Western Canadian Regional Model Contest (WCRMC)

[lcarroll]

   Last weekend I travelled to Edmonton Alberta to attend the 2012 WCRMC. This contest was hosted by the Edmonton Chapter of IPMS Canada, the first time it has been held in Edmonton. Next year the Calgary Chapter will host the event, the plan being for the two Clubs to alternate hosting annually, with the other's support. I'll provide a short overview and some photos to share what was, for me, a great experience with our members. In keeping with our theme I'll stick to the WWI Aviation points of interest with minor exceptions.
   The event was held at the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton in their 1940 Commonwealth Air Training Plan Hangar, the only of it's kind left in existence. This hangar has "Hertage Property" status and, as such, is a nationally preserved site.
   Attendance was impressive with in excess of 500 participants and many more visitors. There were a total of 495 entries in the various categories which covered the entire model hobby spectrum; the majority of the models entered were aircraft, armour, and cars/trucks with smaller representation from the Sci-Fi and ship model worlds.
   The event hosted two distinguished guests, Hyperscales' Brett Green and Spencer Pollard from Military in Scale. Brett provided an overview of Hyperscale and a second presentation (which I missed) on Resin Conversion items etc.  Spencer provided two very informative demos/workshops, one on weathering techniques and another on pre-shading and panel detailling.
   Here's the venue, the Museum Hangar:


   The Museum, although small scale, is well worth the visit. Being in Northern Alberta the focus is on Bush Flying in the past as Canada's North was being opened up after WWI. They have a number of restored and replica Bush Planes on display and an impressive number of artifacts. Also they have several WWII rebuilds including a B25 and Mosquito, a nice selection of RCAF veterans, (including a pedestal mounted Voodoo that I flew dozens of times longer ago then I'll admit to!) and a nice Gift Shop. Well worth a visit if you're in town........
   There were approx. two dozen entries between the "Multi wing and/or wire braced" Class and several others including Vacu-formed Category that were of the WWI Period.
    In the Injection Moulded Section the following "took home the Hardware".
A really sharp Eduard Alb. DVa took the Gold...........

Retired Dr. Tom Morgan from Winnipeg won the Silver with his incredibly detailled Nieuport 28. (This model was featured in Windsock in 2008 Vol 24 No. 6)

  A Roden 1:32 SE5a captured the Bronze..........

  And to my great surprise my WNW McCudden SE5a recieved an "Honorable Mention" Award.

    I'll end this here and post a separate Part 2 to ensure I don't get "bumped" due to the size of the photo attachments. More in a few moments................
Cheers,
Lance
   

[lcarroll]

Part 2.

  This magnificent Koster 1:32 Sopwith Tripe took the Gold in the Vacuform Kit Category,

   The detailling was superb............

    Following is a sample of some of the other fine models in the Contest........
A trio of Eduard 1:48 Albies,

and Stropp up closer.

Another WNW entry...

    A 1:72 little jewel..........

     Brett Green gives his Hyperscale Presentation, standing room only.........

    And the "artist", Spencer Pollard doing his demos, in very challenging lighting conditions I must say! (the lozenge T-Shirt is Dr. Tom Morgan mentioned earlier, shirt presented by the USAF Museum Dayton Ohio Staff.) Tom wouldn't take any price for it!


   Last, the Best Aircraft in Show Award winning RCAF C130 Hercules, a 1:48 monster in hand painted/masked "CGI" Camo has to be included.




     This was my first such event, it will not be my last for sure! Thoroughly enjoyable, learned a lot, especially from Spencer Pollard who is indeed a real artist and master of his domain and from my new acquaintance, Tom Morgan who enthusiastically shared a lot of his techniques for super detailling and paint finishes.
   Should any members of the Calgary or Host Edmonton IPMS Chapters read this my sincere Thanks for the obvious hard effort you put into this event; it was a great one, an unqualified success, and any comments I overheard in the crowd were unanimously complimentary.
Cheers,
Lance 

[GAJouette]

   Lance,
Thank you very much for the show report my old friend. Not to be forgotten congratulations on your Honorable mention Award. Looks as if there were plenty of great entries for judges to pick from too. I've got to ask about the 1/32 scale Sopwith Triplane though. Koster to the best of my knowledge never produced a 1/32 scale kit even though I and many others begged Bill to add 1/32 scale to his line. On the other hand Tom's Modelwerks certainly did.None the less whoever produced the Tripe the builder did an absolutely outstanding work on her. She's awesome in the details.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[Chris Johnson]

Thanks for the show report Lance. It's always interesting to see photos of the participants and the venue itself along with the models. I hope you did a bit of arm twisting to get some of these fellows to join up here. We could all profit from their participation. Lastly, but certainly not least, congratulations on your award as it looks as though you were up against some pretty stiff opposition. That speaks volumes about your modelling talent.

