September 18, 2025 • 37 mins
October brings two exceptional modeling events to the Midwest that showcase the unique character and community spirit that make scale modeling such a rewarding hobby.
First up on October 4th, the West Michigan IPMS presents their Great Lakes Challenge at the West Michigan Aviation Academy. What makes this venue extraordinary is its connection to aviation education – hosted at a STEM-focused public school where students actively participate in both organizing the event and building models themselves.
Perhaps most impressive is how the show bridges generations, with Aviation Academy students eagerly assisting throughout the day. These young modelers represent the future of the hobby, learning precision and patience through scale modeling as part of their curriculum. With hourly seminars covering everything from weathering techniques to creating display bases, there's something for modelers of all skill levels to learn.
Just two weeks later on October 18th, the Cincinnati Scale Modelers transform the Tri-State Warbird Museum into a modeling showcase where history comes alive. Picture displaying your 1/48 scale P-51 Mustang beneath the wing of an actual restored P-51D – that's the unique experience this venue offers. With fully restored World War II aircraft including a B-25, Focke-Wulf 190, the museum provides an immersive backdrop that celebrates both modeling craftsmanship and aviation history.
Both shows feature vendor areas, special awards, raffles with valuable prizes, and food options that keep you fueled throughout the day. Whether you're entering models in competition, looking to add to your stash, or simply enjoying the craftsmanship on display, these Midwest shows demonstrate why this hobby continues to thrive.
Mark your calendars for West Michigan on October 4th and Cincinnati on October 18th. Can't wait that long? Join us at the MMCL show in Shepherdsville, Kentucky on September 27th . Come say hello!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike (00:13):
Kentucky.
Dave, the show season is infull effect.
As we mentioned last month inthe model show spotlight, We've
got a couple more good onescoming up here in October.
Kentucky Dave (00:22):
Yes, we do, yes, we do, yes, we do, telling you
the spring season and the fallseason for model shows always a
great time.
Mike (00:32):
Well, let's not waste any time getting into these.
Our first one is from thewestern part of Michigan and
let's see what show's going onup there up there.
Well, Dave, we've got first uptonight in our double bill.
(00:52):
We got some folks from the WestMichigan chapter of the IPMS.
We got Andrew DeBoer and DaveKettler from the West Michigan
chapter.
How are you guys doing tonight?
Andre DeBoer (00:57):
Doing great Thanks .
Thrilled to be here.
Thank you.
Mike (01:00):
Well, Andrew, I always look for familiar names, and
yours certainly was, because Iknow you've been a longtime
listener.
So I went and searched my email, because I have every email
that's ever been sent to PlasticModel Mojo and you've got one
from 2020, so you've been withus a long time there.
Wow.
Kentucky Dave (01:18):
He survived the pandemic with us.
Andre DeBoer (01:22):
Hey, you're not wrong, Dave.
Hey you're.
You're not wrong, dave.
You know I I listened to a lotof podcasts and walked a lot of
miles with my dog during thepandemic.
Kentucky Dave (01:31):
You and me, both brother, you and me both.
Mike (01:33):
Well, you guys are here to tell us about the 2025 Great
Lakes Challenge, so let's justget right into that.
I want you to tell us a littlebit about when and where, and
all that to start out with well,all right, I'll take us in on
that.
Andre DeBoer (01:44):
The Great Lakes Challenge is in Grand Rapids,
michigan, on October 4, 2025.
We are lucky because we areright at the Grand Rapids
International Airport, gerald RFord International Airport he
was from here, so we are luckyenough that we can have our
event at a school.
(02:05):
It's the West Michigan AviationAcademy.
They have signage.
We have signage Makes it veryeasy to find, so this is under
IPMS rules.
Essentially it's a 1-2-3contest.
In two years, when the next onehappens, we are counting on
going to Gold, silver, bronze.
(02:25):
But this event will be asingle-day contest and it opens
at 9 o'clock in the morning andthe awards ceremony will be at 4
pm.
Sounds expeditious.
Kentucky Dave (02:37):
Now, is this location where you've held this
contest previously, or is this anew location for you?
Andre DeBoer (02:44):
We've held this contest here the other two times
.
This is not a very old contest.
It it goes every two years.
Originally we were gonna, wewere gonna do one on the west
side of the state one year, oneon the east side of the state
the next year, but the the westprevailed and uh, so it's, it's
an it's an every other yearthing and that's fine with me.
Kentucky Dave (03:08):
Well, good.
Now you say it's at an aviationschool, attached to or next to
or co-located with the airport.
Is it a building, a hangar?
What's the actual physicalfacility like?
Andre DeBoer (03:26):
building a hangar.
What's the actual physicalfacility like?
The answer to both thosequestions is yes.
We don't actually use any oftheir hangar space for the
contest.
What we use is their frontmulti-purpose room, which is
lunchroom assembly room.
You know it's a multi-purposespace.
You can see a picture of it onthe contest website and it
actually has a couple ofairplanes hanging from the
(03:48):
ceiling like real ones.
So this school is aviationfocused.
It's a STEM public school.
But they also have a gymnasiumwhich is connected to their
multi-purpose room and that'swhere we have the contest.
It's huge, it's really well lit, it has the shiniest floor I've
ever seen, and so it's.
(04:10):
It's a really great place tohave a contest.
It's got.
It's got tons of space we have.
You know, the front room isbasically our vendor room and
that's great for the vendorsbecause it is literally 30 steps
from the curb where they'reunloading into that room.
So it's really convenient forthe vendors.
(04:31):
And the other thing that makesit really convenient for the
vendors is that we have a ton ofvolunteer students from the
Aviation Academy and those kidsare highly motivated and truly
dedicated.
So when you ask a group of WestMichigan Aviation Academy
students to do something.
The echo hasn't faded from youasking and it's done.
(04:54):
They'll be out helping thevendors hump their stuff in from
their trucks or trailers andthey'll do anything that is
necessary.
Kentucky Dave (05:03):
Speaking of vendors, about how many vendor
tables do you all usually haveat the contest we have?
Andre DeBoer (05:08):
50.
Okay, and we're sold, so we'relooking forward to a pretty
decent density of offerings.
We tend to get a lot of showvendor types, not as many stores
that are in the area as amatter of fact.
Yeah, we had a store have tohave to uh back out because of a
family crisis, but but yeah it,yeah we're, we're full.
Kentucky Dave (05:32):
Good, that's always a good sign, especially
three or four weeks away fromthe contest.
Andre DeBoer (05:41):
Right.
Our, our uh coordinators havebeen have been beating the
bushes early on and making surethat people who come to our show
have a lot to pick from.
And on the subject of having alot to pick from, one of the
things that's going to behappening all day the doors open
at 9 am and the raffle will berunning every half hour all day,
(06:03):
will be running every half hourall day, and so we have over
200 kits and books and tools andwhatever else you can think of
to put into the raffle, and Ican say from personal experience
that it's profitable.
Kentucky Dave (06:21):
Now, when does your registration close?
Andre DeBoer (06:25):
Registration opens at nine and closes at 12.
Kentucky Dave (06:38):
Do you have it so that people can either download
forms or can they actually?
Andre DeBoer (06:40):
pre-register online or what's the setup for
that?
They can download the forms andfill them out on their computer
and then print them, or theycan just print blank ones and
write in them.
So either way works.
We don't have an onlineregistration system.
That's a little heavier of alift than yeah, not many local
groups do.
Kentucky Dave (06:58):
Yeah, not many local shows do.
Andre DeBoer (07:00):
Doesn't the nationals even do that?
Kentucky Dave (07:02):
Yes, the Nationals and some regionals do
that Well, and something likeHamilton the Hamilton show up in
Canada.
You have to do it all online.
David Kettler (07:15):
Yes, yes, I recall that.
Yeah, the form can be found atwestmichiganipmsorg.
There's a whole section on theshow there and you can download
the forms there.
Mike (07:27):
Good yeah, We'll, we'll.
We'll make sure we put thatlink in the show notes so folks
can get to it.
Kentucky Dave (07:32):
Now what's the food situation like?
Andre DeBoer (07:36):
The school is going to be offering food for
sale and they make that sort ofa fundraiser, so it's a good
cause and it'll probably bechips and drinks and pizza.
But uh, the the school is alsopretty close to a lot of things.
Just because you know it's a,it's at the airport.
(07:58):
The airport isn't all that faraway from other things and our,
our main street is just up theroad from from the airport, and
then anything you can think ofis found on that road.
