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2015 IPMS USA National Contest Report

Article by Al Magnus

2015 IPMS USA National Contest Report

The 2015 rendition of the IPMS USA National Convention, hosted this year by IPMS Eddie Rickenbacker (IPMS Columbus Chapter), was held at the The Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. The convention ran from Wednesday, July 22 to Saturday, July 25. I do not have an exact total of contest entries, but I have heard rumours of over 2,700.

As usual the show Small scale armour was well represented. A count of the entries totalled in the neighbourhood of 155, probably more, as I'm sure some were missed during the head count. Quality was excellent overall showing that there are a passel of great builders out there, rivalling anything that can be found in the larger scales of "the Dark Side"!

As for the venue, the Columbus Convention Center was more than acceptable except for the contest room, which suffered from some not so stellar lighting. Many of the photographs I took were a bit too dark or suffered from deep shadows when I did find a subject with enough lighting - which explains the relative paucity of model pictures in this report.

Once again the highlight of my convention was the Small Scale Armour Rendezvous, hosted by yours truly. Originally scheduled for 5pm on the last day (Saturday), I was surprised to see that the convention handout had it listed at 4pm. After a few emails were exchanged with the organizer of the room the 5pm date was confirmed as correct. I was worried that the two differing times would affect the turnout. In the end I needn't have worried and the meeting went as scheduled with a record number of 23 participants.

The biggest disappointment came with the lack of small scale items on the vendor tables. I was hoping that an eastern venue, which I have been told by some almost always draws a larger number of contestants when compared to western venues, would bring out a respective larger number of vendors with small scale armour - but that was not the case. So most of my purchases were for a few accessories (like the excellent metal chain from Hawk Graphics which I have reviewed here) and tools, with the end result that my wallet was a tad thicker with unspent cash than it usually is at the end of a convention.


BA-1
 
 

USMC M19 Halftrack
Mike McFadden
Cat.211B 1st place

SdKfz 231 8-rad
Bill Powers
Cat.211A 1st place

HEMTT
Bill Powers
Cat.217 1st place

8.8cm Flak36
Al Magnus
Cat.223B 3rd place

M1A1 Abrams with mine plow
Ian P. Dow
Cat.226 A 1st place

M41A3 Walker Bulldog
Will Alcott
Cat.226A 2nd place

T-72B ERA
John Shimek
Cat.226B 2nd place

T-93 GMC
Philip Hui
Cat.228 2nd place

Mk.I male H.M.L.S. Sir Archibald
John Brubaker
Cat.256 3rd place

Minnesota DNR M5 Tractor
Clint Williams
Cat.724 3rd place

Minnesota DNR M5 Tractor
Clint Williams
Cat.724 3rd place

Minnesota DNR M5 Tractor
Clint Williams
Cat.724 3rd place

Dora
Mark Deliduka
 

Ford GPA
Mark Deliduka
 

Ka-Mi
 
 

M113A1 ARVN
Will Alcott
 

M4A3 (105) Sherman
Will Alcott
 

Mk.IV female
Al Magnus
 

M3A3 Stuart
 
 

Crusader tank
with sunshades
 
 

M3 Stuart
 
 

JS-3
 
 

Type 59
Will Alcott
 

Trattore Leggero TL.37
 
 

PzKpfw III
 
 

Somua S35
 
 

T-34/76
 
 

T-34/85
 
 

Tiger II
 
 

Small Scale Armour Award Winners (taken from IPMS USA site)


 Category: 211, Armored Cars and Armored Halftracks (all eras) 1/49 and smaller, Split: A, Armored Cars
1st - Sdkfz 231, Bill Powers, Birmingham, AL
2nd - SdKfz 222, Rick Forys, Plymouth, MI
3rd - Humber Mk.II, Iain Fraser, Burlington, Ontario

 Category: 211, Armored Cars and Armored Halftracks (all eras) 1/49 and smaller, Split: B, Halftracks
1st - M-19 USMC Halftrack, Mike McFadden, Glendale, AZ
2nd - SdKfz Ausf D, David Wrinkle, Beavercreek, OH
3rd - 2510 Flamethrower Halftrack, Gary Majchrzak, Lake City, MN

 Category: 217, Soft-skinned Military Vehicles 1/49 and smaller
1st - HEMTT, Bill Powers, Birmingham, AL
2nd - Fiat SPA TM 40 Artillery Tractor, Hugh Gilliland, Thorold, Ontario, Canada
3rd - GPA, Mike McFadden, Glendale, AZ

