April 16, 2025 • 24 mins
Armor modeling enthusiasts, mark your calendars! In this deep-dive conversation with Neil Stokes, newly elected President of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society (AMPS), we unveil everything you need to know about the upcoming AMPS International Convention taking place May 15-17, 2025, at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
Neal shares details about what promises to be their biggest show yet, with approximately 700 competition models expected and over 110 vendor tables already booked. Located just across the river from Harrisburg and near both Hershey Park and Gettysburg Battlefield, the venue offers convenience for attendees and activities for accompanying family members.
What sets AMPS apart from other modeling competitions? Every single entry receives written feedback from judges, helping modelers understand their strengths and areas for improvement. This educational approach has fostered an incredibly high standard of craftsmanship that continues to impress even veteran attendees.
Beyond the competition floor, visitors can look forward to special attractions including "Lady Lois," a full-scale M3A1 Stuart tank on display Friday, an extensive raffle, and seven specialized seminars including four hands-on workshops covering advanced modeling techniques. This year's theme is "African Armor," encompassing everything from World War II North African campaign vehicles to modern conflict equipment.
Neil offers insight into AMPS' strategic future, actively reaching out to "armor-adjacent" modeling communities including sci-fi, Gundam, and Warhammer enthusiasts. These newer modelers often enter the hobby through different cultural influences but bring tremendous talent and fresh perspectives that enrich the traditional armor modeling community.
Whether you're a dedicated armor modeler, curious about expanding your skills, or simply love meticulously crafted miniatures, the AMPS International Convention offers something for everyone.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kentucky Dave (00:11):
all right, dave, we got a show spotlight yes, we
do, and a show that we're goingto yeah, I'm looking forward to
this one.
Mike (00:19):
It is uh.
Oh, you and me both.
It is springtime.
April, may time frame hasalways been the uh time that
AMPS has held theirinternational convention.
Yep, and I'm looking forward tothis man.
We had a blast up in South Bendlast year.
Kentucky Dave (00:35):
Oh, we did.
It was awesome.
I got to say that was some ofthe best times I've had, so I'm
really looking forward to it inPennsylvania.
Mike (00:45):
I had forgotten what I was missing.
You are back, baby.
Well, AMPS has a new president,and it's Mr Neil Stokes, who's
been with the organization along time, and we decided to
have him come on and tell usabout the upcoming convention,
Dave.
Kentucky Dave (00:57):
Yep looking forward to it.
Mike (01:05):
Well, dave spring is in the air, and you know what that
means.
Kentucky Dave (01:08):
That means AMPS man, AMPS Nationals.
Mike (01:11):
AMPS is coming up again and tonight we have the AMPS
president, mr Neal Stokes, withus.
Neil Stokes (01:17):
Tonight, neal, how you doing, doing just fine,
gentlemen, Nice to be here andthank you for the opportunity to
come talk to you.
Mike (01:25):
Well, we like the show and we want to give you the
opportunity to at least tell ourlisteners what's up about it.
And let's get right into it.
Man, amps is coming up nextmonth.
Won't you give us the date andlocation for starters?
Absolutely.
Neil Stokes (01:39):
So we are running Thursday May 15th through
Saturday May 17th at the PennHarris Hotel in Camp Hill,
pennsylvania, which is justacross the river from Harrisburg
, about a half a mile, half anhour away from Hershey Park and
probably less than an hour awayfrom the Gettysburg Battlefield.
(02:00):
So there's a lot to do in thearea, you know, if people want
to bring their families and, youknow, not have to maroon them
in a world of tanks for a coupledays.
Kentucky Dave (02:11):
Well, I got to say Mike and I went to the Amps
National in South Bend last yearand man, what a great time that
was.
Just I've got to say AMPSreally knows how to put on a
show.
That thing ran smooth and thequality of the work at the AMPS
(02:36):
Nationals is just unbelievable.
Neil Stokes (02:40):
Well, thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed last year's
.
We always have a great time.
Like you said, the quality ofthe work is just stupendous and
you know we're expectingactually an even bigger show
this year oh yeah, at 30 daysout than we were for last year's
(03:04):
show.
So you know that always makesour chief judge a little nervous
because he's sweating about howhe's going to get all those
models judged.
But you know it's kind of anice problem to have.
Kentucky Dave (03:14):
But you all always seem to do it.
I mean, it's a challenge, butyou all always seem to be able
to somehow tackle it.
Neil Stokes (03:24):
I remember a couple of years ago in Newport News we
were burning the midnight oilon the Friday night getting the
models judged, because if you goback like 20 years, I think the
first one I came to was like2005.
And you got like the diehardfanatics would come in on the
Friday and then the regularfolks would come in on the
Saturday.
So you got like a big rush onFriday and you you try to get
(03:47):
them all judged so that youcould you know clear space and
and just judging bandwidth forthe, for the, the Saturday rush.
But the interesting, you knowit's changed now.
You know the, the, the diehardfanatics are there on the
Wednesday night and you know arelined up when the show opens
Thursday lunchtime and by Fridayeverybody's there and Saturday
(04:12):
it's just the party's in fullswing.
So yeah, the dynamic haschanged quite a bit, but we're
expecting somewhere in theregion of 700 models.
Kentucky Dave (04:22):
Now have you all got all your judging teams
assembled and ready to go andmapped out.
Neil Stokes (04:28):
No, that's you know .
I wish I could say yes, we are,we are all lined up and we have
all the judging slots filled.
Unfortunately, that neverhappens.
You know.
