Show report: Blue Angel Modelfest in Milton, FL.
I attended the Blue Angel Modelfest in Milton, Florida yesterday. The show was sponsored by the Pensacola Modeleers. This was a fun way to spend a day with fellow enthusiasts from the Florida panhandle and south Alabama. It was a really pleasant experience with friendly people. The venue was the Santa Rosa County Auditorium which is easily accessible off of I-10, north of Pensacola.
The show featured lots of nicely built subjects and had a great vendors area. My favorites were the F3B converted from a P-12 and the German Frei Korps armored car. I don't really build for contests but entered a few planes and won a couple awards for my 1/48 Banshee and 1/72 Beaufort. I did better than my football team yesterday. The Tide needs a tuneup…….
I also went home with an Eduard overtrees FM-2 and a couple of old Hasegawa SOCs.
A big thanks to the Pensacola Modeleers and the Southern Air Craftsmen for a great day!
Ah loves a model show. Wish there were more around here (NY).
Great pics thanks for posting. And if that's You holding the honors, congrats.
Congrats on the awards John. Looks like a good show indeed. That Frank is 1/32 scale right? It’s gorgeous and so is the Crusader
Thanks, Pedro. Yes the Frank is 1/32 Hasegawa.
Looks to be a good venue for the show John. Accommodations look to be far more comfortable than DuPage county fairgrounds WW2 era barracks! Chairs are more up to modern day standards. Lots of good models, both to buy and to look at. Congrats again on your awards!
Wow, that paintjob on that Corsair..absolutely outstanding. Congratulations on the awards, John @j-healy!
That looks a whole helluva lot better than the model show I went to yesterday, out at a "car museum" in the middle of an industrial park in Oxnard - on a day in which the weather forecast of low/mid 80s (as compared to the mid 90s here in the west end of the SFV) was wrong - it was at least what it was in the Valley. And there was no air conditioning; with a couple hundred people in close proximity to each other, that mattered! The area for the contest was crowded and dark - when all the judges are carrying penlights just so they can identify what they're looking for, you know there's a problem. I took my camera but didn't waste any time trying to photograph anything because it was so dim. The tables were also so crowded you couldn't get a close look at anything without the possibility of inadvertently making a fellow modeler angry with you. There was a ton of kits - which I successfully avoided other than the guy who was selling Tamiya and Hasegawa kits for crazy prices sans decals - A Tamiya P-47 razorback for $10 is "an offer I cannot refuse", especially while awaiting the arrival of the Halberd XP-47H conversion. Also got the "Big Sky Country" Montana ANG decals for the F-106 I have been searching high and low for, for another sawbuck. By now, with the average modeler being 5 years younger than me (it seems) and having seen most of these people at shows for the past 30 years (this was the first I went to since I arrived at the place in life where I can go out for extended periods without having to worry about She who was bedridden), so the standard of model was close enough that I don't think "IPMS rules" eliminated anyone (I certainly couldn't have done it, and I've been a judge and know the drill). That resulted in what seemed like "individual likes of certain types" becoming the standard in aircraft and the Luftwaffe ruled the skies again. I had forgotten how much I really detest the "contest" c r a p - "who's the best" is something to be of concern only to those people who have no lives otherwise. But as one of the major Pothunters I know says "why go to a model show if you can't win something?" My collection of chrome plated plastic pots is marginal and of such importance that I managed to forget the box they were in the last time I moved.
But it was good to see old friends, I am really glad to have that Razorback awaiting the arrival of the conversion set, and now I can open that Monogram F-106 kit that's been calling to me. So all good. But taking a shower before leaving, and feeling the need to take a shower again after an hour at the show - give me air conditioning and lighting such that I can see what's there! (Like you had, @j-healy)
Why Tommy, I didn't know you went to shows at all. Huh. Yeah sometimes I wonder too, but I just like the atmosphere. After all, models is life. I don't need little plastic pots (mostly it's slabs now) anymore either but I do like hearing my name mentioned at the campfire. You are right about another ting, the lighting at these venues are mostly very poor, it's a common complaint. Se La Guerre.
I hadn't been to a show since 2015, the year Jurate got the Parkinson's diagnosis and I stopped going out for more than 45 minutes to the grocery store and stuff.
That sounds like more of an endurance contest than a model contest, Tom. At any rate, glad you got out to a show. I’ve been going pretty regularly for 30+ years. Before the internet, it was the only way to see other guys stuff and I looked forward to the events. Vendors rooms are always fun too, even though I’ve been more on the selling then buying side for the last few years. So many models, so little time!
Well deserved awards, John @j-healy
Congratulations.
Your models are true gems and this is now confimred by the jury.
Must have been a wonderful day.
Well done John. Looks a good show. It's not just your team that needs a shake up but that's another story 😊
Looks like a great day with some great models, John (@j-healy). Your awards are certainly well-deserved. Sorry about your football team. I live just north of Austin, so I had a slightly different view of the game. :o)
Longhorns deserved that win. They showed up to play. We have a lot of work to do but we’re only two weeks in. Fingers crossed.
So glad you enjoyed the show, John, and well done for the trophies. Modelling is a very rare indulgence here in China so there are no shows.
It must be a bit more than that somewhere in the country. It's my understanding that Trumpeter sells 80% of what they make domestically, and they are said to have some long runs - of course, there's little way of figuring out anything in there from the outside.
Congratulations on your awards, especially the Banshee, lol. Just shows that the KH kit with my correction set can be built into an award winner.
And just wait till your new kit is available! 🙂
Thanks, Michael! I really liked your set and that Banshee is one of my favorite models. Looking forward to your full kit.
Congratulations on your awards! Looks like you had a great time.
A fantastic show and awards well deserved, John!
Well done John.
Thanks for the pics - some really nice work on display, and a hearty congrats on the awards.
Congrats John,
I wish they held that show during my October break when I usually go to PNS. Looks awesome. I am overjoyed that the NMNA is accessible again, I will get to see a practice show with the Rhinos this year. Last year I got to see them from the Ferry- which was pretty great.
Thanks for sharing- reading your post fired me up for my trip in October.
Dan from Bermuda.