And for people who wanted toget really crazy and and stay
overnight or something you know,grand rapids has given itself
(08:18):
the name beer city and they'renot kidding because, uh,
founders Brewing is here.
We're right up the road fromBell's, right downstate, from
Shorts.
Mike (08:32):
So we don't have a problem .
Well, it sounds like the venueand the fact that you have all
these young students to help outwith the logistics side of
things making your show kind ofunique.
Is there anything else you guysdo that's different than a
normal?
Andre DeBoer (08:48):
invitational type IPMS show.
Well, this show does haveseminars going all day.
We're also doing a make andtake.
So yeah, we'll have seminars onthe hour from 11 am to 3 pm.
Kentucky Dave (09:01):
I wish more invitational shows did that.
As everybody who listens to thepodcast knows, I am a huge fan
of the seminars at the nationals, and so I'm really happy to see
a local show, an invitational,doing seminars.
Andre DeBoer (09:21):
Well, you know, I got to be honest.
I'm kind of bummed that I'mgoing to be busy during this
whole show because I don't wantto go to the seminars.
There's one on weathering anAir Force Phantom award winning
Gundams, creating display bases,and you know, anybody who's
been to Louisville to the showthere has seen a couple of the
(09:42):
bases by the guy who'sconducting this seminar.
He's he's uh kind of known forusing rocks in his bases.
So um and you know the historyof stealth aircraft and even
even one on paintbrush care,which I think has been a sort of
a topic of conversationrecently, with people trying to
figure out how how to not uh,lose their their paintbrushes
(10:06):
too early in life.
Another thing that'sinteresting about this show,
that is unique compared withprevious years in particular, is
that we're keeping the contestroom open during the judging.
Kentucky Dave (10:20):
More and more shows are doing that.
Andre DeBoer (10:22):
Yeah, and I recognize the perils of that and
you know it sort of.
You know it could beinconvenient and you kind of
have to shoo people awaysometimes hey, can you let us
work here.
But I felt like it was reallyimportant for us to not take
away that part of the event forfour hours.
(10:43):
Right, Well, three and a halfhours.
I take that back, yeah, becausejudging is from 1230 to four
and that just seemed like areally like a real negative to
me.
Mike (10:55):
So I got my way on that, yeah it really could hit hard
for folks who are late arrivers.
Kentucky Dave (11:00):
Yes.
Mike (11:01):
And then they never.
They can't come see the modelsuntil everything's done and over
with with the judging.
So hopefully that'll work out.
You won't have too muchinterference and it'll all be
good.
David Kettler (11:11):
Absolutely.
Andre DeBoer (11:12):
Yeah, you know we're optimistic.
We're really going to maintaina positive outlook on that and
see it for what it is, andthat's just an opportunity.
Like you took the words out ofmy mouth, mike.
You know the idea that somebodycan come and register their
models at 1130 and not getlocked out of the contest room
(11:35):
an hour later.
Mike (11:36):
Yeah, that's true.
Well, if they're going to seemodels, typically, how big of a
show is this in terms ofentrance and number of entries
on the table?
Andre DeBoer (11:44):
Two years ago we had a little over 300 entries,
Okay, and so you know we onlyhave two historic contests to
gauge by, but the numbers aregoing up, so we're confident
that we can exceed that thisyear this year Now, do you have
(12:09):
a theme for the contest orspecial award or awards in
addition to the regular one, two, three and the best of Dave?
I'm talking a lot.
Do you want to get a word inedgewise here?
David Kettler (12:15):
I did want to mention that we do have a lot of
science fiction and Gundamcategories that we do have here.
Andre DeBoer (12:23):
Well, good we, we have let me let me pull this up
so I'm not, uh, completelymangling this we have five
special categories that we'regoing to be giving awards on,
and uh, one is, uh, the bestgreat lake subject or theme
award could be a, could be alake freighter or Coast Guard
(12:48):
helicopter it could be anythingbut great.
Subject Best model by a WestMichigan Aviation Academy
student.
Best documented replica theSpud Award for Excellence in
Aircraft Modeling.
You may have seen that award atthe Nationals a number of times
One of our founding members 51years our club has been in
(13:12):
existence.
One of our founding members wasnamed Spud Ensing and his son,
gordo, is still a member of theclub and he gives an award every
year for an aircraft model thatrepresents a type that his dad
flew in.
His dad was in the Air Forceand the Navy and flew in a
(13:32):
number of types and worked on anumber of types.
So the Spud Award is always funto give out.
And then the fifth category isbest modeled by a female modeler
.
Kentucky Dave (13:43):
Oh, okay.
Andre DeBoer (13:44):
Yeah, the West Michigan Aviation Academy has a
model, a scale modeling club,and our club works very closely
with them to sort of pass onwhat we know and remove some of
the mystery.
They do a project every yearwhere the class builds a model,
every kid has to build a model,and so we show up on weekdays.
(14:07):
I say we in the loosest senseof the word, because I have a
full-time job but some of ourretired guys are very faithful
about showing up to guide thesekids and it's fun to watch.
Mike (14:22):
Yeah, I was going to ask, after you said that there was a
best model by basically one ofthe students of the academy,
what involvement there was, butthat sounds like a really cool
thing.
Andre DeBoer (14:33):
It really is and really what we try to do when
we're sort of giving guidance tothese kids is stress that it
doesn't have to be historicallyaccurate.
You know, one of our favoritemodels last year was by a
student who she took an A-10model and she painted it black
(14:56):
and then she painted pinkpaisleys all over it and it was
gorgeous.
She had such a good time doingthat and she didn't care what
kind of airplane it was and youknow she did a good job putting
the thing together.
Really, following instructionsis one of the things that they
are emphasizing with this modelbuilding project.
You know, they want to.
Mike (15:17):
They want to these kids to sort of get used to the idea of
following procedures, If theyare, if it's an aviation-centric
kind of curriculum that youknow that fits right in with the
pre-flight checklist and allthat kind of things, to make
sure you do things nip and tuckand in the right order 100%.
Andre DeBoer (15:36):
Yeah, some of these kids are going to end up
some of them graduate withprivate pilot licenses, some of
them go on to aviation careers,some of them go on to not
aviation careers at all.
But having gone through thatschool, I gotta say I'm just
hyper jealous about these kidsgetting to go to this school.
David Kettler (15:54):
We meet in another building twice a month
and it's kind of like their labbuilding and there's just tons
and tons of model aircraft thatI believe the students and other
probably even some of theteachers there have made.
So they're into the modelingscene too.
So it's really great to do thiswith the Aviation Academy.
Andre DeBoer (16:15):
Yeah, they've been really generous with their
facility and their time and wefeel like we have a really
excellent partnership with thisplace and, you know, this
contest is really going toreflect that.
This contest is going to be agood time.
We've got a great raffle, we'vegot terrific make and take area
(16:37):
that will be available for kidsto come by, and you know, it's
always one of those things wherea family comes out to see what
this is all about and this is agood way for somebody to engage
in this who might not otherwisebeen interested in just walking
(16:59):
around and looking at models,who, what, when, where, and the
website where you can downloadthe forms and just tell
everybody the basics one lasttime.
We are West Michigan IPMS and onOctober 4th 2025, we are
presenting the Great LakesChallenge, which is a one-day
(17:20):
contest at the West MichiganAviation Academy, just adjacent
to the Grand Rapids airport.
Kentucky Dave (17:27):
Doors open at nine, registration ends at noon.
And everybody.
The awards will be out by fourYep, that's correct.
David Kettler (17:38):
We'll see you there Saturday, october 4th.
Andre DeBoer (17:40):
And what's the website again?
That's westmichiganipmsorgPerfect.
We'll put a link to it in theshow notes.
Kentucky Dave (17:45):
That's rightmichiganipmsorg Perfect,
we'll put a link to it in theshow notes.
Mike (17:48):
That's right.
Well guys, thank you.
And the Academy information wasthe cherry on top of the sundae
for this installment of ourModel Show Spotlight.
That's really interesting wemay have to circle back and talk
about that a little bit moresometime.
David Kettler (18:01):
Yeah.
Andre DeBoer (18:03):
Well, you can tell we're not.
We didn't ever get tired oftalking about it, so Well,
you're modelers.
Well, that is that is true.
Thanks for taking the time touh to quiz us about this.
You guys really really proud tobe on on your podcast.
Mike (18:19):
Well, thank you, you're welcome.
