The future of the hobby is alive and well.

[1320wayne]

Here in Portland, this weekend we had the 9th Annual Portland Rod & Custom show. Along with the big cars we also have a model competition. Although overall attendance was down with the adult ranks there was a junior entrant that stole the show.

This 13 year old was at the show for the three days because his dad is an automotive painter and had a couple of 1:1 cars in attendance. This young man brought some very nicely done entries and he cleaned up in the awards categories. What was more impressive was that he spent three days around the contest area sitting with one of the more accomplished modelers in the area learning how to chop a top on a 49 Merc.. The following pictures are his work. The only help he received was guidance as to where to lay out the chop and where to cut. He did all of the cutting and piecing back together and all of the fill work and sanding. He did an amazing job in a matter of days.

And, on the final day of the show he even stepped up and helped out with the "make and take" that lasted about three hours. We had over 50 kids take part and this young man helped out as many as he could.

His name is Austin Conley and he is to be congratulated for his efforts. Not only did he clean up in the junior categories and take Best in Show Junior but he also received the celebrity pick from Car Crazy's Barry Macguire, and Barry had no clue that he was selecting an entry done by a junior.

Best in show junior

Celebrity pick, hard to see in the picture but the paint is a beautiful metal flake lemon yellow.

And here is Austin cleaning up on all of his justly earned awards.

[MrObsessive]

He's very fortunate to have a dad that motivates him in the hobby!

I wish I had even a 1/4 of his talent when I was 13..........you couldn't even get me to look at a model! :shock:

There is hope for the youngsters to follow us oldies! :mrgreen:

[dustym]

Way to go Austin ! That chop looks good,I havent even tried chopping. I see they are having the Seattle Rod show sponsered by MCM (models), I might try to make it.

[Randy Kern]

Wow, that is just the kind of new talent we want to see in this hobby! I personally know how rewarding it is to see a junior modeler get an award, or have a photo taken of their model, my son included. Keep it up, Austin!