Show Report: MODCON VI: November 13, 2004

By Jim Bonanni

Hosted by the North Central West Virginia Scale Modelers, MODCON VI was held Saturday November 13, 2004 at the Ramada Inn, Morgantown, West Virginia. This was my first time at the show, and I must say that view up the driveway leading to the hotel is quite impressive, with the large red brick colonial structure dominated by four huge white columns supporting the roof guarding the entrance to the hotel. The weather was beautiful, as Morgantown was bathed in the November sunshine, making it a perfect day for the contest, and the college football fans who came to see Boston College take on the hometown favorite WVU Mountaineers. Needless to say, the contest attendees had a much better day than the eers’ fans, as WVU went down to defeat. A large contingent from 3 Rivers IMPS (Pittsburgh) attended the contest, and we were able to visit with former members who moved from the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela to the hills of West Virginia. Scale modeling is doing well in West Virginia, as there were numerous attendees, with a nice number of entries in all categories.

The show was fairly well publicized as fliers were available at other shows. The show flier was issued in two forms, one a single sheet with limited information--the one I had--and a four page flier closer to show date. I was not able to find the latter one at any shows, nor was I sent any to distribute to my local club (I am a chapter contact). Show information was readily available on the club web site: http://ncwvsm.freeservers.com, and under upcoming events at http://ipmsusa.org/. The show flier I had covered the usual info, but I would recommend that next year, they print the street address of the venue, for those who wish to use Yahoo Maps, MapQuest or other map search engines. I had to go to the Ramada Inn web site and track down the inn, and get the address for a map search.  I’m not complaining, it just would have been much easier.

Set up time for the vendors was not listed on my flier, but contest registration began at 10:00 AM. The contest featured 45 regular categories with 16 in autos, and 12+ “best of awards’ including Peoples Choice, and the two Best of Show Awards: Junior and Adult.

Entry fees were $7 for the first model, with $1 for each additional entry. General Admission was $5 (12 yrs. and over). Registration closed at 1:00 PM, with judging beginning at 1:15 PM and the awards ceremony beginning at 4:10 PM.

While the contest was located in the hotel ballroom, the vendors were in three areas: in the ballroom adjacent to the contest area, in the hallway outside the ballroom, and at the first landing area on the massive staircase that went up from the lobby to the atrium in front of the ballroom. As the majority of vendors were on the ballroom level, it was fortunate that a freight elevator was available for their use. There was a nice mix of commercial and others selling out of private collections. Some good prices were to be found in both areas, and I must say that I controlled myself very well, but couldn’t resist a copy of Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War for $30.

Registration was in the atrium in front of the ballroom, along with raffle ticket sales and a “guess the number of engines” contest: a large clear plastic pretzel container filled with the plastic power plants. (Say that 5 times real fast!)

The raffle was top notch, and there were numerous items, with the show flier listing over $4000 in raffle prizes. Many new kits and accessories were available. Tickets were 3 for a dollar in the regular raffle, and $1 each (I think) for the special raffle. When I purchased my tickets, I asked how much the tickets were, and they only mentioned the three for a dollar variety. I wasn’t aware of the special raffle until they were drawing it. The can for dropping the special tickets and the prizes were on the floor under the regular raffle prizes. Oh well, I’ll look for it next year. Another item of note was that I saw a number of people who went to the registration desk and received some free raffle tickets by giving the registrar an orange slip of paper. An inquiry yielded the following explanation: the slip was mailed out with a show flier. If you brought one of these slips and presented it to the registration desk, you received two regular raffle tickets.  If you brought another person to the show, they gave you four free raffle tickets. It is definitely a great way to promote the show.

Raffle items were divided into two categories, auto and military, and were raffled off by the half hour, beginning at 11:30 AM and ending at 4:00 PM. Any unclaimed prizes were raffled again until a winner was called. They definitely need to go to a larger container for the tickets next year, as the 2 lb. coffee can was almost full when I dropped mine before the first raffle at 11:00 AM. I don’t know how they could mix them or how anyone could get their hand to the bottom of the can later in the raffle without spilling them all over the floor.

I didn’t see a make and take, but there was a coloring contest for the kids, as well as the adults. I didn’t enter, as Mr. Crayola and I never got along, even in kindergarten.

The contest room was fairly well lit for a hotel ballroom, however, the tables were not elevated, and this made viewing the figure category difficult for those of us with bad knees. My count showed that well over 300 models were entered in the competition. I don’t know the final number, but I saw the numbered forms on registration desk were over the 320 mark when I checked shortly after noon.

Although the show is located close to I-79, and Morgantown, there are not a lot of places to go for lunch. The only food on the premises was the hotel bar and restaurant, and there were no other eateries in the immediate area that I am aware of.  One of the vendors asked a friend to make a McD or BK stop, and we found out it was about a 5 mile trip. Fortunately the food at the hotel was quite good, and reasonably priced.

On the front page of the flier is a picture of the “wall of trophies”, over $3500 worth. They aren’t kidding, the trophies are many, and large, very large: much bigger than my old bowling trophies. First, second and third place trophies were awarded in the regular categories with trophies resembling a chalice being given for the special awards. Best in Show had to be at least five feet tall.

The award ceremony began with the juniors, followed by the regular categories, and ending with the special awards. Best Junior was won by Callie Yost for a ‘63 Corvette, Best Aircraft and Best Interior was won by Dwayne Ward of IPMS Western Reserve for his P-47 Razorback Thunderbolt. Best Finish went to Cesar Rodriguez for his Tiger I, “711”, and Judge’s Best in Show was awarded to Mike Fickenmayer for an outstanding shadow box of a Gundam titled: Maintaining the Creature.

The show closed shortly before 5:00 PM.

Other items of note were that no members of NCWVSM were allowed to compete in the contest, and the hall was open during judging. However, the one item that I liked was that the judges were not allowed to handle the models. There is nothing worse than a judge’s fingerprint that attacks a clean, smooth finish.

Hats off to the NCWVSM. They put on a great show, and were very hospitable. I must say that I will definitely attend the MODCOM VII, which I believe will be scheduled sometime next November.