On June 3-5, Heather and I, along with Rusty Nail, Josh & Janel Swift, and Ron Leker, attended the Wonderfest Hobby Expo in Louisville, Kentucky. Brian Elliot and Jessy Nail entered the contest by proxy.

        Wonderfest is full weekend event that focuses on figures and vehicles in the sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and comic book genres. There are also categories for dinosaurs, kaiju (large monsters, such as Godzilla), props, and dioramas. The show features several classes and demos, movies, and celebrity guests. Sponsors for the show include Amazing Figure Modeler Magazine, Iwata, Starship Modeler, Blackheart Enterprises, and CultTVman.

          On Friday, Josh and I attended a full day class presented by Blackheart Enterprises and Badger Airbrushes. Instructors for the class were AFM writers Jeff Camp and Gordon Oberman. The class included the 1:2 scale bust, Angelique, and a Badger Xtreme Airbrush, along with modeling supplies such as paint and metallic waxes. Ron Leker attended a sculpting class, taught by Scott Whitworth, which taught participants to sculpt a dragon head. We all 3 enjoyed the classes and picked up a few new things.

         The contest started on Saturday, and by the end of registration, there were 616 models entered! As usual, there was a lot of fantastic work on the table. The contest room was so full of people that I had to wait until Sunday to take photos. Ron and I entered the contest, along with Brian’s and Jessy’s proxy entries. Rusty is part of the judging staff for this show, so he displayed several of his pieces but did not enter.

          Photographers from Fine Scale Magazine were there taking photos. They wanted pictures of my C-57D, and asked me to fill out their information sheets. Hopefully, the pictures will appear in their pages sometime in the future.

          Numerous demos, each being about an hour long, were given throughout the weekend. These are always great opportunities to learn new techniques, and I attended one of painting eyes, and another on building and painting the Millennium Falcon.

          The vendor’s room was packed, as usual, and many incredible models were for sale. I believe we all spent a little too much here, but it wouldn’t be Wonderfest if we didn’t! I also got to meet actor Nick Tate, who is best known for his role as Alan Carter on the TV series, Space: 1999. This was one of the highlights of the weekend for me.

          Of course, the best part of Wonderfest is the people who attend. After going to this show several years, I have made many friends there, and it is always fun to catch up with them, check out their work, and just enjoy spending time with fellow modelers from across the world.

         The weekend ended with the Awards Ceremony on Sunday. Although the judging was tough, all CASM members that entered did received awards. The contest results are listed below.

         Overall, it was another great Wonderfest, and because of all the great modelers, events, demos, and vendors, there isn’t another show like it! Now, to get started on entries for next year…

Wonderfest 2016 show results
Jessy Nail: Silver-Papp & His Two Sons (junior)
Ron Leker: Bronze-Sinister Minister
Merit-Cylon Raider
Brian Elliot: Merit-Tesla Tank
Merit-Tiger Walker
Brent Bristow: Gold-Knight Rider
Silver-Luna
Bronze-C-57D Space Cruiser
Merit-Dottie Storm

      These days, model builders want their painted, finished product to have that quality of eye-appeal often referred to as “pop.”  To that end, modelers now employ filters, color modulation, pin washes, etc., etc., in an effort to make their work “stand out,” and almost literally grasp viewers by the eyeballs and demand their attention.

     A miniature figure, aircraft, ship, vehicle, or other scale model does indeed need a certain degree of attention to the exaggeration of highlights and shadows; otherwise it will look bland and toy-like.  The smaller a model is compared to the real item, the truer this is.  But shading and highlighting can be overdone, and overdone to the extent that a thing this author calls an “artsy-fartsy” effect is produced.
 
    The truest sign that one is viewing a model project guilty of the artsy-fartsy effect is the thought “Boy, that sure looks cool!” followed by a nagging realization that as cool as it may appear, its finish is not truly realistic.  The artsy-fartsy effect comes about in two ways:  An overwhelming desire to give a model that quality of “pop,” an excessive love of finishing and weathering techniques, or both.

     Artsy-fartsyness can be found in many areas of modeling, but I shall confine my comments on the phenomenon to the area with which I am most familiar—the ever-popular field of World War II armor.  Examination of period photographs, many of admittedly poor quality, reveals some common features regarding the appearance of wartime armor.  Chief among these features is dirt—dirt, dust, and mud, closely followed by general grubbiness, scuffed and worn paint, and greasy handprints.  What is not often seen on the real thing, but frequently featured on scale model versions of Second World War fighting vehicles is extensively scratched and chipped paint.
 
    One American veteran of the war in Europe described derelict German vehicles he encountered as most closely resembling yellowish, formerly-mobile clumps of earth.  These vehicles were not, evidently, color-modulated, pin-washed, “pretties,” nor did they feature large amounts of scratched and chipping paint.  Why would this be so?
 
    During the war in Europe, a German tank in a combat area that reached an age of three months would have been considered an old veteran.  Through the very last days of the war, the Germans destroyed Soviet armor at a prodigious rate, so a three-month old Russian tank would have been even more of a rarity.  Because of greatly superior numbers, general durability, and tremendous air and artillery support, American armor enjoyed a greater average lifespan, but even U.S. Shermans rarely sported tremendous paint damage. 

     AFVs (armored fighting vehicles) do take a beating in combat.  They quickly take on layers of dirt and dust, and fenders, stowage boxes, and other non-armored parts rapidly become dented, shredded, or go missing entirely.  Favored locations for climbing on and off vehicles become worn, as do areas around crew and access hatches.  But excessive, random scratching and general failure of an AFV’s paint job?  Not so much.
     There are a couple of situations in which weathering of vehicles does occur at an accelerated rate, these being the climate extremes of desert and jungle.  In deserts, sun and blowing sand will degrade paint jobs faster than in temperate zones.  In a tropical setting (Burma, Guadalcanal, etc.) sun, moisture, and plowing through dense foliage will contribute to faster than normal weathering.  But even when depicting vehicles in such settings, average service life should be considered.  Would there be time for extreme paint degradation and other damage to occur?        

     The verdict of this writer and model builder is that, while exaggerated painting and weathering techniques may have a lot of visual appeal, too often these days, realism is taking a back seat to artistic license.  A lot of current finishing techniques may be fun to apply and may look great, but its way too easy to overdo.  Less can be more.