70th Annual MFCA Show & Mart - my photos (1 Viewer)

[theBaron]

Some sci-fi ordnance, by Al LaFleche:

Back to figures...a bust of a GI, winter 1944:

and a what-if piece, of sorts, "Sgt." John Rosengrant:

John sculpted this piece, giving the figure his face. It's been available as a resin kit for some years, and I'm sorry, but I didn't get the name of the artist who painted it.

A tribute to the USMC, "Bloody Solomons":

and the vignette, "The Chosin Few":

and wrapping up this installment with the winner of Best New Toy Soldier, a pair Prussian grenadiers by Tradtion, and painted by Ben King:

More to follow...

 

[theBaron]

This model of the Monitor was brought along by a gentleman who was helping man his friend's table in the vendor area:

He had brought it along to put it out for sale, and hadn't thought about displaying it. But I talked him into it. The work he did is outstanding. Here is a cutaway to show his interior work

More figures, this time, Ian McKenzie's French hussars:

I had a nice talk with Ian (see Andreas' photos) about how he kitbashed the figures and the horses, which are by the French firm, Metal Modeles. Ian also explained how he sculpted the riders' lower halves first, then sculpted the saddles, so the places where their legs and the saddles meet would fit naturally. Many kits are often weak in this area, and you'll see daylight between rider and horse.

Back to WWII and the Pacific Theater we go, with "Bradley on Suribachi":

and a figure of Patton:

and a grunt, humpin' it in Iraq:

and a Prussian (Imperial German) officer, 1914:

More to follow...

 

[theBaron]

This is an example of the diorama work we see in the exhibition, a cutaway of a German bunker:

The rest of the box showed the action on the ground outside the bunker:

and this diorama of a WWII German howitzer:

These next pieces, taken as an entire display, won the Brian Spruyt Award for the Best American GI. When Brian passed away in 2006, we decided to honor him, his service as a veteran, and his love of figures and history, by establishing the award. We award it for pieces that depict the American soldier, from any time in our history. We also like to award it to lesser-known or newer artists, to encourage work in this subject.

These were all done by Ed Schaefer, as a tribute to the Marines. The first is "Khe Sanh '68":

"The Old Breed", Marines on Peleliu:

"Semper Fi!":

and, "The Hot Rock's Summit":

When we were judging for Brian's award, we all had various pieces on our lists, but we all had Ed's pieces selected, too, so it was easy to agree.

And here, I wrap up the pictures I took in the exhibition, with "Yorktown":

and this vignette of Leonidas' speech to his commanders before Thermopylae:

We're almost home...

 

[theBaron]

Now I'd like to share with you, the figures I picked up at the show.

First, Rich Dutkin had Tradtion's new Seven Years' War cavalry kits at his table, so I picked up four of the six total, Scots Greys:

and the Inniskilling Dragoons:

I opened the one Inniskilling kit, so you can have a look at the quality of the casting. It shows Tradition's usual fine quality, is relatively easy to assemble, and I should have these painted up soon. I plan on getting about a dozen each, to be able to display a small troop from each regiment. And the Inniskillings can be converted relatively simply to any of the other dragoon regiments in the British army of the day.

Along with new kits, I picked up some older figures. First, Imperial German Garde zu Fuss, by Russell Gammage/Rose Miniatures:

Of course, now I will be on the lookout for more of these, to be able to put a larger guard and music together. These will go with my Guard Corps Alexander grenadiers and the rest of my Christmas parade group.

And these were other acquistions, for the Seven Years War, and one Imperial German:

From left to right, a Hessian grenadier by Scheid, a Rose Austrian grenadier, two British grenadiers by William Murray/Old Guard, and a officer of the Gardes du Corps, dressed for palace duty 1910, by Bussler.

