2009 IPMS NATIONALS GALLERY

The 2009 IPMS/USA National Convention was hosted by the IPMS/Eddie Rickenbacker chapter from August 19 - 22 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Columbus, Ohio.  Click on the thumbnails to see our entries at the model contest.

Group Build

We created an entry for Class VIII. MISCELLANEOUS, category 850: IPMS Chapter/Group Entry. All entries.  Where all the other chapters entered collections - and really spectacular ones they were - our club project took the form of a narrative that we called Six Degrees of Separation in 1/48 Scale, which traced a hypothetical connection between UFOs and the F-117 Stealth Fighter.  This allowed each of us to contribute a few models, which fell within each builder's specialty and that could be found in a constant 1/48 scale, to the whole display.  The degrees were:

1. "UFO sightings become frequent in the late 1940s".  Glencoe reissue of Lindberg UFO by Mark McGovern, who also built the overall display.

2. "Military authorities conclude that the increasing alien presence poses a threat to National Security and..." F-80 built by Pete Misciasci.

3. "...A UFO is successfully brought down - the "Roswell Incident."" Antiaircraft tank built by Phil Misciasci.

4. "The wreckage of the spacecraft and the bodies of the crew are collected under tight security..." Testors Roswell Crash Site diorama built by Mike Edwards.

5. "...And loaded onto trucks that take them to the Groom Lake Research Facility or Area 51, that of course does not exist."  Trucks and armored personnel carrier built by Phil, with figures by Mark.

6. "There, the alien technology gleaned from the wreckage is employed in the development of the F-117 Stealth Fighter".  F-117 built by Mike.

Our entry didn't win a place award against its overwhelming competition.  It did garner the Pioneer Award as our first-time entry in this category.

Our Individual Entries

Class III. FIGURES, category 317: Conversions and Scratch-Built.  All scales all eras.  Mark's King Kong is in the back.

Class III. FIGURES, category 322: Fantasy. All entries #1.  Mark's Absorbing Man is in the back to the right.

Class III. FIGURES, category 327: Busts. All entries.  Mark's The Frankenstein Monster - 1935 bust looms in the rear.

Class VI. SPACE and SCIENCE FICTION VEHICLES, category 605: Science-Fiction and Fantasy vehicles from kits. All entries #1.  You can just make out Mike's Star Wars Snow Speeder behind the U.S.S. Excelsior in the middle of the top of the photo.

Class VI. SPACE and SCIENCE FICTION VEHICLES, category 605: Science-Fiction and Fantasy vehicles from kits. All entries #1.  Mike's Star Wars Speeder Bike is at lower right.

Class VI. SPACE and SCIENCE FICTION VEHICLES, category 606: Mecha (Gundams, robots, etc.) from kits. All entries.  Mark's Lost in Space Robot is nestled in the middle left.

Class VI. SPACE and SCIENCE FICTION VEHICLES, category610: Science-Fiction and Fantasy Vehicles, conversions and scratch-built. All entries.  Mike's Mamba Trans-Atmospheric Vehicle is at lower right.

Class VII. DIORAMAS, category 730: Figures, Vignettes (5 or fewer figures).  Mark's James Bond 007 & Oddjob vignette, "And He Never Misses".

Class VIII. MISCELLANEOUS,  category 860: Miscellaneous (Any subject, except dioramas, of any interest not provided for in any of the above categories, without restriction to scale or era). All other entries.  Mark's Bride of Frankenstein is at left.