Show Report: Cleveland Model Show 7: November 1, 2003

By Jim Bonanni, Shenango Valley Scale Modelers

Hosted by IPMS Western Reserve and IPMS John H. Glenn, Cleveland Model Show 7 was held Saturday November 1, 2003 at Kirtland High School, Kirtland Ohio, and as usual, it did not disappoint those who attended. For once, the weatherman cooperated and provided pleasant weather, as it was unseasonably warm on Ohio’s north coast. This made for a very comfortable day for all attendees. As usual, a large contingent from “The Buffcon Boys” of IPMS Niagara Frontier, 3 Rivers IPMS, and Shenango Valley IPMS were present. The IPMS national office was well represented by President Dave Morrisette, and Treasurer Ed Kinney. Ed entered his recently completed 1/32 Trumpeter F-105 Thunderchief, and the build may be seen on the IPMS/USA website. He has some interesting comments about the kit that are worth reading.

The show was well publicized as show fliers were readily available at numerous other shows, regional hobby shops and by direct mail to club contacts. Show information was also readily available on the club web site: http://www.loraincounty.net/halke/cms7/ . Check it out in the near future for pictures of the contest and the winning models.

The show flier covered the usual 5 W’s (Who-What-When-Where-Why), with directions and maps prominently displayed on the front of the flier. I would recommend that next year, they print the street address of the venue, for those who wish to use Yahoo Maps, MapQuest or Rand McNally Trip Maker. Set up began for vendors at 7:30 AM, with the general public being admitted at 9:00 AM. The contest featured 40 regular and 5 open categories, numerous special awards, most popular model, two Best of Show Awards: Junior and Adult, and the “Ace of Aces” award.

Entry fees were $7 for 2 models, with $1 for each additional entry. Juniors and Bantams were $3 for unlimited entries. General Admission was $1 (12 yrs. and over), with a $5 early entry fee was charged for early access to the vendors room. In the past we arrived early and stood outside the door until 9:00 AM, but this year, we lingered at McD’s enjoying the coffee. After registration, on to the vendors.

As Homer Simpson would say, “Ahhhhhh, the vendors.” Now located in the gymnasium, it was a pleasant change from the crowded hallways from past shows. CRM Hobbies from St. Louis was there, with a fine collection of resin figures, accessories, decals, photo etch, tools, putties, etc., etc, etc. If you needed a detail set, I’ll bet CRM had it there. R & J Hobbies from the Cleveland area was present with their discount priced “Great Wall of Plastic”, which covered one full side of the gym. There are few venues where they can display all of their kits. Pace enterprises came with their custom spray booths. If you haven’t seen them, they’re great, and come in different sizes for your specific needs. I wish they were available before I bought my booth, as I’d now have twice the booth for half the money. Oh well. Michigan Discount Models was also present, for lovers of fine armor books, kits and accessories. Rick Geithmann of Toledo displayed the latest resin kits from the world of hypothetical, theoretical, and actual aircraft, along with a number of new Kagero Publications. Other new items of note were the Trumpeter 1/32 Wildcats and Corsairs, and new Concord and Kagero aviation and military publications. There were a number of collector kits for sale, at reasonable prices, along with out of print magazines and books. This was a pleasant surprise, as it seems that the only place you see these now is on eBay.

The raffle was one of the best that I have seen in a long time. Items of note were a Pace spray booth, Dremels, Airbrushes, gift certificates and framed prints. The kits and accessories were new and great in number- I didn’t see anything out of someone’s musty old basement. Tickets were 50 cents each for the regular raffle, $2 each for the special raffle, and the super special raffle was $5. A “special value” combination of tickets could be purchased for $10. Items were raffled off by the half hour, beginning at 9:30 and ending at 3:00. Any unclaimed prizes were raffled again at 3:15 until a winner was called.

A make and take program was available for kids and novices, with a number of club members assisting. I was surprised by the number of kids at the make and take. I can safely say that a good time was had by the future masters of the hobby.

The contest room was very well lit, however, the tables were not elevated, and with the numerous entries, were a bit crowded. At last count, over 300 models were entered in the competition (I don’t know the final number), and the quality of the entries was very high, approaching that seen at a regional competition.

First, second and third place plaques were awarded in the regular categories with plaques being given for the special awards. Open judging was implemented in the open, junior and bantam categories, and gold, silver and bronze medallions were given for deserving entries. There wasn’t a junior or bantam who went home empty handed: great encouragement for the kids.

The contest followed the published show schedule, with registration closing at 12:30 and judging immediately following. The judges were chose from numerous clubs, with several national contest judges participating..

The show is located very close to I-90, with numerous eateries of all price ranges close by. Hobbytown USA is also nearby, necessitating a quick trip there at some point during the day. It was well stocked, and had a very good selection of kits. I was particularly impressed with their selection of Tamiya 1/24 scale autos. The host clubs also provided a list of Cleveland area hobby shops, with accompanying maps and directions--sounds like a good day trip, some Saturday.

The award ceremony began with the juniors and bantams, followed by the five open categories, and continuing through the regular categories, ending with the special awards. Best Junior was won by John Bonanni, with a 1/35 Scale Tamiya Marder III, Best Aircraft was won by Eric Larson, who returned to the area after living in Tennessee for a number of years. His Pro Modeler SB2C was truly a cut above the rest.

Judge’s Best in Show was awarded to Steve Stone for his Scratch built (I believe) 1/16 scale Sherman tank, an outstanding piece. I’ll bet that it will be at Panzerfest in Michigan next Saturday, November 8th.

The show closed shortly before 5:00 PM.

During the day, I asked a friend of mine what he thought. “Just another day in paradise,” he replied.…so…I guess a great time was had by all, and we look forward to Cleveland Model Show 8.