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We went to the IPMS Nationals in Ohio!!!

Intense heat keeps going on here in the Japanese archipelago, but are the SWS fans all around the world doing alright?

This blog entry is a report of Zoukei-mura SWS Development Team's participation to the "IPMS Nationals in Ohio", the scale modelling convention held in Columbus, Ohio, United States.

The atmosphere of this passionate and beautiful 3 days-event held in the summer time, all for you at once.

Please enjoy it.

All at once! There will be only one entry!!

Hey, even if it's opening time… "Oh my god"!

Look at this! Modelers have already started to gather in front of other dealers' desks, but you can just see some tables in the Zoukei-mura booth! What the heck is wrong!!??

Well, due to a double-booking problem with the hall where Zoukei-mura is located, our booth set-up schedule has been delayed by 1 day, and the time we could dedicate to prepare our booth has been cut.

This picture has been taken on the opening day, in the morning. The team was all ready to start working but that was just the beginning of great confusion and embarrassment.

The ones who felt worse are the people who kindly came to Zoukei-mura booth.

I'm really sorry if we couldn't satisfy your expectation and we kept you waiting for half a day before you could make your purchases!

That was hard. We were so worried about our shipment from Japan but it arrived safely. Items for sale, finished kits, display stands and equipment, all packed in the wooden boxes and now ready for the set up. Hurry up! Keep going, Zoukei-mura!!

The work starts with putting the decorative clothes on the empty tables.

Different from the other booths where kit boxes are just piled up, the Zoukei-mura booth is made another way. We have dedicated tables for finished kits, then for display items, and also for the cashier. So there's a different cloth color for each use. Who decided this? Well, it was me. Me.

See this! The finished kits for display too are sent from Japan, so secure packing is needed. In order to show you as many kits as possible during the Ohio event, we brought a lot of them. Who decided this? Again, me.

After putting the clothes on the tables, finally we can start assembling the display stands for finished kits. This is a pretty hard job, but it's meant to let you enjoy the SWS finished kits! That's why our staff is pushing it hard!

The SWS finished kits have been taken out and now are "on hold" on the closest table. Since they've been packed up one by one to be sent via airplane, even if they are very detailed, a lot of scratches or broken parts need to be fixed, which is a quite serious work. After that, each figure is also waiting to be positioned.

Finally, the finished kits and display bases are done, and each aircraft is about to be displayed. From Kyoto, Japan, all the way to Columbus, Ohio, US, the SWS kits are all here for you at the IPMS venue!!

We also do not forget to place all the posters and show cards for information. If we fail here, there is nothing we can do. We also pay attention to the angle of display of the show cards and make them easy to read.

By the way, I can't see the old man….

What's wrong with you?

Well. In this case, if I am here always talking, perhaps the set up progress will be slow down? There is some kind of interference.

Oh, the same staff who worked that hard here asked: "what don't going to the Wright-Patterson Museum?" This was kind moving for me!!

I'm so happy! Thank you for saying that!! Well done!!

I said above, I slow the team down… Well no, I'm just happy for this high-class special treatment.

Hey this is the real thing, the real "D9"!

What the…? The propellers are?

This fascination is weird, but I can check everything here and there: the engine loaded by force and the tools for repairing the body etc.!!

"We'll definitely reproduce this with SWS".
It's maybe weird to see me turning around it. A group of elementary school students who were visiting the museum also took a picture of me.

"Hey hey I'm not a strange person!"

Just a little bit, it's just that I was thinking that this baby, D9, is very cute.

This guy standing in front of the Kawanishi is Zoukei-mura USA's member, John-san! This year too, my SWS brother came over from far-away Nevada. Thank you brother!!

Wooooow!! Good!!! This baby is here too! I want it!!

Someday we'll make a kit!!

Heyyyy! I want this baby too!!!

Someday we'll make a kit!!

Aaaa!! This baby is what I want!!

Right now!!

What!! This baby is looking just like an SWS!!

I want it!!

Da-da-da-da-----!! What a presence!!

C-130 too, definitely!!

Heeyy!! Who's this cool looking baby!!

This one too will be in SWS kit! Definitely!

Two excited friends taking an oath! Hey John-san, you shrewdly touched the machine!

This man has actually any pilot license, from small panes to helicopters. I'm so envious!!

These two old men really enjoyed this once-in-a-lifetime present.

Look at it! While I was not ther! "Zoukei-mura" booth is finally complete!!

Restraint, no, I can hear the applause for this top-class work. Finally we can welcome the customers. Sorry for the long wait!

