Northern Virgina Model Classic 2024

My "Ambush at Colleville sur Mer" was awarded Best Diorama in Show

I attended the Northern Virginia Modelers Model Classic 2024 in Fairfax VA today. This was the Northern Virginia Modelers big annual show. They are an IPMS club, but one did not have to be an IPMS member to attend or enter. The show was quite large. About 400 people registered and about 50 vendors. I was told that they normally get more vendors, but the AMPS had their annual meet in Indiana on the same day, so some vendors went to that. I am a member IPMS and AMPS, but this show was a lot closer and I don't build too much armor. I focus more on trains and figures. So I went to this show.

It seemed to me that the vendors were doing brisk business. I saw lots of people carrying large bags of kits to their cars to add to their stash. 

This was one of Jeff's builds. Very well done.

I met a lot of very nice people. The knowledge contained in these hobbyists is incredible. for example, there was a fellow named Jeff  (I didn't get his last name) who was a specialist in Luftwaffe fighter pilots. When he builds a kit, he researches the pilots too.  He recounted some interesting tales about the pilots he researched. He is an excellent builder too. He does armor and aircraft to a very high standard. He is also starting with figures.

I entered models in three categories. They were, the Ambush at Colleville sur Mer diorama in 75mm in Misc Dioramas, Medussa and Demophilus in the bust category, and "What Have We Done" in the 90mm and below figure category.  I am happy to report that I received 2nd place awards for Demophilus and "What Have We Done", a first place and Best diorama in Show  for Ambush at Colleville sur Mer.  

I was dismayed to discover that the camp fire light in my shadow box diorama was not working. I fixed it when I got home. Turns out the LED went bad. 

Dave Hoffman's Best in Show Winner

I also helped judge figures along with other members of the National Capitol Model Soldier Society.  Dave Hoffman, who along with his wife Darcy is a driving force in the NCMSS, received several awards awards and got Best Model in Show for his Ashigaru figure. The figure is exquisitely painted with excellent ground work. I especially liked how he mounted it on a miniature bonsai stand. Congratulations to Dave.

Here are some other models that caught my eye.

Nice Porsche 934 in 1/12th scale. I received this kit as a birthday present from my brother, but am hesitant to build it. I am not experienced in building car models.

Vader's light saber is drooping

Always a lot of airplane models at these shows. This was
one of 4 tables with aircraft models. 

I believe this got first place in military vehicle dioramas

Interesting concept

D-Day and the Civil War

 

Merritt opens her B-Day present- Brio trains

I am back in Virginia and recovering from two weeks of visiting and babysitting my granddaughters.  It was a blast. The little ones are so full of energy and wonder. So much fun to be with them.  Some highlights included giving my granddaughter Merritt her first train Brio train set. She knew exactly what it was and immediately began to play with it. She sees a lot of trains in Birmingham, and she is fascinated by them. 

Ruka watching a metro train

When we returned to Virginia, my son and his family showed up. He and Mizuki had to attend the World Vaccine Conference in DC, so we got to watch Ruka. She has not seen as many trains as Merritt. However, the playground by our house is adjacent to the RF&P/CSX main line. She saw dozens of trains and they all caused her to stop and watch. She seemed especially interested in the Metro trains. We also ran some trains for her on  the Aquia Line much to her delight. 

While we were gone, RMC published an article I wrote about the Aquia Line in their April 2024 issue. They also used one of my photos on the cover. I received a lot of nice feedback from folks about this article.  Above is a set of possible cover photos that I submitted to RMC. Which one do you like the best?

BTW, Otto Vondrak came up with the title on the cover. I think it is a clever pun, definitely not something that I would have thought up. 

Before heading to Alabama, I went to the RPM East in Malvern, PA. It was a good meet and well attended. I had the chance to visit Ron Hoes and Greg Wiggins's layouts. I also presented a talk about the Aquia Line to a packed auditorium. 

Phase 1 of the D-Day dioramas is on exhibit at the Army Navy Club in Washington, DC. 

We plan to start work on Phase 2 of the D-Day dioramas next week. Meanwhile, check out this interesting article relating D-Day to the Civil War. 

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/great-tasks-great-crusades-d-day-and-shadows-civil-war

Phase 1 D-Day Diorama Is Complete

German View of the Invasion. This is opposite the view that most visitors to the
diorama will see.

We wrapped up work on the D-Day diorama today. Keith arrived today with the shipping crate in his van. He had about 30 figures to install according to the narrative he has designed for the diorama. Most of the other work was done earlier in the week. 

Jeff Hammer and John Drye stopped by Wednesday night to work on punch list items. JD installed most of the German infantry and remaining weapons. Jeff worked on scenic details such as barbed wire and log piles. The fences really added a nice touch to the diorama.