What typically goes on is, youknow, we'll be running around
the vendor room grabbing peopleand dragging them physically
into the judging room fiveminutes before the judging shift
(04:48):
happens.
But like you say, dave, itworks.
People pile in and we get itdone.
And the cool thing is, I mean,every model gets judged, every
model gets feedback in writing.
So if you get a particularscore, you'll know what they
liked about it, you'll know whatthey didn't like about it.
(05:09):
And the purpose of the judgingsystem is really to help people
improve, because you know, ifyou don't get anything in a lot
of shows you walk away and yougo okay.
So what was there about it?
What did I do wrong?
What did I do right?
At least here we have a littlebit of feedback that people can
(05:29):
understand what they need toimprove on.
Mike (05:31):
I think you guys have been at this venue before, is that
right?
Neil Stokes (05:34):
Yes, sir, we were there in 2023.
Mike (05:37):
Okay, Well, what's it?
Like I've not been there, itseems it's a hotel attached to a
convention center.
Neil Stokes (05:42):
It's a hotel attached to a convention center.
It's a hotel attached to aconvention center.
We've got the main ballroom.
As you walk into the conventioncenter entrance there's a lobby
there.
So we'll have the raffle andthe ramrod table and all that
sort of stuff is all there andthen the main ballroom is right
behind that.
That will have the front halfis going to be where the display
area is and we'll also havesome various other tables.
(06:06):
I know you guys are coming up todo the podcast from there.
We've got a couple otherpodcasters coming.
We've got a couple of veteransassociations that are coming.
We're also trying to form somerelationships with some of the
veterans charitableorganizations because you know,
let's face it, a lot of our guysare active or retired military
(06:26):
and you know, we know a lot ofretired military folks are doing
it tough and, uh, you know, we,we, we, we try to do whatever
we can to help thoseorganizations out because they,
they do great work, yeah, andthen.
So then the the bag half isgoing to be the vendor room.
So we're out.
We actually we've got a coupleof vendors on waiting list at
(06:48):
the moment.
You've got a lot of good largeorganizations.
Angel from MicroWorld Games isgoing to be there.
He's probably our largestvendor.
Squadron's coming.
Most of you probably know GeneBagnoli.
He's going to be there.
So, yeah, we're.
And then there's a lot ofsmaller vendors there as well.
Kentucky Dave (07:05):
Do you know how many tables total it is we?
Neil Stokes (07:08):
are somewhere north of 110 vendor tables.
That doesn't include podcasters, veterans, associations, et
cetera.
I think we did manage tosqueeze in a couple.
Our original limit was 110, butwe did manage to squeeze a few
more in.
We just got to be careful ofaisle widths and fire codes.
Our original limit was 110, butwe did manage to squeeze a few
(07:29):
more in.
We just got to be careful ofaisle widths and fire codes and
how all those things work Well.
Mike (07:32):
you violate those and the show gets a little bit miserable
for everybody at peak hours.
Neil Stokes (07:40):
How does that compare to the facility at South
Bend?
I would say the main differenceis that this one is oval-shaped
versus the the square, the onewith the square.
That's about the difference.
Probably similar in size, Iwould say.
Mike (07:51):
Well, I was meaning in the context of vendor tables and
what that.
Neil Stokes (07:58):
Oh, in terms of the overall size of it, yeah, it'll
be very similar.
We have about the same numberof vendor tables that we had
last year.
I'll say the layout's slightlydifferent.
But the only thing that we donot have this year is the
concession stand right outside,like we did before.
You got to kind of walk aroundthe corner to the hotel and
(08:19):
there's various amenities therefor food and drinks and so on.
Right across the parking lot,by the way, is a Perkins and a
McDonald's.
Oh, I love Perkins.
Man.
Duck outside to grab some food.
You know, that's five minutes.
There's also the show.
Watering Hole is a place that'sprobably walking distance, but
(08:40):
it's probably closer to aquarter mile, and that's the
place called the Grateful Goat.
I think we drank them dry thelast time we were there, so we
have warned them ahead of timethat we're coming back.
Mike (08:51):
Well, I've already Googled Matt.
I saw that place and there werea couple others on the river
there that looked interesting aswell.
Neil Stokes (08:57):
Yeah, there's some real good places down towards
the river.
There's a place called Duke's,but there's.
There's a lot of good places touh, to eat and drink, and you
know, talk about the show andswap model ideas and you know
all the sorts of things that wedo.
Oh, but, speaking of theparking lot, got to tell you
guys we also have an M3A1Stewart one-to-one scale um,
(09:19):
lady Lois, that is going to bethere on the Friday.
They're not going to be therefor the Saturday because they've
got another event to go to, butthey're going to bring the
vehicle down and it'll be parkedthere and you can go and walk
around and take pictures and soon.
That'll be cool, all right, wecouldn't let them bring it in,
of course.
Yeah, a few years ago weactually had some people come
(09:43):
down with some tanks to one ofthe other shows and the hotel
was like, oh, we got a bigloading door, we can bring it in
.
And we're like you didn'trealize, this thing weighs like
20 tons, right.
And they were like, okay,forget that, probably a little
too heavy for our floor load.
Kentucky Dave (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, let's not crack the concrete.
Neil Stokes (10:02):
Yeah, it winds up in the basement the next morning
.
Not a good idea.
Yeah, exactly.
Mike (10:08):
Well, in addition to vendors and entering your model
in the exhibition, what else isgoing to be going on at the show
venue we have?
Neil Stokes (10:16):
a very robust raffle this year due to some
very generous donations fromsponsors, so there's going to be
some amazing stuff on theraffle table.
