BILL:  We looked forward to the third edition of Boise Mad Dog Modelers’ bi-annual Fall Show on Sept 28, 2019.  Our history with the Boise Mad Dog Modelers goes way back to our old Gathering days in the late 1990’s.  We got to know them when they began coming to our local show in Ogden, UT that was dubbed, “The Gathering.”  The Gathering meant cooperation between IPMS/SLC, NUSMA, based in Northern Utah, and UMAG, the Salt Lake City-based Utah Miniature Automotive Guild.  Three clubs cooperated to execute a memorable annual model contest.  

A fish's eye view of the IPMS Boise Mad Dog Modelers Fall Show, September 28, 2019.  Vendors at rear sold irresistible treasures.  The registration desk is to the right.  In the foreground, Brudder Dick does his best Slender Man imitation.

The Gathering soon expanded beyond that definition when well over a hundred modelers from many western states and Canada participated, and a number of modelers from Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico became instrumental in helping us with judging, registration, and photography.  The Gathering was a venue for several IPMS/USA Region X contests and we couldn’t have done it without help from our Region VII friends in Idaho.

Dick bought a Ford Flex in 2010 because it would hold three of his doctor-golf friends and four sets of clubs.  Or, it will hold over 60 models for an interstate model contest!

Unfortunately, in the mid 2000’s, the Utah clubs divorced and the original ménage toi broke up.  The Gathering and its permutations were no more.
 
A single local club could no longer put on a major model show once a year.  Resident modeling guru of West Valley Hobbies, Mike Sanchez, was president of IPMS/SLC and masterminded SLC-X in 2010, which turned out to be a very enjoyable and successful model show.  This club continued the show every other year with venues in or near Salt Lake City, and our Idaho friends kept coming.

Starting in 2015, the Boise Mad Dog Modelers decided to host their own model show every other year, and Dick and I attended in 2015 and 2017, having a great time.  For 2019, we knew it would be an event not to be missed.

​Registration--complete with doughnuts!

Kevin Rigby built this 1/48 Scale Combat Models Vacuform KC-135A/Q.  It's depicted refueling a Testors SR-71 during the Viet Nam War era.

DICK:  Dem Brudders have thoroughly enjoyed our participation in the three bi-annual IPMS/Boise shows we have attended since they started presenting them in 2015.
 
Club President Arlen Marshall has been able to arrange for his Foothills Christian Church building to be used as the venue and it has been great. 

Vice President Brian Geiger has been coming to the Gathering and IPMS/Salt Lake City and Shocon events since who knows when and has been one of the masterminds of the Boise show.  

​1/48 Scale ID Models KC-135E with Utah ANG markings refueling an ID Models B-52G during Desert Storm.  These large, amazing models were also built by Kevin Rigby and were all selected as a set as the winner of the Dem Brudders Best or Favorite Aircraft Award.  So we took plenty of pictures…..

Dick and I were wondering where you store models this big.  We'd guess that Kevin has a big display case.  If not, he probably doesn't have any cats!

Treasurer Herb Arnold has very capably handled registration and taken our entry fees and the other officers, Konstantin Rickford and Kent Eckhart have helped as Judges.  Their 25-30 club members have also helped in various ways and the quality of the models on the contest tables have rivaled what we have seen at IPMS Nationals.

Here's a low-angle view of Kevin Rigby's KC-135E in a 1980's "Shamu" camouflage scheme.  Remember, this is NOT the 1/72 AMT/ERTL kit.  Kevin built these models in bigger 1/48 scale and they're vacuum-form kits!  It is no small task to get these built, and Kevin did a bang-up job!

1/16 Civil War Cannon from a Lifelike kit with no name on the entry form!

