High Plains Con XXIV A Success!

     On Saturday, October 12^th, the High Plains Modelers put together their 24^th annual High Plains Con Model Show & Contest. Modelers from far and wide gathered at the Ranch in Loveland to show off their skills and compete for prizes that were nearly as fabulous as freshly cooked bacon. Although entries totaled on the low side at 168 models and 36 entrants, our vendors more than made up for it. The selection was nearly as good as any contemporary hobby shop as more than 12 vendors arrived to hawk their wares at extremely friendly prices.

     Within the High Plains Modelers, the following club members won awards:

New Scott

1st in SciFi Spacecraft and Best Spacecraft (Sponsored by CoMMies) for his Fine Molds 1/72 Y-wing.

3rd in 1/72 Armor for his Revell M60A3.

Jeff

 1st place in 1/48 Softskin with his Tilly and a 2nd place in Spacecraft/Sci-Fi with his Slave I. Jeff’s son Ayrton took 1st in Junior Auto with his Ferrari Enzo, a 1st in Junior Armor with his M3 Lee, and Best Junior for the Ferrari.

Mark S.

2nd place in the Military Vehicle, Soft Skin class, 1/35, for his

US 2-1/2 ton 6x6 cargo truck.

Pablo

1st Place: JASDF Phantom II (1/48 multi-engine jet)
1st Place: A-4 Collection (Group builds)
3rd Place: P-47 "Flying Penguin" (1/32 Single Engine)
3rd Place: 1/72 Br.86 (Miscellanea)

Jerry

Third place in Figures for his Frankenstein /w skeleton model.

  

Gary

 1/350 Nautical - 1st Place with his I-400 Japanese submarine; Diorama - 1st Place with his 'Operation Milkman'; Best Diorama sponsored by High Plains with his 'Operation Milkman'; Modern Armor - 2nd Place with his Israeli M50; Heavy Commercial - 2nd Place with his Kenworth 'Honest John' Hauler; Softskins - 3rd Place with his 1/35 15cwt Truck.

Chip

Military Multi-Engine Jet, 1/72^nd and Smaller, 2^nd Place, SR-71 with D-21 Drone

Military Single Engine Jet, 1/48^th and Larger, 1^st Place, F-86F-30

Military Single Engine Jet, 1/72^nd and Smaller, 1^st Place, F-100D  

Military Single Engine Jet, 1/72^nd and Smaller,  2^nd Place, F-8II

Congratulations to all!

     High Plains Modelers would like to thank each and every participant and vendor, and not least of all the crew and volunteers, for helping to make this a great show. Thanks!

     Now let’s ogle some pics! Click each pic for a larger version:

Vendors arrive to set up.

A good looking snowplow, fresh out of the county wash bay.

This Cookie Monster is not PBS approved. ;)

An overview of the show in progress.

Mark Persichetti brought leftover Nationals gear to sell. Unfortunately, he eluded the photographer.

Our esteemed compatriots-in-styrene from Denver, the CoMMiES, arrived with a veritable plethora of goodies.

This tank destroyer vignette was very impressive.

Chuck Yeager's ride. 'Nuff said.

An impressive diorama of a Coast Guard station.

You don't see many TBM's in Atlantic ASW colors, but this one pulled it off nicely.

P-40 Warhawk. A curvy, classic steed of the air.

Achtung! Fockewulf!

An impromptu Build & Bull broke out at one of the tables.

The judges take their job seriously.

That windshield looks way too clean. ;) Give that mainainer a raise!

A tough call on this great looking bike.

The awards ceremony in full swing.

After a long day and a successful show, the High Plains Modelers ride into the sunset.

September 2013 Meeting

      In the wake of a massive flood that submerged much of Northern Colorado, and to the accompaniment of the first signs of autumn, the High Plains modelers assembled in the basement of Hobbytown for their September meeting. Our usual location at the Ranch was being used for disaster relief.
     The main topic of the September meeting was the upcoming High Plains Con 2013. Although at first we wondered if our show would need to be rescheduled or canceled, Marc L. came through at the last minute with news that our reservation at the Ranch was A-OK. We're still on track to present a great show Saturday, October 12th, from 10-5 at the Ranch in Loveland. For details you can check out our dedicated show page at http://highplainscon.blogspot.com/ where you can download a show flier and find other good info.
    But: on to the models! We didn't have quite as good attendance this month, but fortunately there was still some first class work to be shown off and drooled over.