 Category: 223, Artillery Pieces all scales, Split: B, Axis
1st - PAK 43/3 L71, Sergio Lorenzano, Neuquen, Argentina
2nd - SFH 18/40, John Kesner, White Lake, MI
3rd - 8.8 cm Flak36, Allan Magnus, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

 Category: 225, Fully Tracked (all types) 1/49 and smaller, through Korea, Split: A, Axis Vehicles
1st - Jagdpanther, Mike McFadden, Glendale, AZ
2nd - Neubaufahrzeug Nr. 3, John Bonanni, Pittsburgh, PA
3rd - Ka-Mi, Dennis Tennant, Chesapeake, VA

 Category: 225, Fully Tracked (all types) 1/49 and smaller, through Korea, Split: B, Allied Vehicles
1st - M4-A1 76mm, John Shimek, Canton, OH
2nd - M4 105mm RBCEO, Will Alcott, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3rd - British Mk.I, Battle of the Somme, Michael Petty, Kilmarnock, VA

 Category: 226, Fully Tracked (all types) 1/49 and smaller, post Korea, Split: A, NATO Vehicles
1st - M1A1 Abrams with Mine Plow, Ian P. Dow, Livonia, MI
2nd - M41A3 Walker Bulldog, Will Alcott, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3rd - Leopard C1, Iain Fraser, Burlington, Ontario


 Category: 226, Fully Tracked (all types) 1/49 and smaller, post Korea, Split: B, Warsaw Pact and Russian Vehicles
1st - T-59, Will Alcott, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2nd - T-72B, John Shimek, Canton, OH
3rd - DS-1, Mark Deliduka, Rowland Heights, CA

 Category: 228, Conversions and Scratch-built all types and eras
1st - Crossley Fire Tender, Mark Muller, Westerville, OH
2nd - T-93 Gun Motor Carriage, Philip Hui, Milton, GA
3rd - Horch Ambulance, Monte Kelch, Milford, OH

 Category: 235, Multi- or Towed Vehicles, non-diorama display all types and eras
1st - WC 52 Beep and Trailer, Chris Toops, Lancaster, OH
2nd - SdKfz Famo & 21cm Morser 18, Joe Koenig, Virginia Beach, VA (1/72 scale)
3rd - Churchill Crocodile Flamethrower, Jim Mesko, Akron, OH

 Category: 256, Out-of-the-Box Closed-Top AFVs, 1/72
1st - Renault FT-17, Allan Magnus, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
2nd - M-26, Philip Hui, Milton, GA
3rd - HMLS Sir Archibald, John Brubaker, Mesa, AZ

 Category: 257, Out-of-the-Box Armored Cars and Halftracks, 1/72
1st - BTR-80 APC, Ian Fraser, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
2nd - Jeep 4x4, Kevin Degenkolbe, Colorado Springs, CO
3rd - White-Laffy AMD, Jose Luis Crespo, Nevquen, Argentina

 Category: 258, Out-of-the-Box Soft-Skin Vehicles, 1/72
1st - LRDG Truck, John Brubaker, Mesa, AZ
2nd - Bedford QLD, Marty Sanford, Placerville, CA
3rd - SS-21 Topol, Mark Deliduka, Rowland Heights, CA

 Category: 724, Armor Dioramas and vignettes, 1/49 and smaller
1st - Auf Weidersehen un Viel Glück, Mike Fleckenstein, Fredericksburg, VA
2nd - Russian Trap, Richard Moye, Duluth, GA
3rd - Minnesota DNR M5 Tractor, Clint Williams, Farmington, MN
IPMS USA Nationals Braille Armour Meeting
Front row (left to right):
Hugh Gilliland, Harvey Low, Peter Sisung, ???*, Glen Broman

Middle row (left to right):
Jim Stephens, Lorenzo Vitali, Mark Deliduka, Mark Clegg, Iain Fraser, Dana Smith, Jim Pearsall, Mike Hinderliter, Chuck Burkett, Tim Treadway

Back row (left to right):
John Shimek, Will Alcott, Jim Terry, Patrick Santacroce, Al Magnus, Frank Kranick

missing: Bill Powers, David Wood

* - Alas, my plan to get every attendee's name by photographing them with their name tag and also having them sign the attendance sheet failed, for I did not plan for the circumstance of late arrivals once the rendezvous had commenced. So if anyone knows the name of the unknown (???*) attendee please contact me via the contact page.


A shot of one of the small scale armour tables   

(left to right): Lorenzo Vitali, Will Alcott, Dave Bailey   

Another shot of one of the small scale armour tables
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Article Last Updated: 26 August 2015