Trip report 2004 Phoenix Nationals
by Kelly Jamison

            The IPMS Nationals at Phoenix were a great success this year. You could tell that the Phoenix people took great pride in the job that they had taken on. The location of the National Convention was outstanding. The hall is sitting just a few hundred yards east of the wonderful Hyatt hotel. Major construction was going on in front of the hotel that snarled traffic and made you walk around the construction site to the exhibit hall rather than take the bridge that use to run out the front door of the hotel right to the front door of the exhibit hall. The Phoenix IPMS had no way of knowing that two years after winning the bid to hold the Nationals the convention center area would be under heavy construction. All in all it did not make that much difference unless you were trying to sleep in. The jackhammers made for a rude alarm clock in the early morning hours. The bar on the first floor became the makeshift triage for meeting people, developing hang-overs and connecting with industry big wigs.

            Once you head over to the hall your first stop was the registration booth. I can tell you that the volunteers there tried to do the best job they could despite computer problems. They were very polite and helpful to all questions. Once all monies were paid, you got a real nice name tag, worth a million dollars when you are trying to identify people by name throughout the whole convention.

            Now it is off to the vendors section. Wow! I had to resist the urge to run through the different vendor booths like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. The first stop was at the newly formed Nautilus model accessories. They had a laser cut real wood deck for the Revell 1/72 U-boat. They are also working on wooden decks for WWII era carriers. They will make a great base for all your naval aircraft. It was wonderfully crafted and you can expect other great things from this company.

            My eyes were drawn to the Revell/Monogram table and the new releases. The test shots for the F/A-18E looks promising and will be welcome when it hits the shelf. Noting the resurgence of 1/32 scale aircraft R/M has tackled an outstanding subject. A Heinkel He-162. The test shots look great. Even the little 1/144 scale E-2C Hawkeye looks like a blast to build.

            A quick spin to the right brought me across from Trumpeter and Stevens International who was sweating bullets because a lot of their stuff had not shown up yet. (Everything was there by Saturday morning) The immediate thing that caught my eye was the 1/48 scale P-40B/C test shots. Remember that these are only test shots and may be different when they hit the streets. To me it looked like a scaled down version of their 1/32 scale kit to include all the errors that the larger kit has. The 1/24 scale Fw-190D-9 could be an interesting build and hats off to Trumpeter for filling missing niche subjects. The 1/32 scale Su-27 was a real eye opener and should be a top seller. Wait for Cutting Edge to get their hands on this one. Other ship models on the horizon are the 1/72 scale LCM landing craft and two carriers, the USS Nimitz and the Soviet Carrier Kuznetzov. Both are in 1/350 scale.

            Testors has come out with a line of Acryl paints mixed especially for ships and submarines. This is very welcome for part time ship builders such as me.

            Chris Bucholz and team were there with Obscureco. The one eye opener at that booth was the 1/32 scale F2G Corsair conversion mastered by Rodney Williams. Obscureco was there with other new products too.

            I hit the CAM decal table and picked up a few sheets. And then headed down to the Eagle Edition booth and hooked up with Brett Green and Jerry Crandall. These two make a super team and later gave an awesome seminar on late war Luftwaffe colors that might change you mind about all you know about late war Luftwaffe colors. Eagle Editions hosted Col Bud Anderson who was signing his updated book “To Fly and Fight”. Col Anderson is a true hero and a very approachable guy. Merle Olmsted was also there and loved talking about his days as a crew chief. Both men can still connect with today’s youth and history buff. His son is also a great person and very helpful too. I enjoyed every minute of our conversation.

            Jules Bringuier from Classic Airframes was blowing everyone away with his latest line of kits and ended selling everything they had before going home. Vladimir from Edward told the story of how Edward was his childhood nickname and is easier to pronounce. The Czech guys were here in force to include CMK/MPM also made surprise announcements of a /48 scale injection molded Heinkel He 177 Greif and showed test shots of a I-16 Type 10 in 1/32. A bit of a departure for these guys are the cutaway plugs of U-boat interior shots. You get the center section interior and the torpedo tube section interior for the front of the boat. This will add to an already interesting model of the Revell 1/72 U-boat.