Bill:  No conversation about the Boise Mad Dog Modelers is complete without mentioning Bill Miller, the assumed mascot/namesake of the club.  I got to know Bill Miller starting in about 1990.  Bill was an institution in the hobby section at Ralph’s Toy and Hobby, an iconic retailer in Western Boise.  I was the customer and Bill was the hobby expert.  In addition to his remarkable knowledge of anything Plastic Modeling, I witnessed firsthand his sharing a deep well of information on such things as model trains and pinewood derby cars with other customers

Purple Peterbilts in a row Built by John Wilch, Jim Burton and yours truly (Dick).  Three model manufacturers were represented with their versions of 359s:  Revell, AMT/Italeri, and Monogram.

We also liked the Tom Daniel Monogram kits of Bad Medicine and Fire Iron built by Wyoming’s Jeff Brannon.

DICK:  On Friday, September 27 Dem Brudders loaded up my Flex to the max with over 60 models and headed up I-15 and I-84 in decent weather for the 350-mile drive to Boise.  We arrived just before dark and enjoyed a nice meal of pho, the king of Vietnamese food!  Then we checked into the Meridian Hampton Inn and rested up in preparation for our big day.

In 2019 they had 9 classes of models, including Juniors, and 46 categories.  Dem Brudders certainly helped inflate their numbers, Soviet Statistics style, as Dick alone had 34 entries which meant 38 models since one entry was a collection of five Teenage MiGs.

USS Baltimore CA-58 in 1/350 Scale by Rodney Mead.  We liked the well-done camo scheme.

We arrived just after 8 am as they were setting up, which gave us plenty of time to haul our numerous boxes into the cavernous Foothills Christian Church gym and once the tables were set up with category signs, we spent a while putting our models on the table.  After a tasty lunch at nearby Freddy’s Steakburgers, we came back to the venue and I had time to mill about the contest room and pick my favorites from the various classes of models.

1/144 X-20 Dyna Soar with Titan IIIC resin kit built by Bob Jacobsen.

G. L. Pritchett built this 1/16 resin figure of an SR-71 pilot.  The "full pressure suit" is essentially a spacesuit.

Lost in Space Robot B-9.  A 1/6 scale Moebius kit by Bob Jacobsen.  This was not the only robot that Bob brought...

BILL:  A healthy number of models showed up at the Boise Mad Dog Modelers Fall Show.  One of my favorite things at model contests are the unexpected and unique entries that sometimes show up.  I’ve never seen a model that enters the room by itself and strides up to its display space, but that’s exactly what Bob Jacobsen’s full-size R2-D2 did!

Bob Jacobsen and his amazing 1/1 scale R2-D2 from Star Wars!

A closeup shot of Bob's R2-D2.

Bob spent eight years building his amazing R2-D2.  You really couldn’t call it a model since it was full-size and fully operational.  As mentioned previously, Bob rigged it for RC, so it was he who “drove” the robot into the contest and up to the table.  It had working lights and sounds.

Bob shared this picture with us of R2's appearance at the unveiling of one of ANA's Star Wars aircraft.

Bob is probably used to jaw-dropped onlookers whenever his R2-D2 makes an appearance.  He explains how he built his replica to a few show attendees.

Initially, we had to wonder if Bob had made a 1/1 scale figure model of Kenny Baker inside his R2-D2 replica.  Luckily, he showed us the insides where we confirmed that R2 was "circuits and gears."  Note the signatures of various Star Wars actors who Bob has met at various Star Wars publicity functions.

I asked Bob a few things about how he did what he did.  He indicated that his reference was primarily R2-D2 in The Empire Strikes Back.  By the second movie, more attention was paid to the R2-D2 props thanks to a much bigger budget (and high expectations for the first Star Wars sequel).  Consequently, There was much more consistency between the various R2-D2 props in that movie.  Basically, the R2-D2 seen in that movie became the “gold standard” for subsequent Star Wars movies and many fan replications of this iconic movie robot.
 
Bob also told me that he had a few false starts—for example, he had to rebuild the body a couple times after the first attempts weren’t quite right.  He put enough financial resources into the project to buy a decent used car.
 

