Capital Area Modelers Society

How do you write an article about winning when you’re the winner? There are times that winning awards doesn’t seem real. The IPMS/USA Nationals in Hampton, Virginia, were no different. To me, it’s exciting and humbling at the same time. I was asked to write a small article about my first place Gundam award at the 2025 nationals, so here it is…

First let me start out with, “I build Gundam’s for fun only”.  My modeling passion is cars and commercial trucks. Due to life’s schedule, building time is limited, and it seems like every small project on the cars and trucks is a huge deal, so I can only work on them in my home build space.

This is where the Gundam models come in: I really enjoy building kits. The Gundam kits are quite different than most cars and trucks. I can work on Gundam kits anywhere. This developed my own build style for the Gundam models. Due to not “needing” paint and glue, I can have fun building with the most basic tools. My particular build style for Gundams is simple: I like shiny things that look cool on the shelf or wall (depending on how I choose to display). So, in short, I polish my Gundam models. Like all builders, I am particular about the tools that I use: nippers, 3x reading glasses, #11 hobby knife, five Gundam markers, two panel liner pens, cotton buds, toothpicks, and five different sanding sticks from Squadron. I usually build when I’m out of the house. My wife does craft shows quite a bit and I can build during the time that she is selling her crafts. Or at a club build night I usually take a kit with me if I think I’m going to have idle time on my hands, and I don’t want to waste time scrolling my phone. All this turns out to be what I end up putting on the contest table.

This year in Hampton, I put four models in the contest, three in the Gundam 1:100 scale unpainted category and one in the 1:144 scale painted category.  I ended up winning first place in the 1:100 scale unpainted category with the “Gundam HiRes Red Frame Astray” kit. I built this no differently than any other that I normally build. Due to the cost of the kit, I did pay close attention to every detail on every part that I touched. I polished it to a super high gloss shine using Squadron polishing sticks.

When I put it on the table, I asked my wingman Jason to help me pose it so it would look cooler than anything I could think of.  After the show, I did talk to the judges, who said this year it was very hard to pick winners in all the Gundam categories. All the models were superb. I’m not going to lie, it was exciting to win at a notional contest. I’m not going to dismiss that anyone could have been chosen, but it did solidify something for me, and that something is “It’s your model, build it your way” . In truth, “your way” is just as original and cool as anyone else’s. Don’t stop looking at other models for inspiration. You’d be surprised how well or how bad a good idea can turn out. The photos were taken by Chris K. and one by me with the award next to it.  I hope this long rambling of a 50-year-old fat kid doesn’t bore you and maybe inspires you to build a fun kit and keep it simple. Jon Bius, a YouTuber says, “If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong”  and he’s absolutely correct.

Fishstick
RC4