Definitely try and go! I took a hard-core armor modeler to WonderFest years ago and he said, “I’ve seen more talent in that contest room than I have in 15 years of IPMS”. He’s been hooked ever since!
That is a great example of why some people gravitate to sci-fi. Not because “it’s just fantasy, so you can do anything you want”, but because it is FUN.
I was a “serious” scale aircraft and armor guy until I stumbled upon Gundam in the early 1980s. I found out I was actually enjoying my builds rather than obsessing with real-world details. You know, stuff like having to put your parked OV-1 props in the feathered position or it’s WRONG. Or having to load up a LAV-25 with stowage until it looked like a hobo-mobile. Stuff like that.
Of course, AMS does set in after a while, and I found the sci-fi guys work just as hard to get things right. But with sci-fi, as Morpheus said, “Some rules can be bent. Others broken.” But there ARE rules.
It was good seeing you, to Rob! Nice job on the models. We’re working on the show gallery for the web and then choosing the images that will appear in the magazine.
