Between family and work commitments, I can really only realistically make it to two shows per year – the Austin SMS show in October and San Antonio’s ModelFiesta, which went down yesterday.
If I’m honest, this year’s show was slightly disappointing.
On the contest side of things, the categories continued to be entirely unpredictable. Last year, 1/32 was packed with jets, props, and several Wingnut Wings WWI-era jobs. To the extent that several outstanding builds were completely shut out.
This year? There were something like nine entries? And half of them were mine.
1/48 scale fared really well this year, though, with lots of strong entries across both props and jets. And armor continued to be arguably the most represented category. There were cars and ships and sci-fi things, too, but those just don’t capture my interest.
Here’s a selection of the entries:
Ultimately, I came away with five awards.
In 1/32 Aircraft, I managed to pull of a sweep – my Me 262A-2a took 3rd, my Snipe (which won best biplane and best aircraft in Austin last fall) took 2nd, and my Nakajima Ki-84 took 1st.
In 1/32 , I also had a bit of fun with my poor French P-47. The drive to San Antonio managed to knock the cowl loose, leading to some quick field repair.
In 1/48 props, I got totally lucky. The field was split three ways, between Axis, British, and Other. I’d grabbed my P-51D Mustang on a whim, and it ended up taking 3rd in the Other category. Not too shabby considering the competition.
In armor, my 1/16 Pz.38(t) took 2nd in the split category of “Axis Light Tanks”. I’m just happy – it beat the other 1/16 Pz.38(t)!
On the vendor side of things, the tables were frustratingly light this year – particularly in terms of aftermarket. I miss Victory Models, with their routinely amazing selection of high quality decals and aftermarket. They weren’t at Austin, either, so perhaps they’ve pulled out altogether from the show thing.
Despite the weak showing, though, I still managed to find some excellent deals on 1/48 jets.
Overall, maybe not as overwhelming as it’s been in years past, but still a fun show with some very solid entries. I’m sure next year will see some of this year’s empty categories completely flip-flop, too, so there’ll probably be a good two dozen entries in 1/32…
Doogs Models 
Gratz on the wins!