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I wish there were ipms nats twice a year


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A lot of work is an understatement, not to mention the expense involved. Doing two a year would mean not as good a turn out for both more than likely as chances are people could only afford to go to one or the other, but not both. Now if you really want to do two shows, do IPMS USA Nats during the summer, then fly over to the UK and do ScaleModelWorld at Telford, UK during the fall. I have done that myself and it is a lot of fun. Plus, trips to the UK in the fall typically aren't as expensive as the summer months.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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What about attending/competing in some smaller local shows or shows within your State or a surrounding State to fill the void? I know its not high profile like the Nats but there are some good smaller local (within reason obviously) shows that can be fun and they would welcome the interest. Some of the work is top notch too with many of the builders having no interest in the Nats or larger competitions but with stellar builds nonetheless. Just an idea.

 

Cheers and HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR all!

Don

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1 hour ago, Don said:

What about attending/competing in some smaller local shows or shows within your State or a surrounding State to fill the void? I know its not high profile like the Nats but there are some good smaller local (within reason obviously) shows that can be fun and they would welcome the interest. Some of the work is top notch too with many of the builders having no interest in the Nats or larger competitions but with stellar builds nonetheless. Just an idea.

 

Cheers and HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR all!

Don

Couldn't agree more!

 

 

 

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Ditto above for in state trips.  One of the things I'm looking forward to when I finish working overseas for good is being able to hit up the in state shows.  Granted, living in the DFW area means two local shows a year, plus Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

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Yes Yes Yes the local IPMS shows throughout the year need your support. Living in the NOLA Area modelers are really lucky.  We have a great number of clubs/shows along the I-10 corridor. Between New Orleans, The Nawlins "North Shore" ( my club)  and Baton Rouge we have 3 clubs just within 75 miles. Now stretching from Pensacola to Houston 6 shows a year come to mind immediately. There were more but Mobile AL club has been absent the last year or 2, and Lafayette La did not have a 2016 show but they are hopefully coming back in 2017. Check the IPMS website for the upcoming shows in your area. I get together with the guys in the club and we drive over and make a day of it. It's a GREAT way to spend a Saturday...

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I went to my first Nats in Colorado a few years back and I was disappointed. I expected to see better deals (not a couple bucks under msrp for a dented box kit) from the vendors and the bigger sponsors to show up. I did enjoy the display of kits until I was asked to leave ten minutes from closing so the judges and members could talk about something. I doubt I'll ever go to another one.

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On 31/12/2016 at 6:52 AM, DarkKnight said:

is Scalemodleworld bigger  or smaller than the Nats, my main purpose for going is to admire the completed works of others

 

Scale ModelWorld (aka SMW) is physically a bigger show than the US Convention. It is located in the same place every year (since 1998) and has grown year on year. The concept is different though. From memory (I did the 2001 convention in Chicago), the US convention is divided roughly half and half into 'contest' and 'vendor' sectors. The contest can attract up to 2000 entries. However, there is very little tradition of 'display only' areas.

 

SMW reflects how most UK shows are organised. The primary floor area is taken up with displays from clubs. Then there are the vendors and the contest is actually a relatively small part of the show (in size if not importance).

 

There are around 5000 models on display each year - around 1000-1100 are on the contest tables and the rest can be seen on the club (Chapter) displays. We have a around 200 IPMS Branches and Special Interest Groups in the UK and most of them will put on a display of their work at SMW (by default each group is offered four tables, giving a nominal display area of 12x4). Add to that we have 20-30 overseas groups who put on displays too. We also attract around 200 vendors, ranging from the big guns like Airfix and Revell, to the small, specialist aftermarket manufacturers. Of those 200 vendors, just under a third of them are from outside the UK (mostly European, but with a sprinkling of Asian and North American vendors too).

 

The contest is a major international event these days and the list of major winners reflects that.

 

The same core team organises the show every year and we operate the event using volunteers from across the Branch and SIG network.

 

Regards,

John

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Also, maybe if people would support the Regional contest more it would help with the Nats attendance. I've been to a few region 6 contest and the turn out was much lower than what I thought they would be. I think any support of IPMS at any level, be it the local, regional or national, is a good thing. But alas, attendance seems to be down at most areas. But I think the odd thing is, at my local clubs annual show, they model count has gone up dramatically while the attendance has gone down. Seems fewer people are building more models. Go figure.

 

Bill

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On 12/30/2016 at 1:02 AM, DarkKnight said:

, I am disturbed to see in the latest IPMS journal a constant decrease in membership

Yeah...none of us are getting any younger.

 

However, I don't think IPMS membership is indicative of just how many modelers there are involved in the hobby. In the subdivision that I live in, there are at least 4 of us that are active model geeks...within like a 3 block area. There's bound to be one or two more.

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Concerning Scale Modelworld, it is a different vibe from USA Nationals, but it is I would say roughly the same size. Typically it runs 2 days instead of four and the emphasis is more towards SIG table displays and vendors rather than just the contest. Granted the contest is a primary point of the show, just like the USA Nationals, but floor space wise it tends to only take up maybe about 10 to 15% of the entire floor space (vendor, SIG, show) rather than the roughly 50/50 split seen at the US based shows. But, the SIG and club model displays, which aren't being judged in the competition itself are IMHO just as cool to look at. It is a very fun show to attend and you can make/meet lots of international friends from all over the world there.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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