A good buddy of mine and I made the drive up Friday evening and arrived in time to make dinner and then attend the kit auction following dinner. I dropped a whopping $15 bucks and ended up with several nice kits to show for it, one being the Tamiya M2A2 Bradley. Another being a special figure that more than one person ended up with throughout the night. More about that in a later report. The guest speaker for the eveing was Mr. Paul Boyer himself from Finescale Modeler Magazine (FSM). Paul spoke of his start with FSM and the many different paths the magazine and the hobby for that matter, has taken over the years. He also mentioned that he will be retiring next year some time and to get those resume's ready 
The event itself drew almost 600 models to the tables. I don't recall the exact number of entrants, but it was into the 100's. Our own Mike Mummey (hope I got hat right sarge!) took home a couple of awards for his efforts. I also took home an award for my 1/72 Bradley M2A2 ODS. Pics to follow on this one. Speaking on the awards, these were some of the nicest awards I have seen at a model contest. I believe they are made from acrylic. They had an image of the category etched inside them. Figures, tanks, HMMWV etc...They were displayed on a lighted turntable and the etched image would light up. Unfortunately, the lighted base didn't come with, but I plan on buying one for mine. A very class act for an award if I do say so.
Vendor turn out was pretty good. Several local hobby shops made the trip and were selling off some stock at great discounts. To the tune of 30%-50% in some cases. I believe the furthest traveled vendor there came in from Minnesota (sp?) Lots of new items to be seen, the Trumpeter 1/32 ME-262 being one of them. A very nice kit for you wingy-thingy builders. I, along with more people that I care to count, spent way too much $$$ on goodies over the course of two days, BUT we all had a great time. I was finally able to link up with the big man from New Mexico (Mike) and also see friends I haven't seen in awhile. Next years R10 will be held in Albuquerque New Mexico.
Just want to say thanks to the High Plains Modelers for putting on a great show this year and that I am looking forward to next years show. Hope a few more of the "A Team" will make that one. Thanks. "Q"