We also have a bunch ofseminars scheduled.
I think we've got seven, ofwhich about four are hands-on
workshops.
So there's things on weathering.
(10:38):
I can't remember all of themnow, but if you go to the
website wwwamps-armororg, allthe show details are there and
you can see those hands-on websor hands-on seminars require
some sign up because the placesare limited.
So I think we do have a fewspots left in some of them, but
(10:59):
you'll get in early because,yeah, they will fill up.
Kentucky Dave (11:03):
When does registration close?
Neil Stokes (11:06):
You can register your models online
pre-registration right up untilthe Thursday night of the show
and, of course, you can registeryour models at the show up
until 12 noon on the Saturday.
Oh, wow, okay, that's whenregistration closes completely.
(11:27):
Now we are changing it a littlebit this year, in that if you
come to the show and you want toregister your models there,
there will be a laptop or twothat you sit down with and
somebody will help you, guideyou through the registration.
We've gone away completely fromhandwritten forms this year
because our data entry peoplethreatened to have a revolt
(11:50):
because they couldn't readpeople's handwriting.
Kentucky Dave (11:52):
I think more and more shows are going that way.
Neil Stokes (11:55):
Yeah.
So you know it works out.
We got ourselves a couple ofcheap but decent laptops for the
organization and, yeah, we'regoing digital.
The other thing that we'retrying to do this year, too, is
(12:22):
to reach out to some of the youknow I'll call them armor
adjacent modeling genres thatare emerging.
I mean it's interesting, how youknow, we see a lot of folks
coming through the sci-fi, thegaming community, the Gundam
people community, the Gundampeople, and a lot of their stuff
fits really nicely into ourcategory 14, you know, sci-fi
and fantasy and futuristicvehicles, and I mean these folks
are great, they're reallyenthusiastic, they're very
talented.
Like I said, their stuff fitsnicely into our categories Like,
(12:45):
hey, come along, bring yourWarhammer, bring your Gunpla,
bring your Star Wars things.
I mean, don't bring aMillennium Falcon, but bring
your Snowspeeder, always abovethe ground, good enough for us.
So let's branch out becauseit's interesting.
I've been talking to a lot ofthose people at various shows
(13:05):
and they love what we do.
It's just that they never grewup with it the way we did.
Sure, love what we do, it'sjust that they never grew up
with it the way we did.
And I was talking to a youngguy.
You know, a couple of weeks agoat a IPMS show in Long Island
and he was like this is great, Iwant to try all these things.
And so cool.
I mean.
I must admit I've got a coupleof Gundam kits sitting in the
stash.
Now I'm going to give it a shot.
Mike (13:26):
Sure.
Well, what's the theme of theshow this year?
There's always a theme, so thetheme is African armor.
Neil Stokes (13:33):
Okay, anything that is Africa-related, you know
from, you know World War armortrains and stuff, you know, all
the way through to a lot of themodern bush wars that are
happening there.
So you know, I expect to see alot of T-55s, a lot of World War
II North Africa campaign.
But yeah, you know it'sobviously.
(13:54):
Some people have said to melike oh, you have to be Africa
related to enter the show.
No, not at all.
You have to have an Africarelated subject to be in the
running for the show theme award.
But you can bring any groundwarfare related subjectrelated
subject, no matter what it is.
Kentucky Dave (14:13):
Well, I got to tell you.
One of my favorite things aboutthe Amps Nationals is you all
always seem to come up withreally good themes.
I mean water tanks one year,recon vehicles one year.
The theme is always really goodand really tight, but large
enough to get a lot of entries.
Neil Stokes (14:35):
It's an interesting process in the sense that it's
really crowdsourced.
The last thing at the annualgeneral meeting on the Friday
night is always what is the showtheme, and we will usually
spend five or 10 minutes withpeople just calling out ideas
and then we vote on those ideasto get to the last two, and then
(15:01):
we have a second vote thatpicks between those last two.
So we always seem like you said, dave, we always seem to come
out with something interesting,but large enough so that it
doesn't exclude a lot of people,exactly.
Mike (15:16):
All right.
Well, on the topic of the show,won't you let folks know where
they can register again?
Neil Stokes (15:22):
and then the date again, If you go to our website
wwwamps-armororg and on thefront page there you'll see the
show registration link.
You do have to be a member ofAMPS to enter the competition,
although you don't have to be amember just to come into the
(15:44):
show.
But if you you know, you canregister.
If you're not an AMPS memberand you want to join, you can do
that.
At the same time you bundle itall together and it's all online
.
You can print your forms out,bring them along with your model
and have fun and enjoy the show.
Kentucky Dave (16:03):
So May 15th through 17th.
Neil Stokes (16:06):
May 15th through 17th.
Yeah, we officially open theshow at 1 pm on the 15th.
If somebody comes up to youbefore that and wants to give
you money and you want to taketheir money, then go right ahead
.
So there's kind of a we'resomewhat flexible about the
opening time.
Yeah, and we'll run probablytill about 7 o'clock on the
(16:30):
Thursday night, I think aboutthe same time on the Friday
night, and then we wrap up by 5,530 on the Saturday.
Mike (16:38):
All right.
Well, we're certainly lookingforward to it, but we're not
done with you yet.
Tonight, Since you're going tobe the sole spotlight this month
for the May show that's goingto be amps.
You just secured reelection topresidents of the organization,
I believe.
Neil Stokes (16:54):
Well, I have been the first vice president of the
organization for the last fouryears, but I've only been
president for about two weeksnow.
