2019 IPMS USA Nationals Report

2019 IPMS USA Nationals Report

The venue for the 2019 edition of the IPMS USA National Convention was the Chattanooga Convention Center. Hosts of the show was the Chattanooga Scale Modelers with assistance from Atlanta Scale Modelers and Marietta Scale Modelers. As per usual, the convention spanned four days, this year running from Wednesday, August 7 'til Saturday, August 10.

The contest theme was somewhat on the oddball side - "Was it Over When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor?". This historically inaccurate theme was inspired by a line uttered by Bluto, a character played by John Belushi, from the 1978 cult classic, "Animal House". The convention logo prominently suggests another oddball John Belushi role, that of Captain Wild Bill Kelso in his shark-mouthed P-40E, from the Spielberg film "1941".

The contest room was awe inspiring by its sheer size. Not having anything other than my 'golf stride' to measure their dimensions, I paced out the contest room at 100 yards by 56 yards. The vendor room was even larger, but the sheer mass of humanity in it at all times made it difficult to perform the same measurement method, so my best guess makes it at approximately 140 yards wide by 100 yards. Most impressive indeed!

A few statistics:

3,112 - Contest entries
177 - Contest categories
1,675 - Display Only entries
4,787 - Total models
961 - Registered attendees (i.e. IPMS/USA or other national IPMS members)
139 - Attendees for Display Only

Builders from: USA, Canada, Japan, Spain, Venezuela, Australia, U.K., New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Argentina (These are the countries of which I know. Probably missed a few)

No report of the Nats can be complete without mention of super brailler Mark Deliduka, aka "the Duke". Mark and his collection of 750 braille armour models was definitely the talk of the show. He was provided with a number of dedicated tables by the convention committee to the front right of the contest area just as you came through the entry. Mark said he needed four and one half hours to unpack and place them, and just under three hours to repack for travel, the time reduction due to, in Mark's word, "to some help from a wonderful couple and Chris Ekstrom". Not surprising, the convention executive gave him permission to break down his display early. Mark also said that he needed a van for transport, and not owning one, he rented a van for the almost coast-to-coast to-and-back treks between California and Chattanooga. All told, with a few side trips, he logged 4,813 miles for the round trip. Now that's what I call dedication!

And if you're into statistics, Mark accounted for approximately 45% of the display entries, and 16% of all models on the tables. Even more impressive!

An overall view of Mark's impressive
750 kit collection!

Here's Mark's Dora gun, dominating all of the
other vehicles with its sheer size. It's an
incredible model and I have to commend Mark
on his perseverance in building it. I know
I'd not have had the patience to see this one
through to completion.

Note the flag at bottom centre. It denotes
Mark's 1^st model, a Panzerjäger I.

A nice view of Mark's display, showing how
he divided his kits by nation, even providing
a flag with each, along with its name for those
who are flag identity challenged.

The Braille Gang

Contest Results - Dedicated Small Scale Armor categories plus others that had Small Scale Armour winners (taken from IPMS USA website).

218A. Armor; 1/72 Military Vehicles; Fully Tracked, through Korea - Allied: Soviet, WWI, French, and Stuart
   1^st - ISU-152 - Mark Kleinfelter, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
   2^nd - Mk.1 Male Tank, Gaza Strip - Tom Drysdale, London, Ontario, Canada
   3^rd - UE Chenillette - Chris Ekstrom, Columbia, Connecticut

218B. Armor; 1/72 Military Vehicles; Fully Tracked, through Korea - Allied: Other
   1^st - Sherman VC Firefly - Alan Boyd, Denton, Texas
   2^nd - Bishop Mk.1 - Roger Woods, Gastonia, North Carolina
   3^rd - Polish Vickers E Mk.B - Timothy Treadway, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

218C. Armor; 1/72 Military Vehicles; Fully Tracked, through Korea - Axis
   1^st - Tiger II - Mark Kleinfelter, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
   2^nd - PzKfw. IIJ - Allan Magnus, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
   3^rd - PzKfw. IIIM - Chris Juskey, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

218D. Armor; 1/72 Military Vehicles; Fully Tracked, through Korea - Other
   1^st - IDF Hotchkiss H-39 - Timothy Treadway, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

219. Armor; 1/72 Military Vehicles; Fully Tracked, post Korea
   1^st - M109A6 Paladin - Jeffrey Edge, Woodhaven, Michigan
   2^nd - M113 ACAV - James Elmore, Lawrenceville, Georgia
   3^rd - Merkava Mk.III - Alan Boyd, Denton, Texas

