This years IPMS National Convention is not too far from where I grew up, so I’ve decided I’m going to my inaugural Nats this year. Anyone else planning on going? I’m signed up for the Lewis tour and intend on visiting the CAF museum nearby, as well. Going to make it an aviation-filled couple of days, gawk at models in other categories for inspiration to maybe branch out a bit, maybe even learn a thing or two about these contests and see about volunteering for some in the future. Would be cool to meet some of the folks I’ve gotten to “know” here on the forums.
Anyway, who’s up for central TX in August? Can’t possibly be worse than Las Vegas…[;)]
When I get more info, I probably will. Only as an observer and maybe a vendor customer. I only live 37 miles away. Believe it or not, I have NEVER been to a NATS!
I’m excited. I have a buddy in San Antonio that I will also visit. Several guys from my club are going including the Modelgeeks podcast guys. It’s going to be fun hanging with them. Im hoping to meet some of the characters on this site too. Trust me. I will go nuts.
Since this will be my first national convention, I’m going to follow Armornut’s advice and go nuts. Told my wife I was going to pack my bag inside another bag so I had room to bring stuff back. I’m definitely renting a vehicle while there because my folks are still in S.A., plus I need to go shopping for another pair of boots, mine are quite worn! (You can take the boy out of TX, but…) So, if we can get a crew together from here, I’m happy to drive for BBQ, either to take folks or to bring back.
I’m looking forward to the trip, since I haven’t had a chance to get home to see my folks for years and I’m especially excited to get to the CAF museum. As a kid, one of my neighbors was with on the crew of the Yellow Rose back when she was in Hondo, so I got to go to visit it on the weekends and hand-crank oil into the engines while the old guys stood around and did some ‘hangar flying’. You can imagine what it was like for a 13-yo to get to crawl all over a B-25J unsupervised! My hope is to connect with the CenTex wing ahead of time and make arrangements to visit her again and take a lot of photos to document her markings so I can make up some decals. That’s been high on my list of model to-dos and is starting to look like a possibility!
@Wpwar11, looking forward to meeting you there, and TB, I hope I get to meet you, too! @RealG, I’ll have to look at shipping some BBQ so you can be there in spirit.
I’m strongly considering driving down myself, great fun in meeting folks plus a good excuse to buy models…just can’t leave without a few momentos LOL. Will keep y’all posted as to my final disposition, gotta convince wife it is in my best interest and health to attend.
The more I think about it the more excited I get. Vegas was so cool, meeting people from here, yea it was hot, COVID, and I was early in my recovery…bit of a vodkaholic…so my body wasn’t up to the task. This time my body is still broke but better so strolling around should be easier.
I would love to put a face to the names I have met here, met GREAT folks in Vegas and would truly enjoy growing my list of " friends".
Looks like you are the “Mob” veteran, so please continue to get the FSM guys together for a meet-n-greet. I had an awesome time getting to hang out with the other forum members in Vegas. Make sure that what happened in Vegas gets EVERYWHERE. [:D]
Glad to see others looking to do the same; I’m the newbie here but would love to meet folks and put faces to names, etc.
I also hinted at a visit to the CAF museum in San Marcos, that’s now definite, as I’ve received approval for a climb-all-over-and-document visit for the Yellow Rose. I haven’t quite determined my travel dates, but once those are set, I’ll pick a date and let folks know, if anyone is interested in joining me.
Side note: As a kid growing up in San Antonio, I had a neighbor that was with the CAF who used to take me down to Hondo to visit the Rose when they were doing maintenance work on her. As payment for getting to crawl all over her, I got to hand-crank oil into the engines while the gentlemen smoked outside… Anyway, I’m hoping to get enough detail/photos to create and print custom decals and make my own miniature version of her, so this is turning into a heck of a week for me!
I’m definitely renting a vehicle while there because my folks are still in S.A., plus I need to go shopping for another pair of boots, mine are quite worn! (You can take the boy out of TX, but…) So, if we can get a crew together from here, I’m happy to drive for BBQ, either to take folks or to bring back.