Mike (17:05):
All right, Well, what's AMPS got going forward in the
coming year?
Neil Stokes (17:12):
As I said, we're trying to embrace some of the
additional kind of adjacentcommunities.
No, we're not going to be anairplane modeling club but at
the same time there's a lot ofreally cool talented younger
people who are coming in throughthe sci-fi and the gaming
communities and we want thosefolks to be part of apps.
So we're going to make a bigpush to bring those folks into
(17:37):
our community and, you know andand kind of cross pollinate a
little bit, cause it'sinteresting how many of the
talks we've had over the lastyou know couple of years where
those folks are reallyinterested in the stuff we do
and we're really interested in alot of stuff that they do.
I mean, I've been bringing, youknow, machine and Krieger and
(17:57):
Warhammer stuff to amp shows fora decade or more.
So you know, that's somethingthat we're things that we've had
is.
You know I hesitate to call ita criticism, but certainly an
(18:19):
observation is that most of ourmembers are within North America
.
You know 90% within the UnitedStates, you know a bunch in
Canada, but the rest of theworld it's a bit scattered.
There's some valid reasons forthat in the sense that if you're
in South America or Europe orAPAC.
The only thing that AMPS hashistorically been able to offer
(18:42):
you is a magazine six times ayear, and you know what?
It's a bit of an ask for peopleto be a member just for that.
So we're going to do a number ofthings.
We're going to, you know, wehave made significant moves to
take the, the magazine Borsight,digital.
We are now doing, you know,four, four issues digital, two
(19:06):
issues printed, uh, each year.
But we're also going to startdoing things like podcasts,
online reviews.
We've had a YouTube channel fora number of years that we
haven't done a whole lot with.
So let's kind of start toembrace that and provide more
value to people who can'tnecessarily come to North
America and come to a show.
(19:28):
So, at the same time, we got tothink carefully about how we do
that, because we don't want tocrowd the digital community
either.
There's a lot of really goodfolks out there doing really
great stuff.
You know I don't want to be theguy who forces people to.
You know, decide between the 20possible podcasts I could
listen to tonight.
So it's, yeah, we got to becareful we don't overcrowd that,
(19:51):
that that market, and you know,and I don't want to be a me too
.
So, uh, we've got some, somenew blood in the the executive
board, some folks there who'vegot some great ideas, but what
we're looking at is how.
How can we add value, not onlyto make amps, you know, more of
a compelling proposition forpeople worldwide, but also to
the community in general, sothat, like I said, we're not
(20:14):
crowding stuff out and justeating everybody's lunch?
Kentucky Dave (20:17):
Well, and I can tell you because of my
involvement with IPMS USA,they're doing the exact same
thing.
They have the same ideas andthey are implementing some of
the same things, that we had aYouTube channel that we've had
but didn't use, and now it'sgetting utilized, and I think
(20:37):
that's the way that a lot ofmodeling societies are going to
go in order to continue to stayrelevant.
Neil Stokes (20:47):
Exactly right, you know, and stay relevant, embrace
broader populations and embracethe new modelers who are coming
into the community.
Because you know we hear thelament a lot, you know, usually
over beers at shows, you knowpeople, oh well, the hobby's
dying.
Nobody, nobody's coming in.
Yeah, they are, oh, yes they are, they're not coming in the way
(21:09):
we did and they're not enteringin the places that we did.
They're coming in through.
You know their culturalinfluences are different so
they're coming in in differentways, but once they see the kind
of stuff we do, they jump in.
They, you know they're.
They're really into the craftof it.
They I've been sitting therewith with gundam people you know
(21:32):
, sharing ideas about your paintmodulation and things like that
, and they're like oh, that'show that works and they're all
into you know the electronicsand the lighting aspects of
things.
They're doing some really coolstuff and sharing with us and
it's great.
It all works together.
You know we and we, we make thehobby stronger by doing that.
Kentucky Dave (21:51):
Yep, I completely agree, dave.
You got anything else?
Nope.
Well, the only thing I've gotis to say I cannot wait for May
15th, go to the show man.
Neil Stokes (22:03):
It's going to be a good time.
I hope you guys have a greatshow.
Obviously, we'll be chattingduring the show.
Travel safe.
Look forward to seeing you guysin Camp Hill We'll share a beer
.
Oh, probably more than one.
Mike (22:19):
Well, Neil, thanks for joining us tonight.
We appreciate it and we promotethe organization every episode
and we thank you so much fordoing that.
Neil Stokes (22:28):
It's great to be part of such a great modeling
community.
Thank you.
Mike (22:34):
And we had such a good time last year.
What the heck are we doing,taking a hiatus from this for so
long?
Kentucky Dave (22:39):
Yes.
Mike (22:40):
The community is just so tight and it's just a really
really fun time.
Neil Stokes (22:44):
It is.
Mike (22:45):
All right, Neil, we'll see you in May.
Neil Stokes (22:47):
Thank you, gentlemen, have a good one.
Thank you Bye-bye.
Mike (22:54):
Well, that got me extra excited.
Kentucky Dave (22:56):
Yes, it did.
It's always fun talking withthe Amps guys.
They are all such down-to-earthpeople.
It's just such a great time.
Mike (23:09):
Well, and I kind of wonder , if you know he talked a little
bit there about being ahead ofthe curve a little bit on their
preregistrants.
Yeah, I wonder if moving backtoward the East Coast is going
to help them out a bit coast isgoing to help them out a bit.
Kentucky Dave (23:28):
You know AMPS has always had kind of a Northeast
centrism.
