It was an early wake up call for me yesterday (18 May). Up at 3:00 am, I got ready to welcome my IPMS/Gateway mate Don Will, who came to the house just before 4:00 am. Together, we got into my car to travel to Marion Morris' house in Maplewood. The three of us got into Morris' minivan to begin our trip to Springfield, Missouri.
Along the way, we picked up clubmate Randy Kleeschulte. We stopped at a McDonald's in Rolla to get breakfast before resuming our trip. The four of us arrived in Springfield just after 8:00 am and arrived at The Arc of the Ozarks, site of MOSS CON. This is the annual contest and swap meet hosted by IPMS/Missouri Ozarks Scale Specialists.
After checking in at registration, I placed my two contest entries--a Bren Gun Carrier and a 6pdr Anti-Tank Gun--on the appropriate tables and began to make the rounds of the show. I brought some flyers promoting our Invitational this September. Morris brought a lot of model kits to sell at his vendor table, while Will and Kleeschulte entered contest models as well. Three other Gateway members arrived separately for the show.
It was great to admire the contest models, browse among the vendors, and chat with fellow scale modelers at the show. I purchased six raffle tickets and won three items: two kits and a framed painting. A good rate of return on investment.
At midday, I joined with several other attendees to help judge the contest. Free pizza was served during the judges meeting, which was most welcome. I worked with two others to judge Ships, Junior (Ages 12-17), and Miscellaneous (Real Space, Sci-Fi, Gundam/Anime Mecha, All Others, and Out of the Box). There were some tough choices in a few categories, but we were able to reach a consensus on our choices for the three places.
This was all done in plenty of time before the awards were announced at 3:00 pm. IPMS/MOSS President Nate Jones thanked the attendees for coming before announcing the results. He said that over 200 items were raffled off, and that 62 modelers entered 321 contest models--the latter a record for MOSS CON. My two entries did not place, but four of my clubmates--Will, Kleeschulte, Matt Hoeckelman, and Dave Roeder--picked up awards.
After the announcements, I packed up my models and other items. Morris sold many of the kits he brought to the show, which insured plenty of room in his minivan for the Don, Randy, and I were bringing back. In my case, I had acquired six kits from vendors. The four of us left Springfield around 4:00 pm.
We stopped for dinner at a Freddy's Steakburgers in Saint Robert on the way home. After dropping Randy off, the three of us returned to Marion's house. Don and I got out things out of the minivan and got into my car to drive home, where Don took his leave. It was just after 8:00 pm when I came home.
This was a rather long day, but always satisfying after a great scale modeling road trip.
Later.
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