Show Report: Panzerfest 2003
The final show that I will be able to attend this year was held Saturday, November 8, in Plymouth, Michigan: Panzerfest 2003, hosted by the Michigan Military Modeling Society. This year’s show featured a new location, the Plymouth Elks lodge on Ann Arbor Road, less than a mile from Exit 28 on I-275. Even though the contest is limited to armor builders and figure painters, the show is also a great time for the aircraft modeler. The weatherman cooperated and provided cool but pleasant weather, and sunshine was the order of the day.
The show was well publicized as show fliers were readily available at numerous other shows, and regional hobby shops. I saw fliers at numerous IPMS shows, and at the AMPS in Havre de Grace MD. Show information was also readily available on the club web site: http://www.armorclub.org. Check it out in the near future for pictures of the contest and the winning models, and for photos of last year’s contest.
This Year’s theme was: “Celebrating the T-34, The Star of Kursk, 1943“. Aiding in the Celebration was a special program by Soviet armor expert, Cookie Sewell.
Cookie’s PowerPoint presentation on the T-34 was very informative, as he not only presented the facts about all variants of the vehicle, but also discussed the political intrigue involved in the design and development of the T-34 and the KV series of Russian Tanks. The dealings of the Soviet political bosses, including Stalin, made for a fascinating presentation, even for this die hard aircraft person. If you get a chance to see one of Cookie’s presentations, I highly recommend it.
The show flier covered everything you needed to know, with registration beginning at 9:30 AM, and closing at 1:00 PM, and the awards presentation beginning at 4:00 PM. The contest featured 19 categories, with numerous special awards, including People’s Choice, the usual two Best of Show Awards. Judging was conducted by teams under the “Open System”, which is implemented quite differently than competitors see at the majority of IPMS events.
For those uninitiated to the AMPS open judging system, judging of all entries begins immediately after the model is registered. The entries are presented to judging teams in a closed area, where each one is evaluated on an individual basis. Upon completion of judging, the models are placed in the display area by the judges.
Following the closure of registration, gold, silver, or bronze awards are placed by the deserving entries, and the special award winners are then determined by the judging team and are presented at the end of the show.
Entry fees were $10 for 2 models, with $1 for each additional entry. General Admission was $1 (such a deal!). Event t-shirts, a hallmark of Panzerfest and AMPS competitions, were available for $15. And, they were available in the typical modeler sizes: XL, 2, 3, and 4XL. Smaller sizes were available too, if you really needed them…
The venue had separate rooms for the contest, registration, and the featured speaker, with the raffle sharing the vendor room. Because Panzerfest was the last show of the year for many of the vendors, the prices were, as Elmer Fudd would say, “Unbewievable!”. Discounted plastic, resin, decals and etched metal detail sets dominated the room, and many new armor releases were available. If you forgot your checkbook, shame on you.
The prices were so good, what little cash I had didn’t last long (Cleveland was last week you know!). Thank heavens Mark Klutchko of Michigan Discount Models accepts plastic. One new item of note was Dragon’s T-34/85. Apparently it is quite accurate, and after Cookie’s presentation, these kits didn’t last long.
The raffle was outstanding, with numerous armor kits, gift certificates and two Trumpeter 1/32 scale F-105 Thunderchiefs. The special raffle included a framed print of Michael Whittman, German tank ace, a Pace spray booth, and a pair of tickets to the November 9th, Detroit Lions/Chicago Bear’s Game at Ford Field. I must say that at first, I wasn’t too disappointed when I didn’t win the Lions tickets. Then they mentioned that it wasn’t a popular item, only selling 6 tickets. I think that I bought 5 of them. Hmmm, guess I’ll go buy some lottery tickets.
Tickets were $1 each for the regular raffle, $2 each for the Whittman print and the Lion’s tickets, and $5 for a chance at the spray booth. Any unclaimed prizes were raffled again until a winner was called, a real nice touch.
The contest room was very well lit, but the tables were not elevated. The quality of the entrants was exceptional with few models not receiving at least a bronze award. Numerous scratch built entries were present, and many were 1/16 and larger.
Gold, Silver, and Bronze dog tags were placed next to the deserving entry, as determined in the open judging phase, with plaques being given for the special awards, and a large trophy awarded to the best large scale armor entry.
Rick Forys announced the special awards accompanied by an excellent PowerPoint presentation featuring photographs of the special awards winners. They were:
Best Junior: James Bouchey
Best Large Scale: M-4 Sherman, Steve Stone
Best Small Scale: Panzerhaubitze 2000, Rick Carlson
Best Armored Car: Lynx, Rick Carlson
Best Towed Artillery: Steve Watson
Best Self Propelled Artillery: M7 Priest, Steve Watson
Best Conversion: FART, Chuck Stewart (Fast Armed Reconnaissance Tractor)
Beat Half Track: Jake Kasanka
Best Soft Skin: SAS Jeep, Brad Zublin
Best Light Tank: Kevin Kenny
Best Winter Camo: Barry Gazo
Best Figure: Sean Tobin
Best Diorama: Greg Harchuk
Most Realistic Finish: Greg Harchuk
Best German Armor: RSO, Bob Smith
Best Russian Armor: T-80, Greg Harchuk
Best US Armor: M-7, Steve Watson
Best T-34: Robert Gajewski
People’s Choice: Vern Beck, Sherman Diorama
Judge’s Best in Show was awarded to Greg Harchuk of Cleveland for his Diorama: Look What We Found, a group of American soldiers liberating some German wine, and some anti-tank weapons-Panzerfausts. Very well executed, IMHO.
The festivities closed shortly before 5:00 PM, and you bet that I will be there next year.