We wish you all the successwith your show and, you know, if
you guys got a photographerthere who's on the Plastic Model
Dojo, our Facebook group, havethem give us a little photo
montage of what's going on there.
David Kettler (18:33):
Count on it Will do.
Mike (18:34):
We really appreciate it, you guys, again, best luck with
your show and thanks for joiningus.
Thank you, sure, appreciate it.
Thanks a lot.
You know that's one we ought toget to at some point.
Dave, it's not that far.
Kentucky Dave (18:51):
It isn't.
And not only that.
It sounds like they've got areally neat facility right next
to the airport with a reallygood show.
We need to get to it.
Mike (19:01):
Well, I almost asked him if it was called Gerald Ford
Airport, because that's where hefell down the stairs.
Kentucky Dave (19:06):
Yep.
Mike (19:07):
Apparently not.
No, but it's a good joke anywayit would have been.
I should have hit it during themoment, though it doesn't quite
work now, does it folks?
Jokes aside, dave, the next oneis right up here across the
state line in Cincinnati.
It's a show that we often makeand gosh.
We've been going to this showquite a bit, when we can.
(19:28):
I've not been every year, maybeyou have, but I haven't.
But I've been to the show a lot.
Kentucky Dave (19:31):
I've been to the show a lot too.
Mike (19:38):
Dave, this one's a little closer to home, one we've
frequented a lot before.
Kentucky Dave (19:44):
It's one that's near and dear to our heart and
one where, gosh willing thecreek don't rise, we're actually
going to be at this year.
Mike (19:52):
Let's not kill too much time getting into this.
Let's welcome Mike Ward fromthe Cincinnati Scale Modelers to
Plastic Model Mojo's Model ShowSpotlight.
How are you doing, Mike?
Mike Ward (20:02):
Hey, great guys, Thanks for having me.
I really appreciate youbringing me on tonight and
sharing some details about theshow coming up.
This is fantastic.
Mike (20:09):
Well, you're welcome and we thank you too.
We like to double bill thesewhen we can, and you know it's
kind of a double-double thistime.
I know you guys are prettytight with Stuart Clark and
Terry Measley on the Scale ModelPodcast, but they've been a
little bit indisposed of lateand it didn't look like they
were going to get you on, so wethought we'd ask and you took us
up on it.
So we appreciate it, oh great.
Kentucky Dave (20:32):
Well, we want to get the word out.
Mike's not kidding.
Cincinnati is a show that isnear and dear to our heart.
I've been going for longer thanI can remember and have so many
great memories.
So we're thrilled to have youall on and to be able to promote
the show, because we want tosee it succeed.
(20:55):
So why don't you tell us thewho, what, when, where and why?
Mike Ward (21:00):
Fantastic.
Yeah, so it's the CincinnatiScale Modelers 2025 show.
Yeah, so it's a CincinnatiScale Modelers 2025 show and
(21:22):
it's going to be on Saturday,october 18th, from 9 am to 4 pm,
and it's held at the Tri-StateWarbird Museum, which is right
at just outside of Cincinnati,about five minutes from the 275
exit at Eastgate.
The address of the museum is4021 Borman Drive, batavia, ohio
, 45103.
And you know the why it's likeyears ago, you know, covid hit,
we lost our old venue and one ofour club members is a docent at
the museum and connected usthere, and this has become a
(21:43):
really great venue for the show.
It really has.
Kentucky Dave (21:46):
I will tell you the first time Mike and I went
up there and it was held at thatmuseum, we were blown away.
We were sitting under the wingof a Focke-Wulf 190 or well,
focke-wulf 190-ish, and I mean,you know how do you beat that?
You're just sitting there withyou know vendors, models etc.
(22:10):
And you're sitting under thewing of a warbird.
Mike Ward (22:13):
You can't beat it yeah, it's really added a lot of
luster to the show over theyears and the show keeps getting
better every year.
We figured out you know detailsevery year or something.
Okay, we learned from this show, we'll take it to the next show
and on to the next show, evenbeyond, and we get smarter every
year and we've made littleimprovements and tweaks.
(22:34):
It's been great and it's allabout the experience.
Kentucky Dave (22:37):
Yeah, and I was going to say.
We've noticed that because thefirst year you did it that we
were there at the venue, it thatwe were there at the venue, the
tables were maybe lessoptimized than they could have
been.
Then the next year you alloptimized them, and then the
next year you all did itdifferent again, and it does
(22:58):
seem like you keep refining thelittle details.
Mike Ward (23:03):
Yeah, we really want to give a great experience to
everybody that comes.
You know, it's kind of adual-edged sword.
You've got, you know, obviouslythe hobby community coming to
the museum for the show, but youalso have just the general
public that maybe isn't aware ofthe show and they come by the
museum that particular day andthey say, wow, look at this.
You know I see all these planes, but this model show, this is
(23:26):
pretty cool and, like you said,it's organized.
It fits well now in the hangarsand it's easy to move around
and really see everything andreally enjoy the show.
So it's really turned out well.
Kentucky Dave (23:37):
Registration opens at nine.
When does it close?
We'll close that around noon.
And do you have onlineregistration or do you have
forms online that you can thenprint off, present them day of
show?
How does that work?
Mike Ward (23:54):
Yes, we can, for vendors as well as entrants in
the show.
That can all be done throughour online portal at
cincyipmscom.
They can fill out all of theregistration forms.
You can pre-register, fill outall your entry forms for the
entries you want to put in.
(24:15):
Vendors can buy their tablesthere.
The general admission it'sreally $10.
For the models and then ifthere's over 10, it's $2 for
each model over 10.
So it's just a flat $10 andthen two bucks for every model
over 10.
Under 18 is free.
We have a reduced admission.
There is a donation to themuseum that day for everybody
(24:36):
coming in.
It's $10.
Normally the museum charges ahigher amount.
So, yeah, we've really workedout a good deal with the museum
for everybody for the show.
Mike (24:45):
Yeah, that was my next question.
I remember the first year itwas out there there was a
contestant entry portion andthere was a museum entry portion
, yes, so I'm glad they'regetting a reduced rate, but,
folks, it's really worth takingin that IPMS Hamilton does the
show up in Canada.
Kentucky Dave (25:09):
You pay the admission to the museum and then
you pay the entry fee to thecontest.
Mike Ward (25:13):
Yeah, if you're not entering, you're just paying the
admission to the museum and youget a reduced rate and you can
see everything there for the day.
So, yeah, it really works out.
Mike (25:21):
Well, remind us what type of judging format this show is.
Mike Ward (25:25):
Yeah, well, historically we're still
following the same kind of thefirst, second, third, you know,
gold, silver, bronze approachand we've added some things.
This year we're tryingsomething a little different.
We're going to stick with thegold, silver, bronze, but we're
also we wanted to honor a lot ofthe club members that are no
longer with us.
You know we've had some passaway this last year or two and
(25:46):
we got to thinking it'd be nicesome way to honor them, and we
see a lot of these poker chipsfloating around at different
shows.
So we came up with our own clubpoker ship this year and it's
kind of a memorial award andthere's really no judging
criteria to it.
It's really more of a clubmember walking around, you know,
sees a model on the table andsay, wow, that's really cool.
(26:10):
I think that is just impressive.
I like that.
I'm going to put a poker chipdown on.
That Doesn't mean it's going toget a gold, silver or bronze,
but it just it's another way toidentify great work.
And for those that maybe don'tget a gold, silver, bronze, they
got something that, hey, werecognize your model.
We really appreciate the effortand quality of the build.
So it's something new we'redoing so.
I'm excited about that.
Mike (26:28):
Is there a particular theme this year for the show?
Mike Ward (26:31):
There is not.
Now we don't have any themes,but we still have the Boss Hog
Award.
That's probably the big awardthat we give every year, yeah,
and we're proud to offer thattrophy.
It really is kind of a dualconnection.
It brings in the culturalhistory of Cincinnati being, you
know, pork apocalypse, the porkproducing capital, and then,
(26:52):
you know, in our sponsor Mission, barbecue out of Mason, ohio.
You know they've beensponsoring us the last couple of
years and that's a great cause.
They really support theveterans and first responder
communities.
And this unique award it'sreally just representative of
the United States communities.
And this unique award it'sreally just representative of
the United States.
It has to represent the US anddepict an act of heroism and
service.
(27:12):
Some might be say a diorama,maybe of a Huey evac during
Vietnam.
Maybe it's a fire truck thatserved on 9-11.
Or maybe it's a plane that wasflown by or a bust of a pilot, a
Medal of Honor recipient,something along that line.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe military oriented.