I worked on the remaining punch list items such as installing boats, painting fascia and adding flickering LEDs to the burning LCM. 

Mike and Linda Pierce arrived on Sunday morning for a visit. Kieth put them to work prepping and touch up painting figures. I didn't have much to do today, so I got the camera ready for a photo session and waited to load it all.

Keith and Ted, a friend of Keith's that is a woodworker, built the carrying cases that will also serve as a table for the diorama. The diorama comes apart in 2 sections. Each section slides into the case.

The case is quite heavy. Keith says it weighs about 100 pounds, though it didn't feel that heavy to me when I was helping move it.  The case has it space for the legs. The saw horses in the picture are only to help load it. 

Here are some final photos of the finished diorama.  Keith has a bit more work to do for his part, such as the backdrop and information plaque.  We'll start work on Phase 2 in a few weeks. 

One aspect I like about this diorama is its broad scope. Many folks have built dioramas with a this theme before, but I don't know too many that show the actions with this scope. Keith has woven in numerous historically accurate vignettes and story elements in the diorama. But I think it is the overall spectacle that makes this one work. 

Thanks again to everyone that helped.

Three Day Marathon Work Session

We just wrapped up a three day marathon work session on the D-Day Diorama. Whew!

Jeff paints figures while Mark and Charlie
drop off more painted figures

On Sunday Mark Franke, Jeff Hammer, John Drye and Tom Karstens joined me for the start of the worksession. Mark worked on the boats, Tom and Jeff worked on figures. I continued work on the WN62 fighting positions.  Later that day Mark and Charlie Fastoso stopped by to drop off the 160 figures that his gaming group painted.  John Drye came by a bit later and finished painting all the German figures. They are in 10mm scale as they will be further back.

Keith working on the figure placement 

Keith Rocco showed up Monday for 2 days of constant work on the diorama. Keith proved to be the Eveready Bunny of modeling as he worked nearly non-stop in the two days he was here. He focused on installing the boats and figures. He also installed most of the pole obstacles. 

Keith discovered that he could modify the poses of the metal figures by bending arms and legs.  He modified many of the figures that are in the water by trimming off their lower body.

He also concentrated on cutting holes in the surf to allow the boats to sit more realistically in the water. 

I worked on the remaining details and fighting positions on WN62. I also finished the command villa, now in a destroyed state.  

We are about 95 percent done with the diorama. Keith took the remaining figure home with him to trim bases and touch up paint. 

I took a few photos tonight to see how it all looks.  

It was a fantastic three days. We should be done with this by next weekend. 

A Railroad on Omaha Beach?

 

You knew I had to find a way to add a railroad to the diorama. But, it's not gratuitous! There was a 60cm Decauville railroad at Omaha Beach.  The Germans were using it to move construction materials along the various work sites. The prototype photos show the remnants of the railroad tracks after the Allies had secured the beach.

To model the railroad, first I cut some pieces of foam to make the roadbed sections that extend from the shingle to the work sites. I used Durham's water putty to fill in the gaps. Once those was dry, I painted the road bed to match the scenery.

Then I used my laser cutter to cut ties from 1/32nd inch birch plywood. I did not glue then one by one. Instead,  I cut them like a piece of flex track with small connectors between each tie. To curve the track, I had to cut one side of the connectors.  Thus it was easy to glue down the ties. 

  The ballast is fine N Scale gray limestone gravel from Highball Products.  Once that was glue  dry I added the rails. The rails are 0.015 inch resin impregnated cardboard with self-adhesive backing. I tried to secure them further with a coat of mat mod podge, but that wasn't too successful. The wetness of the mod podge made some of the rails buckle. So I had to reinstall some of them. 

The shingle stones on the beach adjacent to the tracks are coarse ballast from Woodland scenes. We painted them to better match the colors in the photos. Some additional painting is probably necessary.

I was also adding additional layers of gloss polyurethane to the water in-between the other tasks. There are about 8 coats now and I think that is enough.

I also installed the two R669 casements for the 75mm artillery pieces in position in WN62.  I made the casements with layers of MDF that I cut on my laser. 

They were mostly buried with earth, so I used pieces of foam and water putty to build up the earth berms.

Then I cut some of the trenches using a xacto knife and a soldering iron to melt away the foam. The iron worked pretty well.  I gave everything an acrylic  brown wash. There are still several gun emplacements, pillboxes and numerous details that I need to add. But the final photo gives an idea of how the diorama looks so far.

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More D-Day Diorama Progress

I'm back from Florida and chugging away on the D-Day diorama. While in Florida I painted about 70 infantry, and two DD Sherman tanks that my brother printed. I also printed another LCM on his printer. 

