April Update- Northern Virginia Modelers Classic

 

Vietnam War Theme Diorama

I attended the Northern Virginia IPMS Modelers Classic today in Fairfax, VA. This is the annual show hosted by the Northern Virginia IPMS chapter. It was a fun show. I got to meet a lot of interesting people and perhaps I will be engaging in some new projects.

Larry Valett, who is the skipper of the Washington Ship Modelers Society, mentioned a new project for the Mount Airy Museum. He is a point of contact for that museum too. I had donated a bunch of my HO civil war era cars to this museum in the past. They are now gearing up for a new exhibit honoring the 250 anniversary of the US Military. I may be contributing some models to that. It depends on what they want.  We also discussed having the ship model society coming to visit the Aquia Line.

Don (l), Charles (r)

Next, I had a nice chat with Don Hakenson and Charles V. Mauro. They are northern Virginia locals that have published books on the history of civil war in the Northern Virginia region.  In fact, it was Mauro's book that informed me about Nettie Barnes and her pig. I actually cited his book in an earlier post here. So, I was pleasantly surprised to meet him. I invited them for a visit to the Aquia Line.

I also got to meet Tom Jett, who is the chairman of the IPMS National Show scheduled for this summer in Hampton , VA. We discussed a possible collaboration in building a 1/35th scale flat car for an armor project he is working on.

High Road to Rome Diorama

The National Capital Model Soldier Society was also present in force. Darci and Dave staffed a table where we had figures on exhibit including the High Road to Road diorama. Our club members handled judging of the figures for the Modelers Classic.

I brought 6 models to the show in five different categories. I am pleased to say that I received two  second and two third place awards. I also received the Special Show Theme Award for my diorama depicting a scene from the Vietnam movie, "Full Metal Jacket." I actually built this diorama in 2022, but it fit the theme of the meet, so I decided to display it. The actual award was an interesting full color print on a piece of aluminum. I really liked it.