It's really about the storythat depicts the heroism for US
(27:36):
and criteria they.
Basically we require some kindof a written explanation or
story about how the modelconforms to the spirit of an act
of heroism and service to theUnited States.
And yeah, we've had some greatawards in the past around that,
so we've got that again thisyear and we're excited for it.
Kentucky Dave (27:55):
Well, that's a really good transition.
Speaking of Mission Barbecueand food is there food on site
at the museum?
Are there food trucks?
Is there food on site at themuseum?
Are there food trucks?
Is there food nearby?
How are we going to feed allthese people once we get them to
the museum?
Mike Ward (28:11):
Absolutely.
We've got a great food truckAgain.
It's a hamburger truck, reallygood hamburgers.
It's on site so nobody has toleave.
We know parking can be a littlechallenging at times and we
don't want people to leave andget frustrated and not come back
, so we just bring the food toyou.
It's going to be outside at themuseum Yep Hamburger truck.
Mike (28:30):
Well, what's the vendor landscape looking like this year
?
Mike Ward (28:33):
You know we're looking really good right now.
We've got 21 vendors.
As of today, we've got four tofour tables for the vendors in
that area.
So 21 vendors, 44 tables.
I'm expecting it to top outsomewhere in that.
You know 50 table range.
You know low fifties for theshow.
Kentucky Dave (28:51):
So you've still got a few tables left if there
are some vendors who are makingsome last minute decisions.
Mike Ward (28:59):
We do, yeah, so I've got tables left and we'll be
doing another outreach tovendors just to make sure.
Hey, did you get our email?
You know I haven't heard fromyou.
You know we'll do somefollow-up phone calls.
We want to make sure nobodygets missed on the list.
Just you know, maybe theydidn't read the email.
So we'll be following up overthe next couple of weeks on that
and, you know, reallysolidifying it as we go into
October.
You know we've got some greatsponsors for the show too, so
(29:22):
we're excited about that.
Mike (29:23):
Well, we always ask if there's anything special or
unique about the show.
If such a thing exists and Iknow what it is, unless you want
to add something different butthe venue itself, I think, is
the big sell for this show.
Won't you let our listenersknow a little bit more about the
museum, what they can expect tosee, in addition to a lot of
vendors and a lot of great builtup models?
Mike Ward (29:44):
Sure, well, we've got you know it's a great venue the
Tri-State Warburg Museum.
You know we've got fullyrestored World War II flying
aircraft and they've got twohangars with them and they've
also got one outside.
Now they got a new one.
They got an Albatross.
Oh cool, they just picked thatup a couple months ago.
(30:06):
I love the Albatross.
They just picked that up acouple months ago.
I love the Albatross.
It's a beautiful plane.
It's big.
I mean, when you get up next tothis thing and it's the smaller
version of the two they had.
So when I look at this thing,you know, when you saw it fly in
it was impressive.
But when you get right up closeto it, I just can't fathom how
big this thing really is.
It won't even fit in the hangar.
It's so big they're going tohave to build a new hangar.
(30:27):
But yeah, I mean they've got agreat collection.
They've got P-51D Mustang,they've got the B-25.
They got Texan.
They got the Focke-Wulf 190,the P-40.
Mike (30:42):
They've got there was a Corsair in parts.
Mike Ward (30:43):
The Corsair is actually coming together.
The fuselage is you know,together.
Now they're working on thecockpit tub, putting the
controls in Engine stillerconstruction, the wing root.
They're getting that together.
That's really coming togethernicely.
You know they got a grasshopper, a flip fire.
You know expediter.
It's just a lot of neataircraft to see, truly a gem.
(31:05):
It's a little hidden gem rightoutside of Cincinnati.
It's a great show venue.
Mike (31:11):
It really is.
I didn't dislike the old venue.
I think in some regards youwere.
I don't know what additionalspace there was at that school,
but I know the vendor space wasstarting to get a little tight.
Mike Ward (31:24):
It was tight.
There was a lot of work at thatone and you know we had some
very strict limitations.
So this is really the WarbirdMuseums have just been a great
partner.
They've really worked with usto, you know, flesh out a couple
, you know a couple of kingsearly on that we both had and
we've, you know, come to termson it.
It's always great othernon-historical subjects.
(32:02):
So just a great venuealtogether and really looking
forward to the show.
It's always great.
Mike (32:07):
You've mentioned the Poker Chips and the Boss Hog Award.
Is there any other specialawards at the show other than
the typical best stuffs?
Mike Ward (32:14):
Yeah, not anything.
No other special awards at themoment, not to say something
couldn't be added, but reallyjust working on the best of
categories.
Best of show We've modifiedthose acrylic trophies a little
bit.
Best of show we've modifiedthose acrylic trophies a little
bit.
Best of show now is a littlebit larger trophy than
everything else.
We've also upgraded our coinawards so we'll be putting out
some of the older coins fromlast year that we had left over,
(32:35):
as well as some new coins.
We've added some color andtried to turn that up a notch
and change the design a littlebit.
So a lot of the entrants willbe seeing that as the uh uh for
those that metal, uh they'll.
they'll be seeing the new coinstoo, so you know, just another
way to try to increase the uh,the value and and the experience
of the show.
Mike (32:53):
One thing we've not mentioned yet is is the presence
of a raffle situation.
Mike Ward (32:58):
Oh yeah, two great raffles.
We've got our regular raffle,you know which.
Typically we have 70, 80 itemsavailable.
And then we've got the superraffle and that raffle has done
well in the past years and a lotof attraction there.
Those items in that superraffle are typically $100 or
more in value and we have somereally great kits.
(33:21):
We've got some good donations.
Blackheartheart studio orblackheart enterprises gave us
some large busts for thatsquadron gave us some nice items
to put in there and we've gotsome other things that we're
working on.
Still, you know, we're stillwaiting on some items from ravel
, mrc, icm.
We got some daniel foundminiatures coming, so just a lot
(33:42):
of other great sponsors alongthe way, and there's others I
haven't mentioned, but yeah,just a lot will be showing up in
that raffle.
It's very unique and I thinkeverybody'd be happy with it.
Kentucky Dave (33:53):
Well, I'm glad you mentioned that, brandon and
Squadron, you'd reached out tothem and they supplied you some
stuff.
I know, I mean, he's a very,very much a supporter of the
hobby in the industry, so I'mglad you were able to do that.
Mike Ward (34:07):
Yeah, yeah.
They are really generous for usand very happy to have them on
board as a sponsor and helppromote them too.
Kentucky Dave (34:14):
Well, before we wrap up here, why don't you hit
us with the who, what, when,where, why, one more time, so
that everybody knows where to go?
Cause I'm telling you, ifyou're within driving distance
of Cincinnati, y'all need to goto this show.
Mike Ward (34:32):
Yeah, definitely, thank you, yeah again.
The Cincinnati Scale Modelers2025 show a Saturday, october
18th, 9 am to 4 pm and it's atthe Tri-State Wardburg Museum.
It's a beautiful venue.
Like I said, over 10 different,fully restored flyable World
(34:52):
War II aircraft.
You'll see the displays of themodels under the planes in the
hangar and you can buy the modelof a B-25 under the wing of a
B-25.
What better way to celebratethe show?
David Kettler (35:04):
Absolutely yeah.
Mike Ward (35:05):
The address is 4021 Borman Drive, Batavia, Ohio,
45103.
And if there's any otherquestions or registration
questions, that can also befound at our website for the
club at wwwcincyipmscom.
(35:30):
So yeah, looking forward to agreat show and hope we get a
great turnout for it.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
Mike (35:36):
Looking forward to it.
We'll drop links to the clubwebsite and the museum into the
show notes to this so people canfind that easily, and I want to
thank you for joining us forthis segment and wish you all
the best with your show.
Mike Ward (35:49):
Thank you.
I appreciate you really havingus on and helping partner with
us to promote the show.
It's been great working withyou guys and look forward to
seeing you in October All right,glad to do it, take it easy,
take it easy.
Kentucky Dave (36:00):
Take care.
I just unreservedly love theCincinnati show, especially now
that it's at the Tri-State AirMuseum.
It just it's a great one-dayshow.
You get to go up there.
You see people that you see atthe different shows from time to
(36:23):
time Socialize.
It's a great atmosphere tosocialize in.
I just love it.
Mike (36:28):
Well, I like it too.
I hope I get to go to this one.
I know you're most definitelygoing to be there with Inch Yep
and sounds like a good time,dude Yep.