So it would not surprise me,especially since, given the
location, you're going to get afair number of Canadian modelers
.
And I'll tell you what there isa strong contingent of Canadian
armor modelers.
So it would not surprise me tosee Canadians other than young
Evan McCallum at the, at theshop.
Mike (23:49):
Well see if he brings anybody with him.
Yep, All right.
Folks, if you can make it tothe AMPS international
convention in early May, youshould make every effort to get
there, because if you're inarmor at all, even peripherally,
like youave yep, I love to lookat even I know I build it very
rarely.
(24:10):
You cannot help but be impressedby the quality, the consistent
quality of the entries well,folks, we hope to see you there
and look forward to seeing allour friends who are going to be
there, because a lot of them arealready asking Yep, all right,
dave, until our next featureepisode.
So many kits, so little time.
(24:31):
Bye.
all right, dave, we got a show spotlight yes, we
do, and a show that we're goingto yeah, I'm looking forward to
this one.
Mike (00:19):
It is uh.
Oh, you and me both.
It is springtime.
April, may time frame hasalways been the uh time that
AMPS has held theirinternational convention.
Yep, and I'm looking forward tothis man.
We had a blast up in South Bendlast year.
Kentucky Dave (00:35):
Oh, we did.
It was awesome.
I got to say that was some ofthe best times I've had, so I'm
really looking forward to it inPennsylvania.
Mike (00:45):
I had forgotten what I was missing.
You are back, baby.
Well, AMPS has a new president,and it's Mr Neil Stokes, who's
been with the organization along time, and we decided to
have him come on and tell usabout the upcoming convention,
Dave.
Kentucky Dave (00:57):
Yep looking forward to it.
Mike (01:05):
Well, dave spring is in the air, and you know what that
means.
Kentucky Dave (01:08):
That means AMPS man, AMPS Nationals.
Mike (01:11):
AMPS is coming up again and tonight we have the AMPS
president, mr Neal Stokes, withus.
Neil Stokes (01:17):
Tonight, neal, how you doing, doing just fine,
gentlemen, Nice to be here andthank you for the opportunity to
come talk to you.
Mike (01:25):
Well, we like the show and we want to give you the
opportunity to at least tell ourlisteners what's up about it.
And let's get right into it.
Man, amps is coming up nextmonth.
Won't you give us the date andlocation for starters?
Absolutely.
Neil Stokes (01:39):
So we are running Thursday May 15th through
Saturday May 17th at the PennHarris Hotel in Camp Hill,
pennsylvania, which is justacross the river from Harrisburg
, about a half a mile, half anhour away from Hershey Park and
probably less than an hour awayfrom the Gettysburg Battlefield.
(02:00):
So there's a lot to do in thearea, you know, if people want
to bring their families and, youknow, not have to maroon them
in a world of tanks for a coupledays.
Kentucky Dave (02:11):
Well, I got to say Mike and I went to the Amps
National in South Bend last yearand man, what a great time that
was.
Just I've got to say AMPSreally knows how to put on a
show.
That thing ran smooth and thequality of the work at the AMPS
(02:36):
Nationals is just unbelievable.
Neil Stokes (02:40):
Well, thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed last year's
.
We always have a great time.
Like you said, the quality ofthe work is just stupendous and
you know we're expectingactually an even bigger show
this year oh yeah, at 30 daysout than we were for last year's
(03:04):
show.
So you know that always makesour chief judge a little nervous
because he's sweating about howhe's going to get all those
models judged.
But you know it's kind of anice problem to have.
Kentucky Dave (03:14):
But you all always seem to do it.
I mean, it's a challenge, butyou all always seem to be able
to somehow tackle it.
Neil Stokes (03:24):
I remember a couple of years ago in Newport News we
were burning the midnight oilon the Friday night getting the
models judged, because if you goback like 20 years, I think the
first one I came to was like2005.
And you got like the diehardfanatics would come in on the
Friday and then the regularfolks would come in on the
Saturday.
So you got like a big rush onFriday and you you try to get
(03:47):
them all judged so that youcould you know clear space and
and just judging bandwidth forthe, for the, the Saturday rush.
But the interesting, you knowit's changed now.
You know the, the, the diehardfanatics are there on the
Wednesday night and you know arelined up when the show opens
Thursday lunchtime and by Fridayeverybody's there and Saturday
(04:12):
it's just the party's in fullswing.
So yeah, the dynamic haschanged quite a bit, but we're
expecting somewhere in theregion of 700 models.
Kentucky Dave (04:22):
Now have you all got all your judging teams
assembled and ready to go andmapped out.
Neil Stokes (04:28):
No, that's you know .
I wish I could say yes, we are,we are all lined up and we have
all the judging slots filled.
Unfortunately, that neverhappens.
You know.
What typically goes on is, youknow, we'll be running around
the vendor room grabbing peopleand dragging them physically
into the judging room fiveminutes before the judging shift
(04:48):
happens.
But like you say, dave, itworks.
People pile in and we get itdone.
And the cool thing is, I mean,every model gets judged, every
model gets feedback in writing.
So if you get a particularscore, you'll know what they
liked about it, you'll know whatthey didn't like about it.
(05:09):
And the purpose of the judgingsystem is really to help people
improve, because you know, ifyou don't get anything in a lot
of shows you walk away and yougo okay.
So what was there about it?
What did I do wrong?
What did I do right?
At least here we have a littlebit of feedback that people can
(05:29):
understand what they need toimprove on.
Mike (05:31):
I think you guys have been at this venue before, is that
right?
Neil Stokes (05:34):
Yes, sir, we were there in 2023.
