Early yesterday morning (19 June), I left home for Omaha, Nebraska. I drove
there for OmaCon, the annual model contest and vendor swap meet hosted by the
Fort Crook Chapter of the International Plastic Modelers' Society/USA
(IPMS/USA).
I packed my contest entries and some flyers for IPMS/Gateway's 11 September show in my car and left just before 2:30 am. Some seven hours later, after stops for fuel and refreshments, I arrived at the Omaha Police Officers Association Hall, where OmaCon was held.
I registered the six models I entered in the contest--two aircraft models
and one each in armor, space, ships, and figures. Then, I placed them in
their respective areas of the contest room and set the IPMS/Gateway show
flyers on the registration worktable in the lobby.
Two of my IPMS/Gateway colleagues, Jim Triola and Rick Keasey, were also
present at the show. Jim brought in his large diorama "Final Briefing: USS
Hornet at Midway," which took up much of a table. Rick entered several
figures and dioramas.
I bought a few raffle tickets and browsed among the vendors. One of the latter
was selling kits for 50 percent off, so I bought a real space kit (Space
Shuttle) and a warship kit (Bismarck). From another, I brought an aircraft kit
(Grumman F3F-2) for a reasonable price.
During the day, I walked around the venue talking with fellow scale modelers
I know and with those I had not yet met in person before this show. It is
good to see how these people were doing and how different model shows are
run. These first-hand experiences make the long drives worth it for me.
At midday, contest judging began. I volunteered to help judge automotive
models, since I didn't have any entries there. I was partnered with someone
from IPMS/Fort Crook, then we got to work evaluating the entries. There were
four categories in automotive and my partner and I carefully looked over each
entry, looking for basic workmanship. A few entries were beautiful yet had a
construction flaw that knocked it out of contention for an award.
After about an hour, we had four top three in each category determined. I also
worked with the contest chairman to determine the best of automotive, which
went to a beautifully done tractor.
Before the contest results were announced, a final draw was done of raffle
tickets. I had not won anything so far on the day, but got lucky in that last
draw, as two of my six tickets were picked. I won an aircraft kit (Me 323) and
a ship kit (SS Jeremiah O'Brien).
The contest chairman announced the contest results. He said that 61 attendees
entered over 300 models. I didn't win any awards--to be honest, I really
didn't think any of my entries had a realistic chance of winning. However,
Rick Keasey and Jim Triola won awards. Rick took Second in Military Figures
for his Vietnam Marine, and Second in Dioramas for his M1A2 Abrams. Also, his
Chosin Marine bust won the show's Best Cold War Subject Special Award.
Jim's USS Hornet diorama was the big winner of this show. Not only did it take
First in Dioramas, but it also won the America Strikes Back Special Award, the
Most Popular Award (by vote of attendees), and the Judges Grand Award as the
best model of the contest.
That marked the end of the show. I packed up my models and said my goodbyes
with thanks to the host chapter. I had not eaten lunch, so I stopped by
Dickey's Barbecue Pit in western Omaha to eat--either a late lunch or early
dinner. A chopped brisket sandwich plate was my choice, with macaroni and
cheese and cabbage slaw as side dishes and all washed down with Coca Cola.
Very satisfying meal and I was set to head back to St. Louis late that
afternoon.
No real traffic hassles on the drive home. I stopped in St. Joseph, Missouri
for fuel and refreshments. Early that evening, I made another stop to stretch
out and get refreshments in Columbia, Missouri. While there, a thunderstorm
hit the area and I decided to stay in my car at the convenience store until
the weather improved. After about 90 minutes of waiting, I departed Columbia
just after 11:00 pm.
The drive home went well, and I got home just after 1:00 am this morning.
During my time away from home, I drove 885.9 miles (1425.7 km).
Apart from running two errands late this afternoon, I rested up at home today.
Back to work early tomorrow morning.
Later.
Weblinks of entities mentioned in this post
IPMS/Fort Crook: Fort Crook IPMS/USA
IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)
Omaha Police Officers Association Hall: Hall Rental (omahapoa.com)
Dickey's Barbecue Pit: Dickey's Barbecue Pit | BBQ Restaurant | Barbecue Delivery (dickeys.com)