Well, this is going to dropwith one more opportunity, dave,
to pitch the MMMCL show atParacat Springs Convention
Center in Shepherdsville,kentucky, and I'm definitely
going to be there and Incha'sgoing to be there, and you're
going to be there.
Kentucky Dave (36:47):
Yep.
Mike (36:48):
So, folks, you got about a week yeah, september 27th To
get your plans in order to getto that show.
It's going to be a good time.
It's a great facility andalways a lot of fun.
We do a good job, dave, yeah.
Kentucky Dave (37:00):
And come by and see us.
We're going to have a tablethere, we're going to be setting
up, we're going to be recordinga little.
Come by and see us.
We'd love to see you at theshow.
Mike (37:24):
Folks, if you can't get to any of these, get to one
somewhere Exactly, bye.
Kentucky.
Dave, the show season is infull effect.
As we mentioned last month inthe model show spotlight, We've
got a couple more good onescoming up here in October.
Kentucky Dave (00:22):
Yes, we do, yes, we do, yes, we do, telling you
the spring season and the fallseason for model shows always a
great time.
Mike (00:32):
Well, let's not waste any time getting into these.
Our first one is from thewestern part of Michigan and
let's see what show's going onup there up there.
Well, Dave, we've got first uptonight in our double bill.
(00:52):
We got some folks from the WestMichigan chapter of the IPMS.
We got Andrew DeBoer and DaveKettler from the West Michigan
chapter.
How are you guys doing tonight?
Andre DeBoer (00:57):
Doing great Thanks .
Thrilled to be here.
Thank you.
Mike (01:00):
Well, Andrew, I always look for familiar names, and
yours certainly was, because Iknow you've been a longtime
listener.
So I went and searched my email, because I have every email
that's ever been sent to PlasticModel Mojo and you've got one
from 2020, so you've been withus a long time there.
Wow.
Kentucky Dave (01:18):
He survived the pandemic with us.
Andre DeBoer (01:22):
Hey, you're not wrong, Dave.
Hey you're.
You're not wrong, dave.
You know I I listened to a lotof podcasts and walked a lot of
miles with my dog during thepandemic.
Kentucky Dave (01:31):
You and me, both brother, you and me both.
Mike (01:33):
Well, you guys are here to tell us about the 2025 Great
Lakes Challenge, so let's justget right into that.
I want you to tell us a littlebit about when and where, and
all that to start out with well,all right, I'll take us in on
that.
Andre DeBoer (01:44):
The Great Lakes Challenge is in Grand Rapids,
michigan, on October 4, 2025.
We are lucky because we areright at the Grand Rapids
International Airport, gerald RFord International Airport he
was from here, so we are luckyenough that we can have our
event at a school.
(02:05):
It's the West Michigan AviationAcademy.
They have signage.
We have signage Makes it veryeasy to find, so this is under
IPMS rules.
Essentially it's a 1-2-3contest.
In two years, when the next onehappens, we are counting on
going to Gold, silver, bronze.
(02:25):
But this event will be asingle-day contest and it opens
at 9 o'clock in the morning andthe awards ceremony will be at 4
pm.
Sounds expeditious.
Kentucky Dave (02:37):
Now, is this location where you've held this
contest previously, or is this anew location for you?
Andre DeBoer (02:44):
We've held this contest here the other two times
.
This is not a very old contest.
It it goes every two years.
Originally we were gonna, wewere gonna do one on the west
side of the state one year, oneon the east side of the state
the next year, but the the westprevailed and uh, so it's, it's
an it's an every other yearthing and that's fine with me.
Kentucky Dave (03:08):
Well, good.
Now you say it's at an aviationschool, attached to or next to
or co-located with the airport.
Is it a building, a hangar?
What's the actual physicalfacility like?
Andre DeBoer (03:26):
building a hangar.
What's the actual physicalfacility like?
The answer to both thosequestions is yes.
We don't actually use any oftheir hangar space for the
contest.
What we use is their frontmulti-purpose room, which is
lunchroom assembly room.
You know it's a multi-purposespace.
You can see a picture of it onthe contest website and it
actually has a couple ofairplanes hanging from the
(03:48):
ceiling like real ones.
So this school is aviationfocused.
It's a STEM public school.
But they also have a gymnasiumwhich is connected to their
multi-purpose room and that'swhere we have the contest.
It's huge, it's really well lit, it has the shiniest floor I've
ever seen, and so it's.
(04:10):
It's a really great place tohave a contest.
It's got.
It's got tons of space we have.
You know, the front room isbasically our vendor room and
that's great for the vendorsbecause it is literally 30 steps
from the curb where they'reunloading into that room.
So it's really convenient forthe vendors.
(04:31):
And the other thing that makesit really convenient for the
vendors is that we have a ton ofvolunteer students from the
Aviation Academy and those kidsare highly motivated and truly
dedicated.
So when you ask a group of WestMichigan Aviation Academy
students to do something.
The echo hasn't faded from youasking and it's done.
(04:54):
They'll be out helping thevendors hump their stuff in from
their trucks or trailers andthey'll do anything that is
necessary.
Kentucky Dave (05:03):
Speaking of vendors, about how many vendor
tables do you all usually haveat the contest we have?
Andre DeBoer (05:08):
50.
Okay, and we're sold, so we'relooking forward to a pretty
decent density of offerings.
We tend to get a lot of showvendor types, not as many stores
that are in the area as amatter of fact.
Yeah, we had a store have tohave to uh back out because of a
family crisis, but but yeah it,yeah we're, we're full.
Kentucky Dave (05:32):
Good, that's always a good sign, especially
three or four weeks away fromthe contest.
Andre DeBoer (05:41):
Right.
Our, our uh coordinators havebeen have been beating the
bushes early on and making surethat people who come to our show
have a lot to pick from.
And on the subject of having alot to pick from, one of the
things that's going to behappening all day the doors open
at 9 am and the raffle will berunning every half hour all day,
(06:03):
will be running every half hourall day, and so we have over
200 kits and books and tools andwhatever else you can think of
to put into the raffle, and Ican say from personal experience
that it's profitable.
Kentucky Dave (06:21):
Now, when does your registration close?
Andre DeBoer (06:25):
Registration opens at nine and closes at 12.
Kentucky Dave (06:38):
Do you have it so that people can either download
forms or can they actually?
Andre DeBoer (06:40):
pre-register online or what's the setup for
that?
They can download the forms andfill them out on their computer
and then print them, or theycan just print blank ones and
write in them.
So either way works.
We don't have an onlineregistration system.
That's a little heavier of alift than yeah, not many local
groups do.
Kentucky Dave (06:58):
Yeah, not many local shows do.
Andre DeBoer (07:00):
Doesn't the nationals even do that?
Kentucky Dave (07:02):
Yes, the Nationals and some regionals do
that Well, and something likeHamilton the Hamilton show up in
Canada.
You have to do it all online.
David Kettler (07:15):
Yes, yes, I recall that.
Yeah, the form can be found atwestmichiganipmsorg.
There's a whole section on theshow there and you can download
the forms there.
Mike (07:27):
Good yeah, We'll, we'll.
We'll make sure we put thatlink in the show notes so folks
can get to it.
Kentucky Dave (07:32):
Now what's the food situation like?
Andre DeBoer (07:36):
The school is going to be offering food for
sale and they make that sort ofa fundraiser, so it's a good
cause and it'll probably bechips and drinks and pizza.
But uh, the the school is alsopretty close to a lot of things.
Just because you know it's a,it's at the airport.
(07:58):
The airport isn't all that faraway from other things and our,
our main street is just up theroad from from the airport, and
then anything you can think ofis found on that road.
And for people who wanted toget really crazy and and stay
overnight or something you know,grand rapids has given itself
(08:18):
the name beer city and they'renot kidding because, uh,
founders Brewing is here.
We're right up the road fromBell's, right downstate, from
Shorts.
Mike (08:32):
So we don't have a problem .
Well, it sounds like the venueand the fact that you have all
these young students to help outwith the logistics side of
things making your show kind ofunique.
Is there anything else you guysdo that's different than a
normal?
Andre DeBoer (08:48):
invitational type IPMS show.
Well, this show does haveseminars going all day.
We're also doing a make andtake.
So yeah, we'll have seminars onthe hour from 11 am to 3 pm.
Kentucky Dave (09:01):
I wish more invitational shows did that.
As everybody who listens to thepodcast knows, I am a huge fan
of the seminars at the nationals, and so I'm really happy to see
a local show, an invitational,doing seminars.
