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| Former C&O Caboose and Freight depot in Ashland, KY |
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| Blackwater Falls State Park |
Next stop was golf at Eagle Trace Golf Course in Morehead, KY. Alicia and I played 18 holes. It was a nice course. Then we met my son, Chase and his daughter, Ruka, at their new farm near Owensville, KY. They bought the farm as a weekend camping spot and to eventually develop it.
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| Chase and Ruka survey their farm |
It is a beautiful piece of land along the Slate Creek with woods, a ridge with nice view, and 20 acres for growing hay. That evening we met Dan Pierce, Rob and Terry Kempinski at Chase's house in Lexington, KY. Mizuki had prepared a wonderful dinner. Alas, we couldn't stay long as we continued on to Columbus, IN so that our drive to Madison the next day would get us there around noon.
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| Doug and Alicia at the Blue Gray SIG display at the Tiger Meet |
We arrived in Madison, WI and got checked into the convention. All went smoothly. The location was in the Monona Convention Center. It was an excellent facility and a great place for the convention. I set up models in the contest area and at the Tiger Meet. The latter was an area set aside for models that would be exhibited, but not in the contest. Doug Hamilton coordinated the Blue and Gray Special Interest Group exhibit. I had 3 models on display there.
We stayed at a house about 30 miles from downtown Madison. It was a very nice house surrounded by woods and hills. It was very relaxing. The bridge in front of the house was home to a flock of Cliff Swallows that we saw every morning and evening.
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| 10th hole Osks at Cottage Grove |
The next morning Alicia, Dan, Rob and I played golf at The Oaks at Cottage Grove. It as a beautiful course in excellent shape. We played a scramble, which gave me time to do some bird watching. I spotted a Baltimore Oriole, a lifer for me. I also made a clutch 25-foot putt for a birdie. We finished 3 under for the round as everyone contributed some shots to the score.
Back at the Convention, over 1,000 people registered with 2,950 models in the contest and another 700 or so in the Tiger Meet. I contracted a head cold (see comment at end of this post,) so I didn't judge models this year. But the contest went well. Our group did quite well. The Train Busters Group Build Diorama received first place. My dictator mortar received second place in the figure vignettes category. Rob's Sherman tank-based yarder got first place in Construction Equipment, his St-Chamond tank got third place in Basic Kit Build Armor. And the big surprise was his "I'll Buy You a Beer in Berlin" vignette got the D-Day Theme Award.
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| Greg Chilar's winning Vignette |
We also received a lot of peer recognition. Many groups award challenge coins, poker chips or other items to models that they think deserved it. We did it too. I made a batch of about 50 laser cut medallions for the Tailgate Modelers. We distributed them to models that we liked. For example, I awarded a medallion to this vignette of a mounted knight and dismounted warrior. That vignette went on to win first place in figure vignettes and Best Diorama overall. I later learned it was painted by well-known figure painter, Greg Chilar. I also made a special effort to award our medallions to junior modelers.
The Tank Busters diorama received three coins/chips, while my Medusa and diablo busts received one each. Rob's St-Chamond and Yarder also received some coins/chips.
I repainted my Diablo 3 bust to incorporate object source lighting. In this case, the source of the light was the glow from inside the character. The Diablo character is actually a drab looking figure. The internal glow and the OSL made the figure more colorful and appealing.
My Medusa bust received a peer recognition medallion. In addition, the folks at Fine Scale Modeler photographed it for their show gallery. I don't know when they will post that.
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| The Dictator with a Second Place Award |
I entered a model of the Dictator Mortar in the figure vignette category. It got second place, behind Greg Chilar's vignette. I actually built this model about 18 years ago. I used a Verlinden 13-inch mortar kit. I scratch built the carriage using wood and resin parts. I made the master road wheel and pillow blocks in styrene, then made resin copies. I sculpted the figure to match a prototype photo using a head by Shenandoah Models. I refreshed the scenery on the diorama using some of the newer static grass and leaf flock materials.
Airplanes are the most popular category of models at the Nationals. But this year I thought the ship models had a lot of really fine entries including two scratch-built admiralty models. There was also a gigantic, large scale model of a US Navy LCM with full interior. You can see the admiralty models behind the giant LCM in the photo at the left. I believe the LCM received the best ship award
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| Two great crested flycatchers |
I managed to sneak in some bird watching at the rental house and a trip to the Cave of the Mounds (well worth a visit). Alicia, Terry and I also visited with Alicia's friend to see the new house they are building on Lake Monona across from the convention center. It is spectacular.
I didn't spend much time in the vendor area. But I did buy a couple items for future projects. The ICM company from Ukraine was there. They gave a fantastic presentation on Saturday about what it is like to run a model business in war-time Kiev. They deserve our support. I bought one of their kits.
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| FSM Craftsman Structure on Phil's layout |
On Thursday evening we had a chance to visit two nice model railroads by Bill Clancy and Phil Hottman. Bill is a retired orthopedic surgeon that invented ACL repair surgery. Phil was an engineer at Sub Zero and holds several patents. Thanks to Ken Hojnacki for setting up the layout visits.
Our road trip continued as we went to Minnesota to visit Alicia's family. We return later this week.
Notes on catching a cold. I came down with cold like symptoms on Friday, sniffles, sore throat, and congestion, but no fever. My wife and I took two at home covid tests and were negative. When we arrived in Minnesota I went to the Mayo Clinic Express and had a PCR COVID test that was also negative. The doctor said I had some kind of viral common cold but not COVID or flu. I felt pretty well but isolated myself and wore a mask. Apparently several other people reported contracting COVID at the convention. I’m feeling almost fully better as I write this
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