A Look Back at the 2012 Montreal Model Meet

It is spring 2020 and it will certainly be a period of time that will live long within each of us.  It is my sincere hope this thing turns a corner soon and we can get back with our regular lives.

One of the many realities during this time is the cancellation or postponement of events.  Relevant to this blog: the cancellation of model shows this spring.  Some friends of mine were planning on going to HeritageCon this month and I was looking forward to NoreastCon in early May.  My usual practice would have been followed: A show report featuring words of appreciation, maybe some inspiration and a ton of pictures of great models.

I can’t do that this time, but what I can do is to take a little trip down memory lane to a time long before ModelAirplaneMaker.com.  A ‘looking back’ type of post featuring pictures and some thoughts about a previous model show.  If we are going to be inside weathering this situation, we might as well find small joys.  Model pictures do that for me.

Montreal Model Meet – 2012

This was the first model contest I attended in the city of Montreal…actually, it was in the bedroom community of Dollard Des Ormeaux, which I later learned has a very interesting history and named after an early patriot of some fame.  As I understood, the Montreal Model Meet was the first show of it’s kind and it has since been an ‘every-other-year’ contest since.

I recall some unique features about this show.  Firstly of all, it was one that had a very detailed website containing all the information you could possibly need to know about the contest.  Date, time, location, themes were all there.  There was information for those who were going to take a chartered bus to the show and the organizers arranged tours to local hobby shops.

The show allowed us to register our models and put them on the tables the night before the contest. I imagine this was done to ease the registration congestion for the next day.  It was a great idea and I took advantage of it because I decided to come with a half dozen entries to that contest.  I wish other shows could do this as well but it all depends on the venue.

The organizers promoted a ‘Photo CD’ for all.  Every contest entry was photographed and at some point someone ran out and got a few hundred CDs made.  These were available at the awards ceremony.  I can’t remember if there was an extra charge for these picture CDs but if there was, it was a nominal charge.

In 2020 there is an ongoing debate about IPMS judging systems. Whether it is best to stick to the 1-2-3 method or to switch to the Gold-Silver-Bronze method as used by AMPS.  Well, at this show, they featured both methods of judging simultaneously.  At the time I had no idea what that meant for the show organizers and the workload on the volunteers.  But I distinctly remember an announcement being made asking for more volunteers to judge.

There was an amazing amount of good quality models as prizes in the raffle and your’s truly luckily won a beaut: A new kit (at the time) from Tamiya of the Type 10 tank which I really took to despite me being a rudimentary armor modeler at best.  I don’t know how many contests I have been to where the prizes were much better.

I do not recall much from the vendor room except that there were not a lot of vendors that day.

Aircraft Models

Onto the models!  One of the contest themes was “Japan” so there was a generous amount of Japanese planes.  Certainly more than I regularly see at contests since.  I apologize for the ‘dark’ photos below.  At the time I had a simple digital camera and the venue did not have a ton of lighting.  Those models near a window got better light than those in the middle of the hall.

Other Models That Caught My Eye

Final thoughts

I recall that the awards show was held a bit later than what was on the schedule.  I suspect it was because of the volume of models and the judging required using both judging systems.  I think this is the reason why other shows shy away from the AMPS system – not only does everyone have to agree on the criteria for G-S-B for each category of model, but judges must study each entry and grade it.  A time consuming process.

One other thing that stands out from that day was the friendliness of one of the organizers: Franc Huot.  When I came in to the venue with my models, he went out of his way to speak with me and we got to talking about models, kits and shows.  I am not sure if it was him behind this very ambitious show but he really made an impression on me.  Since that day we always said ‘hi’ to one another at model contests.  It was with some sadness that I learned that Franc passed away a few years ago.

I hope you enjoyed this little look back at a great show from some time ago.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on this show (if you attended this one or any other Montreal show) or whether you have been to a show that featured more than one style of judging.