ValourCon 10 Article by The SPRUE

ValourCon 10: “Bringing history to life”

by Bill Zuk, Photos by Ray Bean

ValourCon10 is a regional scale model contest held annually by the “Valour Road” Chapter of the International Plastic Modellers Society (IPMS Winnipeg). It was held on April 26 and 27, 2019 at the Royal Canadian Legion, St. James Branch #4 (1755 Portage Ave.), the “home” of IPMS Winnipeg. Over a dozen club members and representatives from other modelling groups were involved in planning, organizing and running ValourCon 10.

The ValourCon program started out in 2009 as a small club contest and has now grown into a notable modelling event that showcases more than a hundred highly detailed models in contest entries and attracts hundreds of visitors. From originally a club-based program or event to one that is an open contest that brings in people from Winnipeg and beyond, ValourCon has grown. The vendors’ areas saw six individual exhibitors as well as merchants such as Hobby Sense and Raptor Hobbies, taking part.

ValourCon Contest Director Darryl Audette, a noted miniaturist looked after the program including a series of workshops introducing modelling skills as well as the incorporation of a “Make N’ Take” area run by club member Gilles Messier. This new element introduced young people to the fun of modelling and gave them a model to start and take home to finish later. The model contest was an open event but also provided many categories sponsored by individuals and organizations, that showed the “best of” modelling skills in automotive, aviation, military, ship and sci-fi models. An overall theme of commemorating the 75th Anniversary of D-Day also was featured.

ValourCon 10 Awards:

Junior Awards – (ITEMS 1-5)
2. Bronze Awards #108 1/32 P-51 Mustang by Bauer Dubiaume
3. Silver Awards #18 1/35 Panzer II by Rylan Kowalchuk
4. Gold Awards #26 1/25 Camaro ZL1 by Ryan Winsby
5. Best Junior – Sponsored by Tom Morgan #26 1/25 Camaro ZL1 by Ryan Winsby
6.(a) Best Aircraft Weathering – Sponsored by Ammo MIG Jimenez – Prize: One Year Subscription to the Weathering Aircraft Magazine from Luis Picalua (Raptor Hobbies) #29 1/72 CC-130J-30 Stretched Hercules by Colin Latta
6.(b) Best Armour Weathering – Sponsored by Ammo MIG Jimenez – Prize: One Year Subscription to the Weathering Magazine from Luis Picalua (Raptor Hobbies) #89 1/35 “Shipping and Handling” by Jason Lehrer
7. Best Automotive – Sponsored by Tom Lesuik #6 1/12 Honda RC211V World Championship MotoGP by Laurie Taite
8. Best Military Vehicle – Sponsored by Tiger Hobbies #4 1/35 Schwimmwagen Type 166 1944 by Tom Morgan
9. Best Axis Armoured Fighting Vehicle – Sponsored by Fluid Painting Services #88 1/35 Warhammer 1940 by Jason Lehrer
10. Best German Aircraft 1939-1945 – Sponsored by Fluid Painting Services #71 1/48 Me-109 E7 by Angel Fernandez
11. Best Aircraft – Sponsored by Raptor Hobbies #29 1/72 CC-130J-30 Stretched Hercules by Colin Latta
13. Best Ship – Sponsored by Ray Bean #81 1/700IJN Light Cruiser Tenryu by Charles Lu
14. Best Out of the Box Armoured Vehicle – Sponsored by Ammo MIG Jimenez – Prize: KING TIGER 2 in 1 Kit: AMIG8500 from Luis Picalua (Raptor Hobbies) #88 1/35 Warhammer 1940 byJason Lehrer
15. Best Space/Sci-Fi/Fantasy – Sponsored by Tom Morgan #122 1/100 Wing Gundam Proto Zero by Robbie Ortega
16. Best Canadian – Sponsored by IPMS Canada #29 1/72 CC-130J-30 Stretched Hercules byColin Latta
17. Bronze awards 18. Silver awards 19. Gold awards
20. Best Special Theme – What’s In a Name? – Sponsored by 3 Wings Production #29 1/72 CC-130J-30 Stretched Hercules by Colin Latta
21. Best Theme – D-Day – Sponsored by IPMS Winnipeg/ST James Legion #9 1/35 D-Day Landing Shadow Box by Darryl Audette
22. People’s Choice – Sponsored by Hobby Sense #89 1/35 “Shipping and Handling” by Jason Lehrer
23. Best in Show – Sponsored by Hobby Sense #2 1/35 Papierpanzer Rutscher E5 1945 byTom Morgan