Mike (05:37):
Okay, Well, what's it?
Like I've not been there, itseems it's a hotel attached to a
convention center.
Neil Stokes (05:42):
It's a hotel attached to a convention center.
It's a hotel attached to aconvention center.
We've got the main ballroom.
As you walk into the conventioncenter entrance there's a lobby
there.
So we'll have the raffle andthe ramrod table and all that
sort of stuff is all there andthen the main ballroom is right
behind that.
That will have the front halfis going to be where the display
area is and we'll also havesome various other tables.
(06:06):
I know you guys are coming up todo the podcast from there.
We've got a couple otherpodcasters coming.
We've got a couple of veteransassociations that are coming.
We're also trying to form somerelationships with some of the
veterans charitableorganizations because you know,
let's face it, a lot of our guysare active or retired military
(06:26):
and you know, we know a lot ofretired military folks are doing
it tough and, uh, you know, we,we, we, we try to do whatever
we can to help thoseorganizations out because they,
they do great work, yeah, andthen.
So then the the bag half isgoing to be the vendor room.
So we're out.
We actually we've got a coupleof vendors on waiting list at
(06:48):
the moment.
You've got a lot of good largeorganizations.
Angel from MicroWorld Games isgoing to be there.
He's probably our largestvendor.
Squadron's coming.
Most of you probably know GeneBagnoli.
He's going to be there.
So, yeah, we're.
And then there's a lot ofsmaller vendors there as well.
Kentucky Dave (07:05):
Do you know how many tables total it is we?
Neil Stokes (07:08):
are somewhere north of 110 vendor tables.
That doesn't include podcasters, veterans, associations, et
cetera.
I think we did manage tosqueeze in a couple.
Our original limit was 110, butwe did manage to squeeze a few
more in.
We just got to be careful ofaisle widths and fire codes.
Our original limit was 110, butwe did manage to squeeze a few
(07:29):
more in.
We just got to be careful ofaisle widths and fire codes and
how all those things work Well.
Mike (07:32):
you violate those and the show gets a little bit miserable
for everybody at peak hours.
Neil Stokes (07:40):
How does that compare to the facility at South
Bend?
I would say the main differenceis that this one is oval-shaped
versus the the square, the onewith the square.
That's about the difference.
Probably similar in size, Iwould say.
Mike (07:51):
Well, I was meaning in the context of vendor tables and
what that.
Neil Stokes (07:58):
Oh, in terms of the overall size of it, yeah, it'll
be very similar.
We have about the same numberof vendor tables that we had
last year.
I'll say the layout's slightlydifferent.
But the only thing that we donot have this year is the
concession stand right outside,like we did before.
You got to kind of walk aroundthe corner to the hotel and
(08:19):
there's various amenities therefor food and drinks and so on.
Right across the parking lot,by the way, is a Perkins and a
McDonald's.
Oh, I love Perkins.
Man.
Duck outside to grab some food.
You know, that's five minutes.
There's also the show.
Watering Hole is a place that'sprobably walking distance, but
(08:40):
it's probably closer to aquarter mile, and that's the
place called the Grateful Goat.
I think we drank them dry thelast time we were there, so we
have warned them ahead of timethat we're coming back.
Mike (08:51):
Well, I've already Googled Matt.
I saw that place and there werea couple others on the river
there that looked interesting aswell.
Neil Stokes (08:57):
Yeah, there's some real good places down towards
the river.
There's a place called Duke's,but there's.
There's a lot of good places touh, to eat and drink, and you
know, talk about the show andswap model ideas and you know
all the sorts of things that wedo.
Oh, but, speaking of theparking lot, got to tell you
guys we also have an M3A1Stewart one-to-one scale um,
(09:19):
lady Lois, that is going to bethere on the Friday.
They're not going to be therefor the Saturday because they've
got another event to go to, butthey're going to bring the
vehicle down and it'll be parkedthere and you can go and walk
around and take pictures and soon.
That'll be cool, all right, wecouldn't let them bring it in,
of course.
Yeah, a few years ago weactually had some people come
(09:43):
down with some tanks to one ofthe other shows and the hotel
was like, oh, we got a bigloading door, we can bring it in
.
And we're like you didn'trealize, this thing weighs like
20 tons, right.
And they were like, okay,forget that, probably a little
too heavy for our floor load.
Kentucky Dave (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, let's not crack the concrete.
Neil Stokes (10:02):
Yeah, it winds up in the basement the next morning
.
Not a good idea.
Yeah, exactly.
Mike (10:08):
Well, in addition to vendors and entering your model
in the exhibition, what else isgoing to be going on at the show
venue we have?
Neil Stokes (10:16):
a very robust raffle this year due to some
very generous donations fromsponsors, so there's going to be
some amazing stuff on theraffle table.
We also have a bunch ofseminars scheduled.
I think we've got seven, ofwhich about four are hands-on
workshops.
So there's things on weathering.
(10:38):
I can't remember all of themnow, but if you go to the
website wwwamps-armororg, allthe show details are there and
you can see those hands-on websor hands-on seminars require
some sign up because the placesare limited.
So I think we do have a fewspots left in some of them, but
(10:59):
you'll get in early because,yeah, they will fill up.
Kentucky Dave (11:03):
When does registration close?
Neil Stokes (11:06):
You can register your models online
pre-registration right up untilthe Thursday night of the show
and, of course, you can registeryour models at the show up
until 12 noon on the Saturday.
Oh, wow, okay, that's whenregistration closes completely.