Andre DeBoer (09:21):
Well, you know, I got to be honest.
I'm kind of bummed that I'mgoing to be busy during this
whole show because I don't wantto go to the seminars.
There's one on weathering anAir Force Phantom award winning
Gundams, creating display bases,and you know, anybody who's
been to Louisville to the showthere has seen a couple of the
(09:42):
bases by the guy who'sconducting this seminar.
He's he's uh kind of known forusing rocks in his bases.
So um and you know the historyof stealth aircraft and even
even one on paintbrush care,which I think has been a sort of
a topic of conversationrecently, with people trying to
figure out how how to not uh,lose their their paintbrushes
(10:06):
too early in life.
Another thing that'sinteresting about this show,
that is unique compared withprevious years in particular, is
that we're keeping the contestroom open during the judging.
Kentucky Dave (10:20):
More and more shows are doing that.
Andre DeBoer (10:22):
Yeah, and I recognize the perils of that and
you know it sort of.
You know it could beinconvenient and you kind of
have to shoo people awaysometimes hey, can you let us
work here.
But I felt like it was reallyimportant for us to not take
away that part of the event forfour hours.
(10:43):
Right, Well, three and a halfhours.
I take that back, yeah, becausejudging is from 1230 to four
and that just seemed like areally like a real negative to
me.
Mike (10:55):
So I got my way on that, yeah it really could hit hard
for folks who are late arrivers.
Kentucky Dave (11:00):
Yes.
Mike (11:01):
And then they never.
They can't come see the modelsuntil everything's done and over
with with the judging.
So hopefully that'll work out.
You won't have too muchinterference and it'll all be
good.
David Kettler (11:11):
Absolutely.
Andre DeBoer (11:12):
Yeah, you know we're optimistic.
We're really going to maintaina positive outlook on that and
see it for what it is, andthat's just an opportunity.
Like you took the words out ofmy mouth, mike.
You know the idea that somebodycan come and register their
models at 1130 and not getlocked out of the contest room
(11:35):
an hour later.
Mike (11:36):
Yeah, that's true.
Well, if they're going to seemodels, typically, how big of a
show is this in terms ofentrance and number of entries
on the table?
Andre DeBoer (11:44):
Two years ago we had a little over 300 entries,
Okay, and so you know we onlyhave two historic contests to
gauge by, but the numbers aregoing up, so we're confident
that we can exceed that thisyear this year Now, do you have
(12:09):
a theme for the contest orspecial award or awards in
addition to the regular one, two, three and the best of Dave?
I'm talking a lot.
Do you want to get a word inedgewise here?
David Kettler (12:15):
I did want to mention that we do have a lot of
science fiction and Gundamcategories that we do have here.
Andre DeBoer (12:23):
Well, good we, we have let me let me pull this up
so I'm not, uh, completelymangling this we have five
special categories that we'regoing to be giving awards on,
and uh, one is, uh, the bestgreat lake subject or theme
award could be a, could be alake freighter or Coast Guard
(12:48):
helicopter it could be anythingbut great.
Subject Best model by a WestMichigan Aviation Academy
student.
Best documented replica theSpud Award for Excellence in
Aircraft Modeling.
You may have seen that award atthe Nationals a number of times
One of our founding members 51years our club has been in
(13:12):
existence.
One of our founding members wasnamed Spud Ensing and his son,
gordo, is still a member of theclub and he gives an award every
year for an aircraft model thatrepresents a type that his dad
flew in.
His dad was in the Air Forceand the Navy and flew in a
(13:32):
number of types and worked on anumber of types.
So the Spud Award is always funto give out.
And then the fifth category isbest modeled by a female modeler
.
Kentucky Dave (13:43):
Oh, okay.
Andre DeBoer (13:44):
Yeah, the West Michigan Aviation Academy has a
model, a scale modeling club,and our club works very closely
with them to sort of pass onwhat we know and remove some of
the mystery.
They do a project every yearwhere the class builds a model,
every kid has to build a model,and so we show up on weekdays.
(14:07):
I say we in the loosest senseof the word, because I have a
full-time job but some of ourretired guys are very faithful
about showing up to guide thesekids and it's fun to watch.
Mike (14:22):
Yeah, I was going to ask, after you said that there was a
best model by basically one ofthe students of the academy,
what involvement there was, butthat sounds like a really cool
thing.
Andre DeBoer (14:33):
It really is and really what we try to do when
we're sort of giving guidance tothese kids is stress that it
doesn't have to be historicallyaccurate.
You know, one of our favoritemodels last year was by a
student who she took an A-10model and she painted it black
(14:56):
and then she painted pinkpaisleys all over it and it was
gorgeous.
She had such a good time doingthat and she didn't care what
kind of airplane it was and youknow she did a good job putting
the thing together.
Really, following instructionsis one of the things that they
are emphasizing with this modelbuilding project.
You know, they want to.
Mike (15:17):
They want to these kids to sort of get used to the idea of
following procedures, If theyare, if it's an aviation-centric
kind of curriculum that youknow that fits right in with the
pre-flight checklist and allthat kind of things, to make
sure you do things nip and tuckand in the right order 100%.
Andre DeBoer (15:36):
Yeah, some of these kids are going to end up
some of them graduate withprivate pilot licenses, some of
them go on to aviation careers,some of them go on to not
aviation careers at all.
But having gone through thatschool, I gotta say I'm just
hyper jealous about these kidsgetting to go to this school.
David Kettler (15:54):
We meet in another building twice a month
and it's kind of like their labbuilding and there's just tons
and tons of model aircraft thatI believe the students and other
probably even some of theteachers there have made.
So they're into the modelingscene too.
So it's really great to do thiswith the Aviation Academy.
Andre DeBoer (16:15):
Yeah, they've been really generous with their
facility and their time and wefeel like we have a really
excellent partnership with thisplace and, you know, this
contest is really going toreflect that.
This contest is going to be agood time.
We've got a great raffle, we'vegot terrific make and take area
(16:37):
that will be available for kidsto come by, and you know, it's
always one of those things wherea family comes out to see what
this is all about and this is agood way for somebody to engage
in this who might not otherwisebeen interested in just walking
(16:59):
around and looking at models,who, what, when, where, and the
website where you can downloadthe forms and just tell
everybody the basics one lasttime.
We are West Michigan IPMS and onOctober 4th 2025, we are
presenting the Great LakesChallenge, which is a one-day
(17:20):
contest at the West MichiganAviation Academy, just adjacent
to the Grand Rapids airport.
Kentucky Dave (17:27):
Doors open at nine, registration ends at noon.
And everybody.
The awards will be out by fourYep, that's correct.
David Kettler (17:38):
We'll see you there Saturday, october 4th.
Andre DeBoer (17:40):
And what's the website again?
That's westmichiganipmsorgPerfect.
We'll put a link to it in theshow notes.
Kentucky Dave (17:45):
That's rightmichiganipmsorg Perfect,
we'll put a link to it in theshow notes.
Mike (17:48):
That's right.
Well guys, thank you.
And the Academy information wasthe cherry on top of the sundae
for this installment of ourModel Show Spotlight.
That's really interesting wemay have to circle back and talk
about that a little bit moresometime.
David Kettler (18:01):
Yeah.
Andre DeBoer (18:03):
Well, you can tell we're not.
We didn't ever get tired oftalking about it, so Well,
you're modelers.
Well, that is that is true.
Thanks for taking the time touh to quiz us about this.
You guys really really proud tobe on on your podcast.
Mike (18:19):
Well, thank you, you're welcome.
We wish you all the successwith your show and, you know, if
you guys got a photographerthere who's on the Plastic Model
Dojo, our Facebook group, havethem give us a little photo
montage of what's going on there.
David Kettler (18:33):
Count on it Will do.
Mike (18:34):
We really appreciate it, you guys, again, best luck with
your show and thanks for joiningus.
Thank you, sure, appreciate it.
Thanks a lot.
You know that's one we ought toget to at some point.
Dave, it's not that far.
Kentucky Dave (18:51):
It isn't.
And not only that.
It sounds like they've got areally neat facility right next
to the airport with a reallygood show.
We need to get to it.
Mike (19:01):
Well, I almost asked him if it was called Gerald Ford
Airport, because that's where hefell down the stairs.
Kentucky Dave (19:06):
Yep.
Mike (19:07):
Apparently not.
No, but it's a good joke anywayit would have been.