            Other vendors were selling almost anything you could ever want or have been looking for. From antique and collectables to those great Monogram kits of our childhood to the newest offerings and foreign resin kits. The vendors were easy to talk to and I had a great time bartering for that hard to find kit, decal sheet or aftermarket resin accessory. I could have been happy with just the vendors but the best was yet to come.

            I hopped down to the smartly dressed up TwoBobs Decals booth and talked to Bob Sanchez and also had the pleasure of meeting Eli Raphael of Albatross Decals at the same time. They are two leaders in the industry and two very nice guys to talk to. Bob recently left the Air Force to devote his full attention to TwoBobs so we can look forward to good stuff from them.

            One of my major scores was at the Black Box booth who was selling “grab bags” of resin parts. There were about 12 cockpits, 20 seats and many, many extra parts. I bought 4 bags and am now well supplied with resin “pits” for some time.

            Roy Sutherland started chasing me around with a remote control tank and had that evil laugh of delight in his voice. Roy’s work with 21^st Century toys is paying off with beautiful renditions of the Fw-190D-9, Spitfire and P-47. He has an entire line of aircraft that keep getting better and better. Roy keeps his artistic skills up with his Cooper Details. His detail sets are really beautiful stuff. Keep watching for Roy’s work.

            I continued to visit other vendors getting the scoop on some new products and squashing many rumors that are out there. Now it was time to head out to the display tables. I like the way the show was organized with the display area being curtained off with multiple entrances and exits.

The quality of kits was just stunning. These are truly the best modelers in the US along with a few imports from all over the world. Bondo Phil came with his usual resin masterpieces. Jeff Thompson from California showed up with a few aircraft displaying his mastery of silver paint jobs with a Boeing 307, F7F Firefighter Tanker and a Stratoliner that would just knock your socks off. The ship folks were out in force with a beautiful display of sailing ships that any museum would love to have.

Now the armor guys are bringing their art to a whole new level. These guys are unbelievable and we aircraft guys can take a lesson about weathering from them. The sci-fi area is growing more and more each year. Some of it serious and some of it is very funny. Cars are getting more and more popular with the kids and adults alike. The fit and finish on them are fantastic and should be marveled at.

The final count was 2034 entries which were outstanding and from what I understand it is the 3^rd largest IPMS National Convention that has ever been held. You would go down the rows of fantastic models and then start over at the beginning and see kits that you missed the first or even second time.

One of my best memories was when I was sitting down in the lobby of the hotel a nice old man and his wife sat next to me and started a conversation. He wanted to see the books and decal sheets I had bought earlier in the day. The man turned out to be Jim Sage. IPMS #000 and the man who started IPMS in the United States. What a very nice man and a true legend in our circle of the hobby. He was a true pleasure to converse with.

Another great guy to meet was David Hannant of the most excellent Hannants mail order hobby store. Kind of like the European version of Squadron Mail Order. Dave is a very funny guy and easy to talk to but not always easy to understand. The more pints we hoisted at the bar, the easier it became to understand Dave. Strange how that happens.

There were lots of good places to eat within walking distance and you usually ran into someone you knew at what ever restaurant you ended up at. New friends were made and new friends were formed. It was very nice putting faces with names.

Finally Saturday night came and the banquet got started. There it was announced that Kansas City would host the 2006 National Convention. More friends were made and many beers were downed. The usual banter from the announcers kept everyone laughing and the local TV station put together a great mini-movie.

Too soon it was time to go home. I was exhausted and very satisfied with the lifeblood of the hobby. I met more than one young person showing skill and knowledge of the subjects they modeled. I saw old friends and connected with others that I had only met on the internet. If you ever get to meet M2’s own Roger Jackson, enjoy the treat. He is a great guy. Special thanks to Jim Clark and the always funny and generous Mike Reeves for making me feel at home in Phoenix. A special thanks to Kent Roberts for pushing me to go in the first place. You guys are the best.

My final recommendation is if you ever have the chance to go to a National event. DO IT! The people are truly very nice, knowledgeable and professional. You will make friends for life, learn things you didn’t know, change your opinion on things you thought you did know. It was a good time.