prhoff

Rick, Welcome! It just so happens there is an IPMS DC chapter. Though we meet in the suburbs of MD, we may be close enough for you. Our meetings are "hybrid," so you can join in person or by Zoom. Check out our web site ipmsdc.org, and our IPMS DC FaceBook page. Both include a link to join the IPMS DC Google Groups list. Meetings are the third Tuesday of the month, from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm, in Rockville, MD. Joining the mailing list will ensure you get info on meetings, upcoming programs, and area contests. With clubs in DC, Northern Virginia, Southern, MD, and Baltimore, there's lots of modeling going on in the DMV! If you have any questions, please drop me a note. Best Regards, Pat Hoff President, IPMS DC Chapter

Sounds good. If you sign up for our Google Groups account (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/ipmsdc/join), you will get meeting info (e.g., Zoom link and passcode) and you will be able to connect with other members. One of our newest members lives in Frederick. I know there are others up your way as well. There are also contests coming up soon: Old Dominion Open in Richmond on February 26th, and Model Classic in Fairfax, VA on April 16th. There will be lots and lots of contest models, lots and lots of vendors, and it's a great opportunity to meet folks and be inspired. As for the Hagerstown museum, check their web site for event dates. It is not a big museum, but they have some really interesting aircraft. It is on the site of the Fairchild aircraft factory, adjacent to the Hagerstown Airport. Fairchild played a big part in Hagerstown history from the 1940's through the early 1980's. Cheers, Pat

Ed, Welcome to IPMS! You may not know there is an IPMS DC chapter that meets in Rockville, MD, on the third Tuesday of each month. That's a long way from Hagerstown you say? No problem. We host a Zoom meeting from our in-person meeting venue, so you can attend in-person or virtually. And, we have no dues. Please check out our web site, www.ipmsdc.org, and our IPMS DC FaceBook page. We'll be updating both very soon with a listing of upcoming programs. If you have any questions or need more information, just let me know. By the way, last year we had John Seburn, president of the Hagerstown Air Museum, speak to our group. If you haven't checked out that museum, you should! Best Regards, Pat Hoff President, IPMS DC Chapter

Perhaps the objective of the category should be reviewed.Whether the OOB category should be eliminated depends on the objective. If the objective is to create a different (i.e., constrained) challenge for the best modelers, it should stay. However, with kits like some of Eduard’s “ultimate” kits that include substantial resin and photoetch, for aircraft anyway, it may seem redundant. If the objective is to offer a more “beginner-friendly” category, it should probably be eliminated and replaced by a category for those who have not previously won awards. If the objective is to offer a less costly category to compete in, again, it should probably be eliminated. My observation as a judge is there is little correlation between kit cost and winning awards. I have seen horrible, cheap kits built into stunning models as well as expensive, latest-technology kits built into so-so models.