2009 IPMS USA Nationals Model Contest Photos and Report by Wayne Bowman
  For corrections or to supply additional information, email: contributions(at)onthewaymodels.com
The 2009 IPMS/USA National Convention, hosted by IPMS Eddie Rickenbacker (Columbus, Ohio), was held from August 19th through August 22nd, 2009.

I have not been to every IPMS USA NATS, but I have heard that this one tops them all in terms of Braille Scale entries at a staggering 122 by my count (others counted as many as 135), requiring several splits due to the large number of entries. Here's the stats:

  • Out-of-Box: 9
  • Conversions: 5
  • Scratchbuilt: 3
  • Fully Tracked: 46
  • Armoured Cars/Halftracks: 20
  • Other Softskins: 32
  • Dioramas: approx. 5
  • Misc: 2
  • TOTAL - roughly 122

There was also an informal Braille Scale get-together
with 19 modellers showing to discuss Braille modelling.

  • Ashley Aberbnathy
  • Will Alcott
  • Dave Bailey
  • Wayne Bowman
  • Bob Bryden
  • Rick Carlson
  • Mark Clegg
  • William Dingle
  • Ian Dow
  • Rick Forys
  • Steve Freeman
  • Tim Howell
  • Harvey Low
  • John "Doc" Maydak
  • Bill Powers
  • John Robinson
  • Peter Sisung
  • Jim Stevens

Kneeling row:
1st from the left - Dave Bailey (red shirt),
2nd from the left - Harvey Low (dark blue shirt),
2nd from right - Steve Freeman (tan vest),
end of the row right - Peter Sisung

Standing row:
1st from the left - Bill Powers (aqua shirt),
2nd from the left - Wayne Bowman (Iguana t-shirt),
3rd from the left - Rick Carlson (white shirt),
6th from the right - Rick Forys (olive green t-shirt),
5th from the right - Ian Dow,
4th from the right - Will Alcott,
2nd from the right - Tim Howell,
end of the row right - William Dingle

(Editor's Note 1: Below is an excerpt taken from the official winners list for the 2009 IPMS USA National Contest, added here to hopefully help identify some of the pictures that follow.)


II. Military Vehicles
211. Armored half-tracks and armored cars, 1/49 and Smaller
1st Place       BTR-80-APC                     Ken Guntin, Marietta, Georgia
2nd Place       Spahpanzer 2A2 Luchs       Rick Carlson, Erie, Pennsylvania
3rd Place       Humber Armored Car          Bill Powers, Birmingham, Alabama
Premiere        M35 Gun Truck "Nancy"      Will Alcott, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

II. Military Vehicles
217. Soft Skinned Miliary Vehicles, 1/49 and Smaller
1st Place       Humvee                     Ian Dow, Livonia, Michigan
2nd Place       RSP-7 Radar              Rick Carlson, Erie, Pennsylvania
3rd Place       LRDG Chevy Truck       Harvey Low,  Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Premiere        DUKW                        Richard Guetig,  Louisville, Kentucky

225. Fully tracked, 1/49 and Smaller, Through Korea (1953)
A. German
1st Place       Brummbar                        Harvey Low, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2nd Place       Jagdpanther 'Red 133'       Steve Hustad, Eden Prairie, Minnesota
3rd Place       Nashorn                          Coy Koontz, Merritt Island, Florida
Premiere        Stug-IV                           Ian Dow, Livonia, Michigan

II. Military Vehicles
225. Fully tracked, 1/49 and Smaller, Through Korea (1953)
B. Other
1st Place       M24 Chaffee              William Dingle, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2nd Place       Sherman Firefly          Joe Koenig, Virginia Beach, Virginia
3rd Place       T-34/76 Mod-40         Tim Treadway, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Premiere        Matilda II                   Steve Freeman, West Bloomfield, Michigan

II. Military Vehicles
226. Fully tracked, 1/49 and Smaller, Post Korea (post-1953)
A. Temperate-Climate Finish
1st Place       Ariete MBT                         Wayne Bowman, Beeton, Ontario, Canada
2nd Place       M60A3                              Ken Guntin, Marietta, Georgia
3rd Place       Panzerhaubitze 2000            Rick Clark, Erie, Pennsylvania
Premiere        Leopard II Recovery Vehicle  Tom Koprowski  Cleveland, Ohio

II. Military Vehicles
226. Fully tracked, 1/49 and Smaller, Post Korea (post-1953)
B. Desert Finish
1st Place       Challenger II          Steve Macey, Woodbury, Minnesota
2nd Place       Challenger II         Ashley Abernathy, Glen Allen, Virginia
3rd Place       IDF M50, Late        Steve Collins, Glendale, Arizona
Premiere        M2A2 Bradley         Ian Dow, Livonia, Michigan

II. Military Vehicles
228. Conversions, 1/49 and Smaller
1st Place       Centaur Dozer               Bill Powers, Birmingham, Alabama
2nd Place       Jagdpanzer IV/70A        Harvey Low, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3rd Place       M51 Super Sherman       Philip Hui, Alpharetta, Georgia
Premiere        M728 CEV                     Will Alcott, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

II. Military Vehicles
234. Scratch Built, 1/49 and Smaller
1st Place       Bison II                                 Harvey Low, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2nd Place       MAZ 5376 with ChMZAP 9990   Rick Carlson, Erie, Pennsylvania
3rd Place       AEC Mk.III                             Ronald Bell, Columbus, Ohio

