On Saturday, May 21, Matt Bond, Ron Leker, and I traveled to Bossier City, Louisiana to attend RiverCon V. This model show is hosted by the Red River Modelers, an IPMS club based in Shreveport. The show had previously been scheduled for March of this year, but had to be re-scheduled to May 21 due to flooding in the area. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day for a road trip, and we had no problems getting to the Bossier Civic Center, where the event was held.

Upon arriving, we saw fellow CASM members Ray Smith, Cliff Bullock, Bob and Mona Hiatt, and Brian and Roy Elliott. Also participating by proxy was Robert Garten, Taryn Garten, and Ken Childres. Several other clubs were represented, including modelers from Baton Rouge, Dallas, and Houston. According to the Red River Modelers Facebook page, there were over 60 contestants with 298 entries!

The room at the Bossier Civic Center was quite large with excellent lighting. Even with 298 entries, there was plenty of table space. If they keep this venue, they will have room for a little more growth. There were several vendors with quite a selection of merchandise, and a wide variety of subjects was available. Our old friends John Struck and Robert Blum from John’s Models were attending as vendors, as well.

There were several nice items in the raffle, and the raffle was set up with the kits split into different categories (aircraft, automotive, etc.). Participants could put their tickets into the drawing for a particular category to increase their chances of winning a kit in which they were interested. They also had a $5 raffle with more valuable items, similar to the $5 raffle CASM had at our show last year.

The awards given at the show were very nice. For the category awards, winners were given “challenge coins,” which are metal printed coins. They also came with clear protective pouches. The size allows you to display the award with your model without taking up much shelf space. For the “best of” awards, they gave larger, acrylic awards.

Overall, it was great show, and we all had a good time. And I am very happy to report that CASM collectively brought home 41 awards from this show!

Here is a list of what each member won.
Brent Bristow-1st place, Fantasy Figures
1st and 3rd place, Figures Busts
1st place, 1/32 scale automotive
1st place, Sci-Fi Vehicles
Theme Award “As Seen On TV”
Matt Bond-1st place, Closed Top AFVs
3rd place, Armored Cars and Half-tracks
1st place, Hypothetical Space and Sci-Fi Vehicles
Best Sci-Fi
Ron Leker-2nd and 3rd place, Sci-Fi Vehicles
2nd place, Military Vehicles Scratch-Built
2nd place, Open Top AFVs
2nd place, Closed Top AFVs (split)
Ray Smith-1st place,Triathlon
1st and 3rd place, Humor in Modeling
1st and 2nd place, Paper Models
Cliff Bullock-3rd place, Open Top AFVs
Bob Hiatt-1st and 2nd place, Battleships
2nd and 3rd place, Small Scale Military
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, Destroyers
Mona Hiatt-1st place, Commercial Ships
3rd place, Soft-skin Military Vehicles
3rd place, Artillery Pieces
2nd place, Collections
Brian Elliot-2nd place, Airships
3rd place, Military Vehicles Scratch Built
2nd place, Sci-Fi Scratch-Built
Ken Childres-2nd place, Closed Top AFVs (split)
Robert Garten-3rd place, motorcycles
2nd and 3rd place, Automotive Technology
Taryn Garten-1st place, Juniors Automotive
Best Junior

We had another great meeting this weekend, getting through several pieces of club business in record time. Josh Swift gave us a great demo on lighting models, and, as usual, there were several amazing pieces in the Show-N-Tell. As Ken is understandably busy elsewhere, I'm filling by providing some photos. The quality of my pics may not be as good as Ken's, but hopefully you will enjoy them anyway!-Brent