When I got home, I printed a couple of German anti tank guns for the bunkers and a French APX turret for a German Tobruk. I made the bunkers with layers of laser cut MDF.   They are not to any particular scale. Keith coined a good phrase, "optical scale." We are selectively compressing the German positions to look good from the normal viewers perspective. Thus, this is not an exact scale model. It is more of an interpretive display with a focus on certain story elements. 

Keith applying gloss to the waves

On Saturday, Keith Rocco visited to work on the diorama. He first focused on painting the shore line and shingle beach. I thought we needed to make the beach look more realistic with portions of wet sand, pools of water, and receding waves. Keith agreed and did a great job painting it. It  looks great.

Next, Keith stated applying gloss polyurethane to the water surface. He managed to get two coats down (later that night I added one more coat. It will need about 8-10 coats in total.) Then he started prepping some of the painted figures by removing their bases before he had to leave.

Meanwhile, I was working on finishing the bunkers and trenches for WN61, the resistance nest on the east side. 

Mark Franke stopped by to drop off the tanks and boats he has been working on over the past week. As usual he did a fantastic job. One of the tanks is shown wading in the surf. The crews tried to use the water for cover as it helped reduce their exposed area to enemy fire. 

Mark Franke did a nice job painting a detailing the wading tank

I installed some trenches in WN61. I had to simplify the trench layout a bit due to the selective compression of the scene. I cut a slot in the foam to make the basic trench. They I prepared some tooth picks and scribed wood siding to make the trench revetments. Installing them was more tedious than I expected. I think I will try a different technique on the next set of trenches. Perhaps I will print some trench sections that I can install.

This aerial photo was perfect for making the
1694 Ringstand and 50mm gun..

The bunkers were a bit tricky to design and build. I used plans and photos to guide me, but I had to pick a scale to build them that looked about right. They are approximately 1:150 scale. The ground scale is about 1:500. That means that they take up more ground area than they should.  But it all looks OK and supports the story Keith wants to tell. 

50mm ATG in a Ringstand at WN61

The concrete parts of the bunkers are laser cut MDF. The guns are 3D prints that I made from files I bought off the web. I painted the bunkers with various shades to look like relatively new concrete. The guns are dunkel gelb with some dunkel grun camouflage. The R677 casement bunker with the Pak 43 88mm ATG  has some chipped concrete that was damaged by US fire as can be seen in prototype photos. I have some camouflage netting that I will add to these later. 

I applied a wash of dark brown paint to ground areas that would have vegetation. I used lighter paint to lay out some trails and roads. 

Next I used Durhams water putty to shape the tank ditches. I checked with Mike and he suggested that the ditches were just sand without revetments. There are some photos showing ditches like that in the modeled area (see left image.) So that is how I shaped them. 

Finally, I added a base coat of some ground foam to the hill area near WN61. This is just the base coat but it does hint at the final appearance. 

Keith mocked up some figures and a tank. We do plan to add LED lights to the burning LCMs.

 

JAXCON 2024

Some of the figures in the busts category. In the front row my Castiga (l) got silver, Medusa (Center) and Demophilus (right with blue and white crest) got gold.

Rob and I attended the JAXCON 2024 IPMS meet today in Jacksonville, FL. This is the third year I have attended this meet. It is one of the premier IPMS meets in Florida. The meet was a great success despite some rainy weather. Gil Hodges runs the event and does a great job. I enjoyed meeting many of the people from previous years. Everyone is very friendly and low key. 

This airplane model caught my eye. Very nice, detailed work

There was some excellent work on display. I estimated that there over 500 models entered by about 110 builders. There were also many vendors with model kits and supplies. 

I helped with judging and that kept me very busy. I and my partner Rich were responsible for judging all the figures, all the dioramas, and about half of the ship models. As a result, I didn't get to see many of the armor, cars, or planes. But what I did see was top notch. For example, the float plane at the left looked really nice to me. I also like the red Porsche 917 LeMans winner below.

I liked this Porsche 917 LeMans winner with excellent details and presentation.

I was pleased that I received 4 gold and 1 silver medals.  It is interesting that my figure I liked the best got a silver, while the others got gold.  You ever know about model contests. I made an effort to provide feedback forms for all the models I judged so that the builders know what we found. However, there were no feedback forms for my models, so I don't know what the judges found. 

Rob's HIMARS model got a silver 

Rob received 1 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze medals. 

Our buddy, Dan Pierce, received a bronze medal for a 1/72 German Kreigslok locomotive. I thought the model was extremely well done, but the judges found a seam that was not perfectly finished.  That model will become a component in a joint build that several of us are working on. Stay tuned for that.

Dan's Kreigslok in 1/72nd scale