kind of F1 model – an F1 engine from a Saturn V Rocket.
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- I didn’t take note of what kind of ship this is, but the detailing and weathering is remarkable.
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- A remarkable cutaway of a Galleon ship.
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- Every ship named Enterprise – real and imagined – all in scale to each other.
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- An exquisite B58 Hustler
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- Richard Petty’s STP Superbird
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- The Stutz Blackhawk that Frank Lockhart drove to his death. (Scratchbuilt)
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- A slightly modified Ferrari Testarosa :-)
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- One of my favorite planes, the Valkyrie XB70 – done in a fantasy scheme depicted as what it may look like if it had entered service.
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- This is all one entry – all F14s, all with actual insignia patches that go with each plane.
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- Lunar Golfer – Alan Shepard Golfing on the Moon
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- War diorama
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- Diorama of an airplane divebombing another plane (wrecked on the ground).
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- Scene from the movie “LeMans”
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- 1967 STP Turbine Indy Car (using Indycals decals)