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Brazilian
IPMS National Convention at a glance Text & photos
by As promised, here´s a short report on this year´s Brazilian IPMS Nats, held during June 5-6 at São Paulo. Our Nats are always held in São Paulo since its first edition (1981 I guess). First off, it was
a great, well organized convention. The organizing comitee must be
congratulated again for keeping the same convention format of the
last year, helding the exposition at of the PAMA (Aircraft Maintenance
Park - a division of Brazilian Air Force) hangars directed to aircraft
maintenance and overhauling. Currently is it full with many BAF versions
of the Northrop F-5, but other types can be found as well. This year
the exposition area was not so crowded with 1:1 items (race cars,
motorcycles, military vehicles, and other stuffs) like in 2003, but
the former Brazilian Navy´s Grumman S-2 Tracker at PAMA´s
main gate is becoming a landmark for modelers coming from all places
of Brazil and South America. As usual, many hobby
shops attended the convention, where you could find interesting goodies
from new releases to collectors items. Another high point is the good
number of beginners attending the conference (not necessarily young
people). Large scales never
was a strong point of our Nats, and this year was not an exception,
although much better than 2003, in quality and number. Another interesting
point was the surprisingly low number of 1/72 aircraft entries. I apologize for
some color changes due to camera flash, and for focusing on large
scale planes (what did you expect?). I, however, added some intersting
pics at the end. This year I attended
the convention with a large delegation of modelers from Southern Brazil.
Just like every year, we arrived one day before the convention to
visit hobby shops and clubs. On Friday, we visited a
local club. By the way, a very organized one. They have two modeling
rooms fully equiped with compressors, airbrushes, paints and everything
else for common use. Many members do their models there from the start
to completation. I found the idea very interesting, and some guys
told me that they can´t work at home due to space limitations
or kids, and the club facilities is the best solution. Another member
confessed to me that his wife doesn´t bother him about how many
kits he get, since he stocks them all at the club!!! There are display
cases, too, so a permanent exposition is always in sight for visitors.
All in all, a nice example to be followed.  One of the workbenchs available to the club members.  Our club members talking about the Revell U-Boat details with IPMS - São Paulo technical director Marcelo Guerra (right). Marcelo is a very talented, multi-award winning modeler.  One of the fine models in the club display: a William Bros. Caudron in 1/32.  And another one: the Revell Me-109G-4 trop. This model would win gold in its category two days later. More on that soon... Saturday & Sunday,
June 5-6 Ok, now let´s see a bit of the convention. Everything is 1/32 unless noted.
More pics... And to prove that I have walked by the other tables, here are some interesting, non aircraft related pics.  What the heck... A Gollum(?), fully scratchbuilt in 1/2 scale. The guy who made this one wins gold every year...  Something you don´t see every day: a wild west diorama. Very, very nice.  Our nats is becoming famous for large dioramas.  This one was called ´The Bluesman´. The base had a fully functional CD drive and speakers, so you could listen to the guy playing the piano.  This one was huge. A D-day diorama in 1/35. How these guys put these masterpieces in a car and travel hundreds of miles is beyond my comprehension.  Sunday morning. The models are still coming. Here is an armor table so far.  A touching moment: a Brazilian WWII P-47 veteran speaks to the crowd (right) during the convention closing. On the left, the president of IPMS-São Paulo, Guilherme de Castro. Conclusions
It was wonderful event. Congratulations to the IPMS/São Paulo staff for a great job. I left São Paulo convinced that the number of large scale aircraft models entries are gradually increasing every year, as well as the level of craftsmanship. Can´t wait for the next year...  The Southern Brazil Modelers Express at Brazilian Nats, June 2004. Your editor is proudly showing LSP id card (far right). © 'Rato' Marczak 2004 |