I should have hit it during themoment, though it doesn't quite
work now, does it folks?
Jokes aside, dave, the next oneis right up here across the
state line in Cincinnati.
It's a show that we often makeand gosh.
We've been going to this showquite a bit, when we can.
(19:28):
I've not been every year, maybeyou have, but I haven't.
But I've been to the show a lot.
Kentucky Dave (19:31):
I've been to the show a lot too.
Mike (19:38):
Dave, this one's a little closer to home, one we've
frequented a lot before.
Kentucky Dave (19:44):
It's one that's near and dear to our heart and
one where, gosh willing thecreek don't rise, we're actually
going to be at this year.
Mike (19:52):
Let's not kill too much time getting into this.
Let's welcome Mike Ward fromthe Cincinnati Scale Modelers to
Plastic Model Mojo's Model ShowSpotlight.
How are you doing, Mike?
Mike Ward (20:02):
Hey, great guys, Thanks for having me.
I really appreciate youbringing me on tonight and
sharing some details about theshow coming up.
This is fantastic.
Mike (20:09):
Well, you're welcome and we thank you too.
We like to double bill thesewhen we can, and you know it's
kind of a double-double thistime.
I know you guys are prettytight with Stuart Clark and
Terry Measley on the Scale ModelPodcast, but they've been a
little bit indisposed of lateand it didn't look like they
were going to get you on, so wethought we'd ask and you took us
up on it.
So we appreciate it, oh great.
Kentucky Dave (20:32):
Well, we want to get the word out.
Mike's not kidding.
Cincinnati is a show that isnear and dear to our heart.
I've been going for longer thanI can remember and have so many
great memories.
So we're thrilled to have youall on and to be able to promote
the show, because we want tosee it succeed.
(20:55):
So why don't you tell us thewho, what, when, where and why?
Mike Ward (21:00):
Fantastic.
Yeah, so it's the CincinnatiScale Modelers 2025 show.
Yeah, so it's a CincinnatiScale Modelers 2025 show and
(21:22):
it's going to be on Saturday,october 18th, from 9 am to 4 pm,
and it's held at the Tri-StateWarbird Museum, which is right
at just outside of Cincinnati,about five minutes from the 275
exit at Eastgate.
The address of the museum is4021 Borman Drive, batavia, ohio
, 45103.
And you know the why it's likeyears ago, you know, covid hit,
we lost our old venue and one ofour club members is a docent at
the museum and connected usthere, and this has become a
(21:43):
really great venue for the show.
It really has.
Kentucky Dave (21:46):
I will tell you the first time Mike and I went
up there and it was held at thatmuseum, we were blown away.
We were sitting under the wingof a Focke-Wulf 190 or well,
focke-wulf 190-ish, and I mean,you know how do you beat that?
You're just sitting there withyou know vendors, models etc.
(22:10):
And you're sitting under thewing of a warbird.
Mike Ward (22:13):
You can't beat it yeah, it's really added a lot of
luster to the show over theyears and the show keeps getting
better every year.
We figured out you know detailsevery year or something.
Okay, we learned from this show, we'll take it to the next show
and on to the next show, evenbeyond, and we get smarter every
year and we've made littleimprovements and tweaks.
(22:34):
It's been great and it's allabout the experience.
Kentucky Dave (22:37):
Yeah, and I was going to say.
We've noticed that because thefirst year you did it that we
were there at the venue, it thatwe were there at the venue, the
tables were maybe lessoptimized than they could have
been.
Then the next year you alloptimized them, and then the
next year you all did itdifferent again, and it does
(22:58):
seem like you keep refining thelittle details.
Mike Ward (23:03):
Yeah, we really want to give a great experience to
everybody that comes.
You know, it's kind of adual-edged sword.
You've got, you know, obviouslythe hobby community coming to
the museum for the show, but youalso have just the general
public that maybe isn't aware ofthe show and they come by the
museum that particular day andthey say, wow, look at this.
You know I see all these planes, but this model show, this is
(23:26):
pretty cool and, like you said,it's organized.
It fits well now in the hangarsand it's easy to move around
and really see everything andreally enjoy the show.
So it's really turned out well.
Kentucky Dave (23:37):
Registration opens at nine.
When does it close?
We'll close that around noon.
And do you have onlineregistration or do you have
forms online that you can thenprint off, present them day of
show?
How does that work?
Mike Ward (23:54):
Yes, we can, for vendors as well as entrants in
the show.
That can all be done throughour online portal at
cincyipmscom.
They can fill out all of theregistration forms.
You can pre-register, fill outall your entry forms for the
entries you want to put in.
(24:15):
Vendors can buy their tablesthere.
The general admission it'sreally $10.
For the models and then ifthere's over 10, it's $2 for
each model over 10.
So it's just a flat $10 andthen two bucks for every model
over 10.
Under 18 is free.
We have a reduced admission.
There is a donation to themuseum that day for everybody
(24:36):
coming in.
It's $10.
Normally the museum charges ahigher amount.
So, yeah, we've really workedout a good deal with the museum
for everybody for the show.
Mike (24:45):
Yeah, that was my next question.
I remember the first year itwas out there there was a
contestant entry portion andthere was a museum entry portion
, yes, so I'm glad they'regetting a reduced rate, but,
folks, it's really worth takingin that IPMS Hamilton does the
show up in Canada.
Kentucky Dave (25:09):
You pay the admission to the museum and then
you pay the entry fee to thecontest.
Mike Ward (25:13):
Yeah, if you're not entering, you're just paying the
admission to the museum and youget a reduced rate and you can
see everything there for the day.
So, yeah, it really works out.
Mike (25:21):
Well, remind us what type of judging format this show is.
Mike Ward (25:25):
Yeah, well, historically we're still
following the same kind of thefirst, second, third, you know,
gold, silver, bronze approachand we've added some things.
This year we're tryingsomething a little different.
We're going to stick with thegold, silver, bronze, but we're
also we wanted to honor a lot ofthe club members that are no
longer with us.
You know we've had some passaway this last year or two and
(25:46):
we got to thinking it'd be nicesome way to honor them, and we
see a lot of these poker chipsfloating around at different
shows.
So we came up with our own clubpoker ship this year and it's
kind of a memorial award andthere's really no judging
criteria to it.
It's really more of a clubmember walking around, you know,
sees a model on the table andsay, wow, that's really cool.
(26:10):
I think that is just impressive.
I like that.
I'm going to put a poker chipdown on.
That Doesn't mean it's going toget a gold, silver or bronze,
but it just it's another way toidentify great work.
And for those that maybe don'tget a gold, silver, bronze, they
got something that, hey, werecognize your model.
We really appreciate the effortand quality of the build.
So it's something new we'redoing so.
I'm excited about that.
Mike (26:28):
Is there a particular theme this year for the show?
Mike Ward (26:31):
There is not.
Now we don't have any themes,but we still have the Boss Hog
Award.
That's probably the big awardthat we give every year, yeah,
and we're proud to offer thattrophy.
It really is kind of a dualconnection.
It brings in the culturalhistory of Cincinnati being, you
know, pork apocalypse, the porkproducing capital, and then,
(26:52):
you know, in our sponsor Mission, barbecue out of Mason, ohio.
You know they've beensponsoring us the last couple of
years and that's a great cause.
They really support theveterans and first responder
communities.
And this unique award it'sreally just representative of
the United States communities.
And this unique award it'sreally just representative of
the United States.
It has to represent the US anddepict an act of heroism and
service.
(27:12):
Some might be say a diorama,maybe of a Huey evac during
Vietnam.
Maybe it's a fire truck thatserved on 9-11.
Or maybe it's a plane that wasflown by or a bust of a pilot, a
Medal of Honor recipient,something along that line.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe military oriented.
It's really about the storythat depicts the heroism for US
(27:36):
and criteria they.
Basically we require some kindof a written explanation or
story about how the modelconforms to the spirit of an act
of heroism and service to theUnited States.
And yeah, we've had some greatawards in the past around that,
so we've got that again thisyear and we're excited for it.
Kentucky Dave (27:55):
Well, that's a really good transition.
Speaking of Mission Barbecueand food is there food on site
at the museum?
Are there food trucks?
Is there food on site at themuseum?
Are there food trucks?
Is there food nearby?
How are we going to feed allthese people once we get them to
the museum?
Mike Ward (28:11):
Absolutely.
We've got a great food truckAgain.
It's a hamburger truck, reallygood hamburgers.
It's on site so nobody has toleave.