Cheers,

Chris

[Whiteknuckles]

Congrats on your award Lance and thanks for the report. That C130 is pretty impressive!!

Andrew

[lcarroll]

   Lance,
Thank you very much for the show report my old friend. Not to be forgotten congratulations on your Honorable mention Award. Looks as if there were plenty of great entries for judges to pick from too. I've got to ask about the 1/32 scale Sopwith Triplane though. Koster to the best of my knowledge never produced a 1/32 scale kit even though I and many others begged Bill to add 1/32 scale to his line. On the other hand Tom's Modelwerks certainly did.None the less whoever produced the Tripe the builder did an absolutely outstanding work on her. She's awesome in the details.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

Greg,
    I recall that the Data Sheet listed it as a Koster Kit. It was displayed immediately beside my SE5a and I noticed it several times however I've never built a Vac Kit and have very little if any knowlege of them. I suspect it could have been recorded wrong; the registration was chaos for the first hour. Obviously it's got to be a Tom's Kit as it was 1:32 for sure (On the same mirror display base as the builder's 1/32 Roden SE5a)

   I hung around the area hoping to meet the builder however got distracted and when I returned the models were gone. I had hoped to learn more about the two builds as they were very impressive.
Cheers,
Lance

[lcarroll]

Congrats on your award Lance and thanks for the report. That C130 is pretty impressive!!

Andrew

Andrew,
 Thanks, it was a real thrill to have one of my kits recognised in such stellar company! The C130 was indeed impressive. I was told by the builder that he laboured over two years on it (with a few breaks for sanity) and put the final clear overcoat on it the night before the competition.
Cheers,
Lance

[lcarroll]

Chris,
   Thanks for the kind words. The competition was impressive and I really didn`t expect to be included in the running at all. And Yes, I did do a bit of promo for our site, on the negative side it was difficult to locate the `Stringbaggers`in so big a crowd. I`ll definitely go to more shows like this, way too much fun! Also been a while since I lived on Pizza and Beer for a few days running and all that with interesting company and lots of topics to discuss!
   The Swap and Vendor displays were a disappointment, if you were a WWII or modern day fan it would have been outstanding; the only WWI Kit I saw was a donated prize for a raffle. I did manage to capture two Windsock datafiles for $15 though. Maybe next Contest................
Cheers,
Lance

[Des]

Excellent presentation Lance, thank you very much for posting this for all to see. Congratulations on your award, judging by the photo it was well deserved and comparable with the other entries. The show winner, the C.130, is a very impressive model. Also, thank you for spreading the word about our new forum.

Des.

[phs Paddy]

Well done Lance, show report and your SE5a award. 

Paddy

[lcarroll]

Thanks Paddy,
   It was a wonderful new experience and nice to meet a few extremely talented linen and wire enthusiasts in person and share in their knowlege. Trick is to put some of that stuff to work..............!?
Cheers,
Lance

[Chris Johnson]

The Swap and Vendor displays were a disappointment, if you were a WWII or modern day fan it would have been outstanding; the only WWI Kit I saw was a donated prize for a raffle. I did manage to capture two Windsock datafiles for $15 though. Maybe next Contest................
Cheers,
Lance

Frankly, I'm surprised that you even found the Windsocks. I think those of us building rigged aeroplanes are a pretty rare breed. If it wasn't for the internet, I would be restricted to the Hobbycraft Dr.I and the Academy Camel and Nieuport kits. Period.

Cheers,

Chris

[lcarroll]

The Swap and Vendor displays were a disappointment, if you were a WWII or modern day fan it would have been outstanding; the only WWI Kit I saw was a donated prize for a raffle. I did manage to capture two Windsock datafiles for $15 though. Maybe next Contest................
Cheers,
Lance

Frankly, I'm surprised that you even found the Windsocks. I think those of us building rigged aeroplanes are a pretty rare breed. If it wasn't for the internet, I would be restricted to the Hobbycraft Dr.I and the Academy Camel and Nieuport kits. Period.

Cheers,

Chris

Chris,
   Funny you should say that (about rigging). I must have been asked a dozen times by other participants who were viewing my entries, "how on earth do you do the rigging?" or similar lines. Many stated that they had always admired the WWI subjects but were scared off by the rigging requirement. I was amazed to see the quality of their work in the other categories, they were talented builders. I guess we are a rare breed, or perhaps just niaive?!?
   As for the vendor's Displays there were stacks of kits, decals, books etc, it would take days to closely examine all. The WWI content was as I said, abysmal, or worse. I found the Data Files under a pile of back issues of Fine Scale Modeller. I did pass on some 1/32 Decals for the Nieuport 28, been kicking my derriere ever since!
Cheers,
Lance