Cincinnati Scale Modelers 2005

by Kevin Powers

Cincinnati Model Club held their invitational contest on Oct.29th.

The club had printed out flyers for the show months in advance and "seeded" them amongst other IPMS invitationals.

   Their website also contained  a registration form for the models and directions, which came in handy later on. The directions on the flyer were the usual within 30 miles type, which for people like me who lives 5 hrs away, had to do the ol' "mapquest" time.

   Having done that, however, I found that the directions mapquest gave me, made me think that the website would be better named "mapquest for a intersection".  So, I did it the old fashioned way and got out a road atlas.

  I found the place with no trouble.  The show was being held in a vocational center, in it's cafeteria.  A large space with plenty of tables and drink machines.  The raffle was very well stocked with a assortment of really good items.  The price was just right, at 50 cents a ticket, or 13 for 5.00. 

  A door prize ticket was given to each entrant, which the prize turned out to be a 50.00 shopping spree at any one of the vendor tables.  Which I won later on, to my liking, thanks goes out to my wife, who, in myabsent-mindedness, wasn't paying attention, and she pointed out that I had won it.

  The registration went fast, considering I had all my info already filled out.  It was $6 for the 1st model and a buck for each after.  I took 10, so, I assumed I would be paying more than $10, which turned out to be false.  They had a amendment to the flyer I had, which stated that If you had more than X amount, it was $10 for unlimited, and $9 for IPMS members.

  The categories were well split, ie: as in ships, 350th and larger, 350th and smaller, dioramas, etc....  There were a good mix of vendors and people just selling their discards.  The contest area closed at 12:30, for judging, which was done on time, or rather way ahead of time, due to a large amount of volunteers, to help the club judges.

 The forementioned flyer had a listing of a wide variety of feeding establishments within a 5 min or so drive from there.  I chose a Chinese buffet not far from there that my club and I went to the year before.

  The awards went really fast, they had placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd by each model and announced the juniors and the best ofs.   The flyer also said that the show would be over by 5, but, I guess do to the way the end ceremony was held and the large amount of volunteers for judging, the show was over a hr earlier, and out the door by around 4.

  The numbers I got for the show were 81 modelers, and 318 models.  I believe some a/c categories were split as well as armor.    Only a couple categories were globbed together, because it seemed to me, that almost every category had at least 3 entrants.

  The trip was long for me, but, due to the friendliness of the club, and my success rate in both the contest and the raffle, I will continue to return every year.

  I had really only one grievance about the show, and it was about the model registration slip, which had the "name here, fold and tuck under" type, which, although not in this case, could be used in a rather "home cooking" style of judging.