The guy looking good with his red t-shirt is Brian, from VOLKS USA. He is also the one who answers your phone calls, so you might talk to him!!

And, in a moment, all these customers came to our booth!

The mountain of kits that we piled up is slowly getting lower.

Huge laughter thanks to John-san's nice American jokes!

He's so popular for putting a smile on customers' faces.

Here's the contest room. A lot of awesome finished kits are being carried in little by little.

Every kit that I see, I can feel the completeness and the depth of the passion for the model.

Amazing!!

Hey!! Here's our SWS Skyraider!! It's here!

I'm happy! And it's been completed in such a beautiful way!

I don't know who made it but….thank you!!

Very good job!

And then, for the first time in America and at Zoukei-mura booth! 1/48 F-4's prototype exposed!!

Ok ok, here's what you waited for! And plenty of F-4 fans gathered here!! Still a prototype but you can already admire the precision and the beauty of this work.

This will actually get serious from now on. Look forward to it!!

We'll start with the J-type, and we're ready to make almost all the series!!

Look! Gary-san's booth right next to Zoukei-mura's!!

Yes! Apart from being a famous F-4 modeler, he's also the head of "GT Resin", famous extra parts maker.

"If this is just the prototype, this will be the best F-4 model ever!"

This is what he strongly stated!!

Gary-san actually cooperated with us for the SWS F-4's development. He could express all his happiness and expectations with one phrase, just by seeing the prototype.

We'll come out with an F-4 like you've never seen before!

As the customers get fewer, the generals can finally take a short break.

John-san and me. Japanese and English, hard to make a decent conversation between us, but we are SWS brothers. A world were we understand each other just by looking into our eyes.

Oooh! Dennis-san, the artist in charge of Phantom package-art also came here from far-away Colorado for us.

Following A-4, A-8 awesome package is currently under development.

We put effort for the SWS packages too! Look forward to this tone too!

And now, the specialty of Zoukei-mura booth, the raffle begins!

Every time plenty of SWS fans get together for the raffle, but this time the 200 questionnaires prepared to apply for the raffle were gone without even notice!

It's about time and smiling modelers are coming here from different places.

Thank you! Today I will make you the winner!

Carefully mixing again the applications that filled the box. These applications contain the names of the airplanes the modelers would love to see developed as SWS, as well as their requests.

It's a very important source of information. Thank you very much for applying.

I pick up and John-san announces in its native English the names of the winners. We wait for 3 seconds, and if no one answers we pick-up a next name. That's the rule we announced to follow so, eventually, we had plenty of modelers gathered altogether.

"The winner is Mr….. XXX!! 3, 2, 1!!"

Not here? Next then! This is how we proceed.

Who knows why everyone seems to be excited when the winner is away!

You got it! You won!! Happy-looking modelers make me happy too!!

Winners keep coming out!! Everyone seems happy!

Hey, there was also a beautiful girl among the winners! And her price is the 1/32 Skyraider! She unintentionally made me happy too!

Other popular items in a row. Winners keep coming out.

Mustang, Horten, and the latest new i: the bright Ta 152 H-0 were generously given as presents!

Maybe you're the one who will win at the next IPMS.

This over-heated raffle is over too. For some reason, a circle of people in front of our booth keeps staying as they seem sad to go.

Times like this are pleasant! Leaving gets us really sad.

Thanks everyone!

Hey! This is the same Rob-san that we met at the IPMS Florida, smiling us saying "thank you for this nice raffle!" I'm so happy for these words! I feel like I want to do even better for next time!

Every time this smiling "nice guy" aged modeler Mr. Salomon comes and meets us.
He's like "I'm actually a ship-modeler…" but SWS is an exception. And always buy a lot of stuff.

Nice aged-guy. Thank you!!

He also said to me: "next time, let's play golf together!" It made me happy but I'm famous to be trying to hit the ball and always missing it. Did you know that?

Hey! Here is Alex from the famous decals-maker Uschi Company! You came when I was not present at the booth!

Thank you for your demonstration in Tokyo.

We're looking forward to the next demonstration too!!

The IPMS event has lately come to an end. Thank you for buying almost all of the SWS items one sale.

There are now fewer customers, but few of them are still lingering and enjoying the show. Among them, I can see a married couple enjoying the kits exposed in our booth.

That's good. Keep always this good relationship. Thank you very much for understanding your husband's hobby.

This huge 3-days-turnout is over. It looks somehow sad to see the boxes gotten fewer.

Dissemble the finished kits, take down the shelves and then pack up, a work we're used to.

Packing in the wooden boxes all the items to be sent back to Japan, we leave the location of the IPMS Columbus which is already deepened in our memories.