Chip's 1/144 F6F Hellcat. Mee-ow!

Dave's gorgeous 109. 

New Scott's M3 Stuart, complete with cat whisker antenna. No cats were harmed while procuring this essentail detailing part. 

Gary's landing craft. 

Chris's Yak-28 Forger with fictional Cobra markings

High Plains Modelers Distinguish Themselves At IPMS 2013, the Thin-Air Nationals

           During the week of August 14^th-17^th, the 2013 IPMS Nationals, the “Thin Air Nationals”, was held in High Plains Modelers’ own backyard here in Loveland, Colorado. A huge contest room showcased nearly 3,000 gorgeous models from some 2,500 entrants, in 197 categories. In addition, two very large vendor rooms hosted such outfits as Squadron, Roll Models, Zoukei-Mura, and others in an earnest and largely successful effort at parting modelers from the money in their wallets. Despite some misgivings, the show went off fairly well considering the hosting chapter was based in a city over 100 miles away.

            Members of High Plains Modelers distinguished themselves by a large amount of time and work spent helping the show to succeed. A total of over 77 hours were worked as volunteers, helping in such areas as registration and security. It can’t be overlooked that member Jeff Brown spent at least 60 hours putting together a very professional looking and impressive publication on CD-ROM for the Nats. Paul Linger stayed Saturday night until midnight to help clean out the contest room.  In addition, at least three of our humble organization aided in placing awards on the table. It’s not every day you can say you handed out awards at a Nationals convention. We also had at least three members who were judges in assorted categories and who stayed up very late to get the job done. All of these guys deserve massive kudos for a job well done.

           

            Five  HPM members came away with a total of eight awards from the show:

           

            Jeff – 2^nd in Triathlon OOB for his TIE fighter, Honda RA272, and Tiger I (Late)

                        2^nd in Misc. OOB for his Komatsu bulldozer

            Tomasz – 2^nd in 1/48 Multi-engine for his JU-88A4 in desert camo

                             2^nd in 1/72 Multi-engine for his JU-88A17 torpedo
            Gary -- 2nd in Hot Rods/Street Rods, 1948 and Older, 1/20th and smaller with his 1941 
                         Chevy truck
                         2nd in Automotive, Heavy, Commercial Vehicles 1/20th and smaller with his Honest John
                         Missile & Mobile Carrier

            Jerry – 2^nd in Drag Racers, Purpose Built

            Tony – 1^st in Light Commercial Vehicles with his rusted out 1941 Chevy tow truck

            Here are some pics from the show for you to ogle:

The HPM group build won no awards, but at least we're still handsome and charming.

This B-58 Hustler was a great subject to show off the various tones in a natural metal finish.

F-16C with markings out of our very own Buckley AFB. 

Great water modeling under this C.S.S. Palmetto ironclad vessel.

There are no awards in Starfleet for Most Banged Up Starship, but this U.S.S. Constellation looked great.

If you didn't laugh your guts out at this,  you have no soul.

Just a few examples of the outstanding armor modeling on display at the Nats.

Great diorama and water work here. I reckon her husband might be upset when he gets the news.

Another stunning diorama scene.

Our mates to the south, the CoMMiES, handled this Make & Take almost as well as Chuck Norris doing a ballet. And that's saying something. I'm not sure what, though.

Have you ever seen such a league of extroardinary gentlemen? Nay! You have not!

This tractor took Best In Show. For good reason, as what I thought was originally all metal, was actually all plastic! Simply jaw-dropping.

The vendor room showcased just about every modeling product you can think of, including these photo-etch sets for armor.

Just one of the many seminars held during the convention, this one on 3D printing and resin casting.