Photos from the 2008 IPMS/USA National Convention

Another IPMS/USA National Convention has come and gone. The guys in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area sure know how to put on a show! The programming ran Right On Schedule, the dealers room was HUGE, there were so many models in the contest room I didn't get to appreciate all of them and the awards ceremony was over by 10 pm! Krista and I had a great time and even enjoyed some of the attractions Virginia Beach had to offer (but peddling a four-wheeled surrey is a lot harder than it looks).

The Space Modelers had a very well populated SIG table in the contest room: Ben Guenther showed off some of his incredible work, as did Rob Schorry, Mike Idacavage, Tom Castronuova, Dominique Durocher, and probably some others. We also gave out refrigerator magnets of some classic space model boxart that were gone almost as soon as they were put on the table.

Space and SF subjects were also very well represented in the seminar track with over six hours of programming devoted to various aspects of the genre. I attended Dennis Rodgick's talk on the evolution of SF spacecraft, Mike Idacavage's seminar on how he built his AMT Man-In-Space set, both of Mat Irvine's talks, Mike Mackowski's talk on how real spacecraft are prepared for launch, Dave Week's talk on how he built last year's Apollo 9 recovery diorama, and Rob Schorry's hurried talk on how he scratchbuilds his space probes. Great times.

Dennis Rodgick discusses the evolution of SF spacecraft.

Mat Irvine describes how spaceflight Should Have Been.

Mike Idacavage shows how he built his AMT Man-in-Space set.

Mike Mackowski shows how a Real Satellite is processed for launch.

Dave Weeks details how he built last year's Apollo 9 recovery diorama.

Rob Schorry races through how he builds his scratchbuilt space probe models.

Dom, Lynda, Mike I., Mike M., Sven, and Krista at the banquet.

The contest room

I hope you enjoy the meager offerings herein. And, as always, these photos are a poor substitute for viewing the models in person. Try to attend a National convention if you can. The 2009 convention will be in Columbus, Ohio, while the 2010 convention will be in Phoenix, AZ.