Matt Bond, Kenneth Childres, Ron Leker, Rusty Nail, and Mike Warren attended the Atlanta Armor Modeling and Preservation Society/Atlanta Model Figure Show over the weekend of Friday February 19 to the 21st.  Brent Bristow was represented by proxy.  The AMPS/AMFS show is an annual show held at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center. 

Matt and Ron started off the trip early by getting a tour of the armor restoration area of Fort Benning, GA.  David Hobbs and others from Atlanta AMPS arranged a tour of the area and 19 people participated.  At 0900 on Friday, we met at the National Infantry Museum outside of Fort Benning and were taken on-base to the armor restoration area.  This is a complex of buildings that originally housed the Second Armored Division motor pool in the years leading up to World War II.   General George S. Patton himself walked these grounds.  Today, the area houses much of the armor that was previously displayed at Fort Knox, the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and other military bases.  Eventually, the armor will be displayed at the National Armor and Cavalry Museum, which will coexist with the National Infantry Museum at Benning.  

The facility houses over 200 pieces of armor dating from World War I through the Iraq wars.  Among this staggering collection are one of the very few remaining Tiger I tanks, a 100-year-old British Mark IV, and the only remaining T28 US Super-Heavy Tank prototype.  Not only were we able to see these awesome vehicles, we were able to climb onto, and even into, some of these beasts.  It was definitely a top-10 life experience.  Following the Fort Benning tour, Ron and I linked up with Rusty, Kenneth, and Mike at the show venue in Atlanta. 

The show is a joint venture between the Atlanta chapter of AMPS and the Atlanta Military Figure Society.  Vendor setup and registration begin Friday evening and the show continues until noon Sunday.  Several vendors were represented at the show, including Freetime Hobbies, John’s Models, and HobbyTown USA.    All of us came away with a little less money, but more plastic.  Aside from shopping, we took in the amazing quality of work that was represented in the model display room. 

The AMPS side of the show obviously included mostly armored fighting vehicles with a few dioramas and vignettes thrown in.  The figure side included several categories of figures from historical to sci-fi and horror.  Also included were dioramas, toy soldiers, and general models. 

A great aspect of the AMPS/AMFS show is that it is an excellent opportunity to interact with other modelers.    The show lasts much of the weekend and many of the attendees were staying at the Marriott.  Random elevator conversations about modeling, as well as more in-depth discussions in the hospitality suite were common. 

The show came to a close Sunday morning with the AMPS awards ceremony at 1100, and the AMFS ceremony at 1200.  All CASM member did well.  Matt received 3 Silvers and a Bronze from AMPS and Pewter award for models entered into the AMFS side.  Kenneth received 2 silver awards from AMPS and a silver from AMFS.  Ron received 2 AMPS bronze awards and a AMFS bronze and silver.  Mike entered only a single entry and scored big with a gold in AMPS and will now join Matt, Kenneth, and Ron and Advanced modelers in AMPS.  Brent received a AMFS silver and a bronze.  Rusty received a AMFS gold and was honored with the title of Show Master for winning gold medals in three consecutive AMFS shows. 

All-in-all it was an excellent show and we are all looking forward to attending next year. 

Rusty Nail recently painted up Abner Marin's Caracolilla bust, produced by Blackheart Enterprises. This bust earned Rusty a gold medal at the Atlanta Model Figure Show in February, and with this awared, he was named Show Master.

George Stephenson at Blackheart Enterprises asked Rusty to write an article on his paint up of the bust, and his article now appears on the Blackheart website. You find the find the article by clicking the banner link below.

Yesterday, March 5, Heather and I drove to Joplin, Missouri, for the model show held by the Four State Modelers Club. The drive from central Arkansas took about 4 hours, but it was an easy drive on interstate highways for most of the trip. Upon arriving, we ran into fellow CASM members Bob Hiatt and Robert Garton. Also in attendance from Arkansas were Michelle Garton and David Carter. Mona Hiatt, Ron Leker, Taryn Garton, and Aaron Howell entered the show by proxy.

The show had about 90 models entered, and I counted around 20 modelers. The show room at the Grace Baptist Church had plenty of room, and the lighting was very good. It reminded me of the room at the Arkansas Health Center we used for the Sproo-Doo a few years ago. There were a few tables in the entry way that had model kits for sale, mostly car and few military kits, but it appeared that a few older and hard to find kits were there for sale. The raffle had around 50 or so kits, and raffle tickets were only 50 cents. Bob bought several raffle tickets, and won quite a few kits.

I talked with several local modelers, and really enjoyed meeting a few new people in the hobby. They closed the show room for judging, and while there wasn’t another place at the venue to hang out, we had fun exploring Joplin, which is a really nice town. There are quite a few restaurants and stores in the area that are worth checking out.

The judging seemed to go very smoothly, and from my perspective, it appeared to be fair and consistent. I am very happy to say that all of the participants from Arkansas did very well, and Mona Hiatt received the People Choice and the Best of Show awards.

Overall, we  had a great time, and really enjoyed meeting the members of this club. Hopefully, we’ll be able to attend again next year, and maybe more CASM members will join us!

Here is a list of awards won by Arkansas modelers:
Mona Hiatt-1st place in Watercraft
1st and 2nd place in Large Scale
1st place in Miscellaneous
2nd place in Military
People Choice
Best of Show
Bob Hiatt-2nd and 3rd place in Watercraft
Brent Bristow-1st place in Sci-Fi
1st and 2nd place in Figures
Ron Leker-2nd and 3rd place in Sci-Fi
1st and 2nd in War Gaming
3rd in Large Scale
Robert Garton-1st place in Motorcycles
3rd place in Custom
Michelle Garton-2nd place in Motorcycles
2nd and 3rd place in Street Machines
3rd place in Factory
Taryn Garton-1st and 2nd place in Juniors
David Carter-2nd place in Vignettes
1st place in Military
2nd place in Aircraft
Aaron Howell-1st place in Vignettes
1st place in Dioramas
3rd place in Military

On February 6, 2016, I was featured as a guest on the local radio show Shane Plays. The show focuses on geek culture (sci/fantasy, comics, movies/TV, gaming, etc.) and in this episode, we talked about the hobby of scale modeling.

We discussed CASM, IPMS, competitions, the upcoming Sproo-Doo, commission work, and several other aspects of modeling.  As you can see from the photo, Captain America and Sarah Palin were fascinated by the topic!

The show is aired locally on 96.5 FM, and is also streamed on various services, including iHeart Radio and Krypton Radio. This episode can now be streamed or downloaded for free as a podcast, either from the Shane Plays website, or through iTunes. 

I am featured on the entire episode, but we don't really start talking about CASM and modeling until around 25 minutes into the interview. Hopefully, you will enjoy it.

As you can imagine, time on the radio goes by very quickly, and we only scratched the surface here. So far, the feedback from the show has been very positive, and I may be invited back in the future.

Thanks to Shane Stacks and his producer, Zach, for inviting me on the show!
-Brent Bristow

This review was done for IPMS, and is published on the IPMS website. The complete review can be found by clicking here.

Thanks to Moebius Models for providing the kit!

Here are the photos from the review.