We know parking can be a littlechallenging at times and we
don't want people to leave andget frustrated and not come back
, so we just bring the food toyou.
It's going to be outside at themuseum Yep Hamburger truck.
Mike (28:30):
Well, what's the vendor landscape looking like this year
?
Mike Ward (28:33):
You know we're looking really good right now.
We've got 21 vendors.
As of today, we've got four tofour tables for the vendors in
that area.
So 21 vendors, 44 tables.
I'm expecting it to top outsomewhere in that.
You know 50 table range.
You know low fifties for theshow.
Kentucky Dave (28:51):
So you've still got a few tables left if there
are some vendors who are makingsome last minute decisions.
Mike Ward (28:59):
We do, yeah, so I've got tables left and we'll be
doing another outreach tovendors just to make sure.
Hey, did you get our email?
You know I haven't heard fromyou.
You know we'll do somefollow-up phone calls.
We want to make sure nobodygets missed on the list.
Just you know, maybe theydidn't read the email.
So we'll be following up overthe next couple of weeks on that
and, you know, reallysolidifying it as we go into
October.
You know we've got some greatsponsors for the show too, so
(29:22):
we're excited about that.
Mike (29:23):
Well, we always ask if there's anything special or
unique about the show.
If such a thing exists and Iknow what it is, unless you want
to add something different butthe venue itself, I think, is
the big sell for this show.
Won't you let our listenersknow a little bit more about the
museum, what they can expect tosee, in addition to a lot of
vendors and a lot of great builtup models?
Mike Ward (29:44):
Sure, well, we've got you know it's a great venue the
Tri-State Warburg Museum.
You know we've got fullyrestored World War II flying
aircraft and they've got twohangars with them and they've
also got one outside.
Now they got a new one.
They got an Albatross.
Oh cool, they just picked thatup a couple months ago.
(30:06):
I love the Albatross.
They just picked that up acouple months ago.
I love the Albatross.
It's a beautiful plane.
It's big.
I mean, when you get up next tothis thing and it's the smaller
version of the two they had.
So when I look at this thing,you know, when you saw it fly in
it was impressive.
But when you get right up closeto it, I just can't fathom how
big this thing really is.
It won't even fit in the hangar.
It's so big they're going tohave to build a new hangar.
(30:27):
But yeah, I mean they've got agreat collection.
They've got P-51D Mustang,they've got the B-25.
They got Texan.
They got the Focke-Wulf 190,the P-40.
Mike (30:42):
They've got there was a Corsair in parts.
Mike Ward (30:43):
The Corsair is actually coming together.
The fuselage is you know,together.
Now they're working on thecockpit tub, putting the
controls in Engine stillerconstruction, the wing root.
They're getting that together.
That's really coming togethernicely.
You know they got a grasshopper, a flip fire.
You know expediter.
It's just a lot of neataircraft to see, truly a gem.
(31:05):
It's a little hidden gem rightoutside of Cincinnati.
It's a great show venue.
Mike (31:11):
It really is.
I didn't dislike the old venue.
I think in some regards youwere.
I don't know what additionalspace there was at that school,
but I know the vendor space wasstarting to get a little tight.
Mike Ward (31:24):
It was tight.
There was a lot of work at thatone and you know we had some
very strict limitations.
So this is really the WarbirdMuseums have just been a great
partner.
They've really worked with usto, you know, flesh out a couple
, you know a couple of kingsearly on that we both had and
we've, you know, come to termson it.
It's always great othernon-historical subjects.
(32:02):
So just a great venuealtogether and really looking
forward to the show.
It's always great.
Mike (32:07):
You've mentioned the Poker Chips and the Boss Hog Award.
Is there any other specialawards at the show other than
the typical best stuffs?
Mike Ward (32:14):
Yeah, not anything.
No other special awards at themoment, not to say something
couldn't be added, but reallyjust working on the best of
categories.
Best of show We've modifiedthose acrylic trophies a little
bit.
Best of show we've modifiedthose acrylic trophies a little
bit.
Best of show now is a littlebit larger trophy than
everything else.
We've also upgraded our coinawards so we'll be putting out
some of the older coins fromlast year that we had left over,
(32:35):
as well as some new coins.
We've added some color andtried to turn that up a notch
and change the design a littlebit.
So a lot of the entrants willbe seeing that as the uh uh for
those that metal, uh they'll.
they'll be seeing the new coinstoo, so you know, just another
way to try to increase the uh,the value and and the experience
of the show.
Mike (32:53):
One thing we've not mentioned yet is is the presence
of a raffle situation.
Mike Ward (32:58):
Oh yeah, two great raffles.
We've got our regular raffle,you know which.
Typically we have 70, 80 itemsavailable.
And then we've got the superraffle and that raffle has done
well in the past years and a lotof attraction there.
Those items in that superraffle are typically $100 or
more in value and we have somereally great kits.
(33:21):
We've got some good donations.
Blackheartheart studio orblackheart enterprises gave us
some large busts for thatsquadron gave us some nice items
to put in there and we've gotsome other things that we're
working on.
Still, you know, we're stillwaiting on some items from ravel
, mrc, icm.
We got some daniel foundminiatures coming, so just a lot
(33:42):
of other great sponsors alongthe way, and there's others I
haven't mentioned, but yeah,just a lot will be showing up in
that raffle.
It's very unique and I thinkeverybody'd be happy with it.
Kentucky Dave (33:53):
Well, I'm glad you mentioned that, brandon and
Squadron, you'd reached out tothem and they supplied you some
stuff.
I know, I mean, he's a very,very much a supporter of the
hobby in the industry, so I'mglad you were able to do that.
Mike Ward (34:07):
Yeah, yeah.
They are really generous for usand very happy to have them on
board as a sponsor and helppromote them too.
Kentucky Dave (34:14):
Well, before we wrap up here, why don't you hit
us with the who, what, when,where, why, one more time, so
that everybody knows where to go?
Cause I'm telling you, ifyou're within driving distance
of Cincinnati, y'all need to goto this show.
Mike Ward (34:32):
Yeah, definitely, thank you, yeah again.
The Cincinnati Scale Modelers2025 show a Saturday, october
18th, 9 am to 4 pm and it's atthe Tri-State Wardburg Museum.
It's a beautiful venue.
Like I said, over 10 different,fully restored flyable World
(34:52):
War II aircraft.
You'll see the displays of themodels under the planes in the
hangar and you can buy the modelof a B-25 under the wing of a
B-25.
What better way to celebratethe show?
David Kettler (35:04):
Absolutely yeah.
Mike Ward (35:05):
The address is 4021 Borman Drive, Batavia, Ohio,
45103.
And if there's any otherquestions or registration
questions, that can also befound at our website for the
club at wwwcincyipmscom.
(35:30):
So yeah, looking forward to agreat show and hope we get a
great turnout for it.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
Mike (35:36):
Looking forward to it.
We'll drop links to the clubwebsite and the museum into the
show notes to this so people canfind that easily, and I want to
thank you for joining us forthis segment and wish you all
the best with your show.
Mike Ward (35:49):
Thank you.
I appreciate you really havingus on and helping partner with
us to promote the show.
It's been great working withyou guys and look forward to
seeing you in October All right,glad to do it, take it easy,
take it easy.
Kentucky Dave (36:00):
Take care.
I just unreservedly love theCincinnati show, especially now
that it's at the Tri-State AirMuseum.
It just it's a great one-dayshow.
You get to go up there.
You see people that you see atthe different shows from time to
(36:23):
time Socialize.
It's a great atmosphere tosocialize in.
I just love it.
Mike (36:28):
Well, I like it too.
I hope I get to go to this one.
I know you're most definitelygoing to be there with Inch Yep
and sounds like a good time,dude Yep.
Well, this is going to dropwith one more opportunity, dave,
to pitch the MMMCL show atParacat Springs Convention
Center in Shepherdsville,kentucky, and I'm definitely
going to be there and Incha'sgoing to be there, and you're
going to be there.
Kentucky Dave (36:47):
Yep.
Mike (36:48):
So, folks, you got about a week yeah, september 27th To
get your plans in order to getto that show.
It's going to be a good time.
It's a great facility andalways a lot of fun.
We do a good job, dave, yeah.
Kentucky Dave (37:00):
And come by and see us.
We're going to have a tablethere, we're going to be setting
up, we're going to be recordinga little.
Come by and see us.
We'd love to see you at theshow.
Mike (37:24):
Folks, if you can't get to any of these, get to one
somewhere Exactly, bye.
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