Bob has had his R2-D2 finished for a couple years or so now and it has been popular at other events, including those where various Star Wars cast members have been present.  The inside back panel has the signatures of the likes of Carrie Fisher, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Billy Dee Williams, and Jeremy Bulloch.  Bob’s R2 appeared at the unveiling of one of ANA’s (All Nippon Airways) Star Wars jets.  Bob said he has enjoyed getting to know Anthony Daniels, who he’s met at several events.  I’ve heard a few people say that he’s a very personable guy and Bob confirmed this.

Another out-of-the-ordinary model built by Kevin Rigby.  It's a 1/48 Scale Combat Models Beagle of the Vietnamese P.A.F.

​Green Lantern.  A 1/10 scale Moebius kit by Utah’s own Phil Peterson, soon to be the 1st V.P. of IPMS/USA!  Congratulations, Phil!

DICK:  Time for the Awards Ceremony!  We mentioned Kevin Rigby as the Winner of the Dem Brudders Favorite/Best Aircraft Award.  Dem Brudders were also happy to be the recipients of some special awards.  The Mad Dog medallions were also striking awards for first, second and third award winners.  

1/25 scale Swedish Oland Diorama featuring a windmill.  This scratch-built diorama had no name on the entry form!  If you want cred by Dem Brudders, put your name on your entry forms!

Frazetta death Dealer on a Horse.  A 1/10 Scale Moebius kit by G.L. Pritchett.

The Judges Grand Award, sponsored by IPMS/Salt Lake City was well deserved with a fantastic ship model built by Konstantin Rickford.  I was glad to be there as President of IPMS Salt Lake City to personally present the award and congratulate a well deserving winner!

Konstantin Rickford's USS Arizona, built from Trumpter's 1/200 kit.  Konstantin raided other ship kits for parts, but that wasn't enough.  Over 200 parts are scratchbuilt!

We were practically the last to leave the hall.   When you enter a lot of models, it takes some time to “get your dogs off the field” as I like to say.  This is my own parody of a nasty little league football coach who yelled that comment at my son’s hapless team after they suffered a blowout-loss many moons ago, but then that coach had to go home.  And so did we, after having a wonderful time with some great modelers in Boise.  Congratulations to Arlen, Brian, Mad Dog and their whole gang!

Dick Engar presents Konstantin Rickford the Judges Grand award for his USS Arizona.  This model also received the People's Choice award.  That's Bill Miller emceeing the awards show.

A well-appointed vendors area provided some great model kits at attractive prices.

Bonus Gallery:  More models from the show!

Elke Ereschenko took unpainted chess set pieces and turned them into a collection of figures!  He said that oil paints wouldn't stick--he had to use acrylics.

Soviet Ball Tank in 1/35 scale built by Loke Holster

Flak Train with Monogram and Hobby Boss kits in 1/72 and 1/87 scale.  The historical forced-perspective diorama was built by Kevin Rigby.  We assume the pilot, Alden Rigby, is related to Kevin.  The train was a "flak trap" (note the AA guns!) and the senior Rigby was lucky to make it back to friendly territory.  The Mustang was so badly damaged it never flew again.

You get the sense that the boiler of this idling train was just breached by a burst of .50 caliber rounds from the banking P-51B that has just finished a strafing run.  Looks like that train isn't going anywhere.

Brudder Bill liked Dick's "Teenage Migs" collection.​

Jeff Brannon built this COPO Camaro

Another of Brudder Bill's favorite models was Brudder Dick's B-25B in Doolittle Raid colors.

Another view of Jeff Brannon's COPO Camaro

We're quite amazed that Bob Jacobsen had time to build models other than his R2-D2 replica, and he does more than sci-fi subjects!  He built this big Tamiya 1/16 Tiger which had to be a major project as well!

We love that Lester Priest included the kit boxes with his Tri-Five Chevy pair!  Brudder Bill has great memories of building one of these Revell '55 Chevys.

Dustin Wakefield built this Kirov Plant KV-2.

Meng's Char 2C, a French super-heavy tank built by Brian Geiger.

M3 Stuart built by Gary Droubay.

Rodney Mead's Ferrari P4 330 looks great; he built it right out of the box!