Danno

That's uplifting! Great build.

There's an idea! Mean mutha, Niko!

Nice job.

Nice.

That was an international IPMS annual convention. It is held once a year in various cities around the world. The one you went to was Phoenix' turn to host the international. The November event is called Modelzona and is the local chapter's annual contest and swap meet, open to all forms of plastic modeling~ automotive, military, air, sea, armor, combat, figures, sci-fi, gundam, you-name-it. That's okay, Mark. At least all you have is CRS. Some people have CRCRS. They can't remember they can't remember.

Amen.

Gabe's right . . . usually the first weekend of November, sometimes the second weekend of November.

Well, don't forget the infamous Heart Attack Café that enjoyed a short-lived (no pun intended) run here in the Valley. They featured huge (1/2, 2/3 and 3/4 pound) burgers slathered in cheese, bacon, and grease on huge buns with mayo and sauces, and a huge platter of fries. They offered free burger (their largest one) to customers who weighed more than 350 lbs if they'd clean their plates. They had waitresses costumed as nurses and they checked your blood pressure while you were in their store. I think they moved to Las Vegas, so Agent G will be dealing with their over-zealous customers!

That's what I was thinking. The "we do it that way because we've always done it that way" business plan. Remember the '58 - 60's Fords? The ones that had a dozen or more new car feature advertisements engraved into the chassis? Like, "New Triple Rust Proofing," New Fully Galvanized Mufflers," etc.?

It was originally in north-central Phoenix. Several years at Embassy Suites, then downtown Ramada, but the centrally-located hotels ran the costs of floorspace way up. Ended its run at the WigWam Resort in Litchfield Park. Two or three years there, but they finished a renovation and jacked the costs up to unfeasible. A developing trend at the time was 'cancellation clauses' imposed by the venues. They insisted on being able to cancel Copperstate's guaranteed - and prepaid - date if a more lucrative deal came along, like a last minute wedding, etc. Imagine having a 2-1/2 day event scheduled with people coming in from multiple states and being cancelled 24 hours before the opening. It just became unfeasible and too expensive to continue.

There are some epic builds in the last picture John posted. John, are these the girls you run with? Can you bring them along Saturday?

Just one part ~ albeit a large part ~ of the equation. Still boils down to the economy. The economy drove up costs and simultaneously reduced disposable incomes that afforded many attendees the opportunity to attend.

Wow. That's extraordinary. That's how it should be done . . . that's not a typical bunny, that's a Wild Hare!

Nice.

Excellent upgrade.

Interesting. So chassis marking seems to be an American thing. Statutory? Or just cultural?

Nah. Not corned beef, it's pastrami!

In a word ~ (the) economy.

Very cool models, Russell!

Sinister!

That's why I wondered. I was curious to see if the MENG kit was licensed but MENG didn't see the need to mar the chassis with engraving such as that. I agree; if MENG doesn't have to, Revell or Round2 or Moebius shouldn't have to either. I just wanted to be certain the MENG kit was a licensed kit before I raised the issue about chassis marking.

David, Strictly speaking, our event (and I can only speak for our event and a couple of others I am involved in administering) does not have a 'no prefinished models' rule. However, the 'sole work of the entrant' rule could be applied. It hasn't been a big problem so far, because most of the pre-finished models of the past didn't have finishes that would compete with the upper echelon of entries in our classes. However, the quality of the Batmobile finish brings the question to a new level. We may have to consider a 'no prefinished models' rule if it becomes a problem. We've also not prohibited unpainted models. Every once in awhile an entry appears that was nothing more than polished bare plastic. Whether that entry is at a disadvantage depends on how well it's polished, I suppose. But in any case, it would have to be incredible to overcome the nicest painted finish. However, our judges are very good at spotting pre-finished bodies and when they do, they judge everything except the pre-painted finish. That creates a problem for the entrant: If the judges deem the body pre-painted, they may assume the detail work is prefinished, too. Thus, the model may be judged as if it were naked plastic: no additional work by the builder other than assembly. At DSC, when someone enters an unpainted model, or a pre-finished model, I've always felt it was best to let the entrant take his/her chances against typically excellent painted finishes. For example, do the people in the factory in Hong Kong do assembly line finishes well enough to compete with the likes of John Teresi or John Pattison or Tim Pentecost or Chris Sobak or Mark D. Jones or . . . ad nauseam . . . ? You get the idea. So, I guess the best thing to say is, if someone wants to go outside the mainstream, they take their chances. Unless it is the work of someone else (back to the bought-paint-job discussion). Then it's clearly going to be disqualified. There's another interesting perspective along this line. I once saw a builder enter a '58 Edsel in a contest. It derived from the regular glue kit and he painted it authentic factory colors in an authentic scheme. And it was a nice finish! But he couldn't understand why the judges didn't rate it higher in the class. I suggested he should have picked a color scheme other than the same red-white-black scheme that the pre-finished kits wore! Nobody believed he actually painted it; it looked just like all the pre-finished Edsel kits that were on the market at the time. But then . . . don't get me started on the topic of entering pre-finished Edsels in contests . . . it gets ugly.

Did you notice if there are any TradeMark notices or licensing notices on the box, Mike? Are they just ignoring Ford because they can?

Methamphetamine?

Git outta here! You scratched those? Wow.