220. Armor; 1/72 Military Vehicles; Armored Cars and Armored Halftracks
   1^st - ASLAV-25 - Mark Kleinfelter, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
   2^nd - SdKfz. 250/5 - Chris Juskey, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
   3^rd - Rolls-Royce mod-1920 AC, RAF 1940 - Timothy Treadway, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

221. Armor; 1/72 Military Vehicles; Soft-skinned Military Vehicles
   1^st - Kubelwagen - Bill Powers, Birmingham, Alabama
   2^nd - Hf.2 Wagon - Allan Magnus, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
   3^rd - Stalwart Mk.II - Chris Ekstrom, Columbia, Connecticut

223A. Armor; Artillery Pieces - Guns
   1^st - 7.5cm FK7M85 - Allan Magnus, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
   2^nd - 8.8cm FlaK 36 - Herbert Horvath, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina
   3^rd - Italian Field Gun 105/28 - Harvey Low, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

228. Armor; Conversions and Scratch-built; All entries
   1^st - Canadian TLAV - Harvey Low, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
   2^nd - Diamond-T 4-ton Wrecker - David Falk, Greenville, Wisconsin
   3^rd - M32B1 - Mike McFadden, Scottsdale, Arizona

296. Armor; Out-of-the-Box; 1/72 AFVs, Open- and Closed-top
   1^st - PzKpfw. IF - Allan Magnus, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
   2^nd - French FT-17 - Tom Gaston, Ringgold, Georgia
   3^rd - Toldi-1 - James Elmore, Lawrenceville, Georgia

297. Armor; Out-of-the-Box; 1/72 Armored Cars, Halftracks, and Soft-skinned Vehicles
   1^st - Saladin Mk.2 - Philip Hui, Milton, Georgia
   2^nd - SdKfz. 231 - Thomas Moon, Houston, Texas
   3^rd - Jeep - Joe Dudek, Culver City, California

724. Dioramas; Armor; Dioramas and Vignettes, 1/49 and smaller
   1^st - Nothing Beats a Camel - Mike Fleckenstein, Fredericksburg, Virginia
   2^nd - Winter Exercises WW-I - Jorge Moreyra, Simpsonville, South Carolina
   3^rd - Tiger I Initial Production - Chad Bowser, Manheim, Pennsylvania

730B. Dioramas; Figures; Vignettes (no more than 5 figures) - Other
   1^st - Dragon Slayer - James Cox, Tallahassee, Florida
   2^nd - Zeus and Periphas - Maya Moreland, Jasper, Alabama
   3^rd - Will Someone Say Kadish for Them - Mike Fleckenstein, Fredericksburg, Virginia

820. Miscellaneous; Hypothetical; Kit-based (spurious markings on standard kit)
   1^st - Soviet Assembly Tank - Dana Smith, Weaverville, North Carolina
   2^nd - Do-335A-12 Nightfighter - Yoshida Masato, Saitama, Japan
   3^rd - German R-3p SAM - Gary Haars, Ooltewah, Tennessee

840A. Miscellaneous; Collections - Aircraft and Armor
   1^st - US Gun Motor Carriages, 1942-1950 - Philip Hui, Milton, Georgia
   2^nd - Ki-44 Shoki - Martin Jurasek, Oak Lawn, Illinois
   3^rd - Many Colors of the Bf-109 - Floyd Werner, Baltimore, Maryland

840B. Miscellaneous; Collections - Other
   1^st - European Swords Through the Centuries - Gregory Bowman, Titusville, Florida
   2^nd - Two Centimeters of Trouble - Allan Magnus, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
   3^rd - NASA Planetary Probes - Matthew Olsen, New Port Richey, Florida

860A. Miscellaneous; Miscellaneous - Tracked and Wheeled
   1^st - C&O GP39 Diesel Locomotive - David Sepos, Sharpsville, Pennsylvania
   2^nd - German BR 55 Locomotive - Alan Boyd, Denton, Texas
   3^rd - Recaptured Orient Express Train Dining Car - Paul Crawley, Marietta, Georgia

892. Miscellaneous; Out-of-the-Box; Miscellaneous (any subject not otherwise covered, except dioramas)
   1^st - Wurzburg Fose-65 Radar - Chris Derks, Alexandria, Virginia
   2^nd - German WW-I Krupp 21cm Morser - Tom Gaston, Ringgold, Georgia
   3^rd - American Bison - David Mason, Standish, Michigan

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Article Last Updated: 13 October 2019

www.onthewaymodels.com	2019 IPMS USA Nationals Report
			Article by - Al Magnus