And finally, three unusual pieces, vignettes using Stadden figures. A diorama of the "Soldier King", Frederick William, and an officer and grenadier of his Potsdam grenadiers:

a group of Austrian cavalry:

and a pair of Prussian grenadiers:

Greg DiFranco was given these, from an acquaintance's estate, and was asked to bring them to the show and give them a good home. I was more than happy to take them on. I thought at first that I might strip the figures down, and rebuild the vignettes with some updated materials. But the more I thought about it, I decided I'm going to leave them as they are, as a tribute to the unknown modeler who assembled these some 40 years ago or more. They remind me of pieces in the Stadden catalogs from back then, so they're interesting to have now in my collection.

Well, that's the end of it! It was a fun show, as it always is, and it was good to see everone in person, and spend a couple of days, just indulging in the hobby.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

 

[theBaron]

I do have one addendum--our own Wendy Rafalski won gold medals in the Fantasy category, Painters division, for her "Qui Li Quin" (see my earlier post) and Open Division, for her "Hockey Mucchina", and a silver in the Historical, Open division for "Rat Patrol", and a bronze in the Historical, Painters division, for "On Edge". And Pat (PJ) Deluhery won a bronze in the Historical, Painters division, for "Templar Flat". But I'm sorry, I don't have any photos of those!

 

[marco55]

Great pictures Brad.Some really talented people there.Looks like a enjoyable time.
Mark

 

[kogu]

A wonderful coverage of a great show, Brad.
Thank you very much {bravo}}
Konrad

 

[aujj65]

Hi Brad,

I echo what Konrad has said, great photos. I hope to reciprocate next month in London.

Thanks.

Jeff

 

[theBaron]

Great pictures Brad.Some really talented people there.Looks like a enjoyable time.
Mark

You shoulda seen the hospitality suite

Glad you liked them!

 

[theBaron]

And thanks, Konrad and Jeff, glad you enjoyed the pics!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Wendy]

...and a silver in the Historical, Open division for "Rat Patrol", and a bronze in the Historical, Painters division, for "On Edge"..

Well, there's proof I need to improve my handwriting! ^&grin It's easy to see the couple letters that got mixed up. It's actually Pat Patriot. I have thought about doing some kind of Victorian-Steampunkish-Phantom of the Opera-vibe piece with rats, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe it's a sign... {sm4}

Here's a pic of the anachronistic conversion:

 

[Wendy]

You shoulda seen the hospitality suite

Of course proper thanks must be given to the barkeeps. :smile2:

 

[theBaron]

Thanks for including the photo, Wendy! I was confused, too, when I got the printed list of awards and saw "Rat Patrol", and didn't see anything like "Patriot". I like that piece, though I'd rather see something along the lines of an Eagles theme I feel better now, knowing that I didn't miss one of your pieces.

 

[theBaron]

I will fix that title, by the way, on the slide show, when I get it posted to our website.

 

[PJDeluhery]

Hey Brad,

This is a great thread! Here's a link to photos of all the flats at the show. The file names tell who the painter is - just arrow over the photo and read the file name at the bottom of your screen.

Enjoy.

http://s1007.photobucket.com/albums/af192/PJDeluhery/MFCA 2011 Flats/

 

[theBaron]

Excellent, thanks for taking those pics, Pat, and for sharing the link! I never have enough time (or memory card capacity) to get all of the pics I'd like to.

I'm glad you enjoyed seeing my photos. And a big thanks to Andreas and everyone who also took photos and has put them up, so everyone could have a look at the show, thanks!

Prost!
Brad

 

[Wendy]

Hey Brad, do you know if this year's awards will be added to the website?

 

[theBaron]

Hi, Wendy! Yes, they will, and I'm embarassed to say it, but "when I get to it" :redface2:

I have a list of the awards, but unfortunately, it's hard copy, not a file. I also have the PowerPoint presentation that was used at the ceremony, and so, I'm in progress on typing the names into the slides, which I'll then make available on the website, but I've only had time to work on the file over lunches. I'm waiting on pictures, too. We'll create a page similar to the archive pages for prior years.

I'm pushing for the future to have these things in file format at the end of the show, so I can put them up as soon as possible.

With a red face,
Brad

 

[Wendy]

No worries and no rush Brad. :smile2:

 

[theBaron]

Thanks, Wendy! I'd like to have them up sooner, otherwise it defeats the purpose of the Internet