(11:27):
Now we are changing it a littlebit this year, in that if you
come to the show and you want toregister your models there,
there will be a laptop or twothat you sit down with and
somebody will help you, guideyou through the registration.
We've gone away completely fromhandwritten forms this year
because our data entry peoplethreatened to have a revolt
(11:50):
because they couldn't readpeople's handwriting.
Kentucky Dave (11:52):
I think more and more shows are going that way.
Neil Stokes (11:55):
Yeah.
So you know it works out.
We got ourselves a couple ofcheap but decent laptops for the
organization and, yeah, we'regoing digital.
The other thing that we'retrying to do this year, too, is
(12:22):
to reach out to some of the youknow I'll call them armor
adjacent modeling genres thatare emerging.
I mean it's interesting, how youknow, we see a lot of folks
coming through the sci-fi, thegaming community, the Gundam
people community, the Gundampeople, and a lot of their stuff
fits really nicely into ourcategory 14, you know, sci-fi
and fantasy and futuristicvehicles, and I mean these folks
are great, they're reallyenthusiastic, they're very
talented.
Like I said, their stuff fitsnicely into our categories Like,
(12:45):
hey, come along, bring yourWarhammer, bring your Gunpla,
bring your Star Wars things.
I mean, don't bring aMillennium Falcon, but bring
your Snowspeeder, always abovethe ground, good enough for us.
So let's branch out becauseit's interesting.
I've been talking to a lot ofthose people at various shows
(13:05):
and they love what we do.
It's just that they never grewup with it the way we did.
Sure, love what we do, it'sjust that they never grew up
with it the way we did.
And I was talking to a youngguy.
You know, a couple of weeks agoat a IPMS show in Long Island
and he was like this is great, Iwant to try all these things.
And so cool.
I mean.
I must admit I've got a coupleof Gundam kits sitting in the
stash.
Now I'm going to give it a shot.
Mike (13:26):
Sure.
Well, what's the theme of theshow this year?
There's always a theme, so thetheme is African armor.
Neil Stokes (13:33):
Okay, anything that is Africa-related, you know
from, you know World War armortrains and stuff, you know, all
the way through to a lot of themodern bush wars that are
happening there.
So you know, I expect to see alot of T-55s, a lot of World War
II North Africa campaign.
But yeah, you know it'sobviously.
(13:54):
Some people have said to melike oh, you have to be Africa
related to enter the show.
No, not at all.
You have to have an Africarelated subject to be in the
running for the show theme award.
But you can bring any groundwarfare related subjectrelated
subject, no matter what it is.
Kentucky Dave (14:13):
Well, I got to tell you.
One of my favorite things aboutthe Amps Nationals is you all
always seem to come up withreally good themes.
I mean water tanks one year,recon vehicles one year.
The theme is always really goodand really tight, but large
enough to get a lot of entries.
Neil Stokes (14:35):
It's an interesting process in the sense that it's
really crowdsourced.
The last thing at the annualgeneral meeting on the Friday
night is always what is the showtheme, and we will usually
spend five or 10 minutes withpeople just calling out ideas
and then we vote on those ideasto get to the last two, and then
(15:01):
we have a second vote thatpicks between those last two.
So we always seem like you said, dave, we always seem to come
out with something interesting,but large enough so that it
doesn't exclude a lot of people,exactly.
Mike (15:16):
All right.
Well, on the topic of the show,won't you let folks know where
they can register again?
Neil Stokes (15:22):
and then the date again, If you go to our website
wwwamps-armororg and on thefront page there you'll see the
show registration link.
You do have to be a member ofAMPS to enter the competition,
although you don't have to be amember just to come into the
(15:44):
show.
But if you you know, you canregister.
If you're not an AMPS memberand you want to join, you can do
that.
At the same time you bundle itall together and it's all online
.
You can print your forms out,bring them along with your model
and have fun and enjoy the show.
Kentucky Dave (16:03):
So May 15th through 17th.
Neil Stokes (16:06):
May 15th through 17th.
Yeah, we officially open theshow at 1 pm on the 15th.
If somebody comes up to youbefore that and wants to give
you money and you want to taketheir money, then go right ahead
.
So there's kind of a we'resomewhat flexible about the
opening time.
Yeah, and we'll run probablytill about 7 o'clock on the
(16:30):
Thursday night, I think aboutthe same time on the Friday
night, and then we wrap up by 5,530 on the Saturday.
Mike (16:38):
All right.
Well, we're certainly lookingforward to it, but we're not
done with you yet.
Tonight, Since you're going tobe the sole spotlight this month
for the May show that's goingto be amps.
You just secured reelection topresidents of the organization,
I believe.
Neil Stokes (16:54):
Well, I have been the first vice president of the
organization for the last fouryears, but I've only been
president for about two weeksnow.
Mike (17:05):
All right, Well, what's AMPS got going forward in the
coming year?
Neil Stokes (17:12):
As I said, we're trying to embrace some of the
additional kind of adjacentcommunities.
No, we're not going to be anairplane modeling club but at
the same time there's a lot ofreally cool talented younger
people who are coming in throughthe sci-fi and the gaming
communities and we want thosefolks to be part of apps.
So we're going to make a bigpush to bring those folks into
(17:37):
our community and, you know andand kind of cross pollinate a
little bit, cause it'sinteresting how many of the
talks we've had over the lastyou know couple of years where
those folks are reallyinterested in the stuff we do
and we're really interested in alot of stuff that they do.
I mean, I've been bringing, youknow, machine and Krieger and
(17:57):
Warhammer stuff to amp shows fora decade or more.