II. Military Vehicles
256. Out-of-the-Box Armored Tracked and Half-tracks, 1/49 and Smaller
1st Place       Challenger II          Ian Dow, Livonia, Michigan
2nd Place       Maus                   Joe Koenig, Virginia Beach, Virginia
3rd Place       Char B1                Bob Guoni, West Chester, Pennsylvania
Premiere        PzKfw-38t             Wayne Bowman, Beeton, Ontario, Canada

II. Military Vehicles
257. Out-of-the-Box Armored Wheeled and Soft Skinned, 1/49 and Smaller
1st Place       Panhard PzKfw-204(f)      Bill Powers, Birmingham, Alabama
2nd Place       M8, 2nd AD                   Kevin Degenkolbe, Colorado Springs, Colorado
3rd Place       SdKfz 234/2 Puma           Victor Eroschenko, Moscow, Idaho
Premiere        BA-3 Armored Car            Richard Guetig, Louisville, Kentucky

VII.  Dioramas
724. Armor Dioramas and Vignettes, 1/49 and Smaller
1st Place       Another Cold Windy Day at the Eastern Front       Steve Hustad, Eden Prairie, Minnesota
2nd Place       Revenge is Coming                                          Richard Guetig, Louisville, Kentucky
3rd Place       This is My Goat                                               Mike Fleckenstein, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Premiere       "Baa-ttle of Britain"                                           Steve Freeman, West Bloomfield, Michigan

Art Gerber Best Military Vehicle, Sponsored by: Lt. Alexander Pearson Modelers in memory of Roderick "Pete" Forest III
1/72 scale scratch built Bison II, Harvey Low, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

(Editor's Note 2: The Small Scale Armor categories included all subjects scaled at 1/49 or smaller and as such some of these pictures may or may not be 1/72 scale items. If anyone knows of any that are not 1/72 scale, or if anyone has further pictures to contribute from this contest please feel free to contact the OTW staff at contributions(at)onthewaymodels.com.)

(Editor's Note 3: Below are photographs from the competition supplied by Wayne Bowman. Wayne was able to identify some of the entries and one was identified by its paperwork. There are many more that need to have a builder's name attached to them. We can make an educated guess on the remainder but it would be preferable to get a positive identification to avoid errors and ruffled feathers.)

AEC.jpg
Wayne Bowman's Ariete
Ariete_WayneBowman.jpg
Armo_AAV-7A1.jpg
Will Alcott's M35 Gun Truck
Armo_M35_GunTruck_WillAlcott.jpg
Ba_ArmouredCar_1.jpg
Ba_ArmouredCar_2.jpg
Ba-3.jpg
Harvey Low's Bison II
BisonII_BestArmourInShow_HarveyLow.jpg
Bradley_1.jpg
Bradley_2.jpg
Ian Dow's Bradley IFV
Bradley_IanDow.jpg
BTR-80.jpg
BTR-D.jpg
Steve Freeman's Canadian Leopard 1A2
Canadian_Leopard.jpg
Challenger_1.jpg
Challenger_2.jpg
Challenger_3.jpg
Challenger_4.jpg
Dragon_T-34-85.jpg
Emhar_MkIV_male.jpg
Ferdinand.jpg
Fuchs.jpg
HMMWV_1.jpg
Ian Dow's HMMWV
HMMWV_2.jpg
IMG_5120.jpg
IMG_5129.jpg
IS-3.jpg
ISherman_1.jpg
ISU-122.jpg
ISU-152.jpg
Italeri_DUKW_1.jpg
Italeri_DUKW_2.jpg
Italeri_M8_1.jpg
Italeri_M8_2.jpg
Italeri_SdKfz234-2.jpg
Italeri_T-62.jpg
Jagdpanther.jpg
Jagdpanzer_IV.jpg
Jeep_and_trailer.jpg
Harvey Low's LRDG Chevy Truck
LRDG_HarveyLow.jpg
M109.jpg
M12.jpg
William Dingle's M24 Chaffee
M24_WilliamDingle.jpg
M3.jpg
M46.jpg
M54.jpg
M60A3.jpg
Will Alcott's M728
M728_WillAlcott.jpg
Marder_Roland.jpg
Mars_AEC_4x4.jpg
Steve Freeman's Matilda II
Matilda.jpg
Matilda_2.jpg
Maus.jpg
Merkava.jpg
Nashorn.jpg
Panther_Schmalturm.jpg
PanzerHaubitze_2000.jpg
Wayne Bowman's Pz. 38(t)
Pz38t_WayneBowman.jpg
PzKpfw_III.jpg
Steve Hustad's
Another Cold Windy Day at the Eastern Front
Roden_OpelBlitz_dio.jpg
RPM_Staghound_MkIII_conversion.jpg
SdKfz11_Howitzer.jpg
SdKfz251.jpg
SdKfz7_with37mmAA.jpg
Sherman_1.jpg
Sherman_2.jpg
Sherman_3.jpg
Sherman_Firefly.jpg
Sturmgeschutz_IV.jpg
SU-85_1.jpg
SU-85_2.jpg
T-34_1.jpg
T-34_85.jpg
TigerII.jpg
Trumpeter_Char_B1bis.jpg
Trumpeter_M4A3E8.jpg
Wayne Bowman's Type 74
Type74_WayneBowman.jpg
unknown_1.jpg
Valentine_1.jpg
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Article last updated 15 October 2009