So you know, that's somethingthat we're things that we've had
is.
You know I hesitate to call ita criticism, but certainly an
(18:19):
observation is that most of ourmembers are within North America
.
You know 90% within the UnitedStates, you know a bunch in
Canada, but the rest of theworld it's a bit scattered.
There's some valid reasons forthat in the sense that if you're
in South America or Europe orAPAC.
The only thing that AMPS hashistorically been able to offer
(18:42):
you is a magazine six times ayear, and you know what?
It's a bit of an ask for peopleto be a member just for that.
So we're going to do a number ofthings.
We're going to, you know, wehave made significant moves to
take the, the magazine Borsight,digital.
We are now doing, you know,four, four issues digital, two
(19:06):
issues printed, uh, each year.
But we're also going to startdoing things like podcasts,
online reviews.
We've had a YouTube channel fora number of years that we
haven't done a whole lot with.
So let's kind of start toembrace that and provide more
value to people who can'tnecessarily come to North
America and come to a show.
(19:28):
So, at the same time, we got tothink carefully about how we do
that, because we don't want tocrowd the digital community
either.
There's a lot of really goodfolks out there doing really
great stuff.
You know I don't want to be theguy who forces people to.
You know, decide between the 20possible podcasts I could
listen to tonight.
So it's, yeah, we got to becareful we don't overcrowd that,
(19:51):
that that market, and you know,and I don't want to be a me too
.
So, uh, we've got some, somenew blood in the the executive
board, some folks there who'vegot some great ideas, but what
we're looking at is how.
How can we add value, not onlyto make amps, you know, more of
a compelling proposition forpeople worldwide, but also to
the community in general, sothat, like I said, we're not
(20:14):
crowding stuff out and justeating everybody's lunch?
Kentucky Dave (20:17):
Well, and I can tell you because of my
involvement with IPMS USA,they're doing the exact same
thing.
They have the same ideas andthey are implementing some of
the same things, that we had aYouTube channel that we've had
but didn't use, and now it'sgetting utilized, and I think
(20:37):
that's the way that a lot ofmodeling societies are going to
go in order to continue to stayrelevant.
Neil Stokes (20:47):
Exactly right, you know, and stay relevant, embrace
broader populations and embracethe new modelers who are coming
into the community.
Because you know we hear thelament a lot, you know, usually
over beers at shows, you knowpeople, oh well, the hobby's
dying.
Nobody, nobody's coming in.
Yeah, they are, oh, yes they are, they're not coming in the way
(21:09):
we did and they're not enteringin the places that we did.
They're coming in through.
You know their culturalinfluences are different so
they're coming in in differentways, but once they see the kind
of stuff we do, they jump in.
They, you know they're.
They're really into the craftof it.
They I've been sitting therewith with gundam people you know
(21:32):
, sharing ideas about your paintmodulation and things like that
, and they're like oh, that'show that works and they're all
into you know the electronicsand the lighting aspects of
things.
They're doing some really coolstuff and sharing with us and
it's great.
It all works together.
You know we and we, we make thehobby stronger by doing that.
Kentucky Dave (21:51):
Yep, I completely agree, dave.
You got anything else?
Nope.
Well, the only thing I've gotis to say I cannot wait for May
15th, go to the show man.
Neil Stokes (22:03):
It's going to be a good time.
I hope you guys have a greatshow.
Obviously, we'll be chattingduring the show.
Travel safe.
Look forward to seeing you guysin Camp Hill We'll share a beer
.
Oh, probably more than one.
Mike (22:19):
Well, Neil, thanks for joining us tonight.
We appreciate it and we promotethe organization every episode
and we thank you so much fordoing that.
Neil Stokes (22:28):
It's great to be part of such a great modeling
community.
Thank you.
Mike (22:34):
And we had such a good time last year.
What the heck are we doing,taking a hiatus from this for so
long?
Kentucky Dave (22:39):
Yes.
Mike (22:40):
The community is just so tight and it's just a really
really fun time.
Neil Stokes (22:44):
It is.
Mike (22:45):
All right, Neil, we'll see you in May.
Neil Stokes (22:47):
Thank you, gentlemen, have a good one.
Thank you Bye-bye.
Mike (22:54):
Well, that got me extra excited.
Kentucky Dave (22:56):
Yes, it did.
It's always fun talking withthe Amps guys.
They are all such down-to-earthpeople.
It's just such a great time.
Mike (23:09):
Well, and I kind of wonder , if you know he talked a little
bit there about being ahead ofthe curve a little bit on their
preregistrants.
Yeah, I wonder if moving backtoward the East Coast is going
to help them out a bit coast isgoing to help them out a bit.
Kentucky Dave (23:28):
You know AMPS has always had kind of a Northeast
centrism.
So it would not surprise me,especially since, given the
location, you're going to get afair number of Canadian modelers
.
And I'll tell you what there isa strong contingent of Canadian
armor modelers.
So it would not surprise me tosee Canadians other than young
Evan McCallum at the, at theshop.
Mike (23:49):
Well see if he brings anybody with him.
Yep, All right.
Folks, if you can make it tothe AMPS international
convention in early May, youshould make every effort to get
there, because if you're inarmor at all, even peripherally,
like youave yep, I love to lookat even I know I build it very
rarely.
(24:10):
You cannot help but be impressedby the quality, the consistent
quality of the entries well,folks, we hope to see you there
and look forward to seeing allour friends who are going to be
there, because a lot of them arealready asking Yep, all right,
dave, until our next featureepisode.
So many kits, so little time.
(24:31):
Bye.
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