Do you want to ride in an M4A3 Sherman?

The American Heritage Museum has graciously donated a tank riding experience for two people at their museum in Hudson, Massachuetts. We will be having a special raffle for this 10 minute ride and VIP passes at the show. 

Some More Rooms are Available at the Penn Harris Hotel

Besides our overflow hotel Comfort Suites, our primary venue, the Penn-Harris, has had some rooms open up just a couple of days ago at the convention rate of $129 including taxes.  Please use the link https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/trademark/camp-hill-pennsylvania/penn-harris-hotel-trademark-collection/rooms-rates?&checkInDate=05/03/2023&checkOutDate=05/08/2023&groupCode=050323AMP to check for availability.  Remember, first come, first served; if none are available, check with our overflow hotel Comfort Suites at  717-857-8800, press “0”, group name: Armor Modeling & Preservation Society AMPS.
 
Online for Comfort Suites - https://www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/FU16D3

Pre-Registration notes for the attendees  

Pre-registration remains open through May 2nd.  Pre-registration allows you to register as a modeler, and to complete your model entry forms before arrival.  This saves you time and makes on-site registration much simpler for all.   Your entries do not need to be completed before you pre-register for the show.   

Registration fees can be paid through PayPal or by mailing a personal check. 

• For PayPal use the ampsshow@gmail.com email address for the PayPal lookup. 
• For personal check, please allow at least one week for USPS delivery and processing – otherwise your payment may not be received prior to the May 2nd cutoff date.   

To pre-register, go to:  https://www.amps-armor.org/SiteShows/ShowMain.aspx#  

Changing your pre-registration packet information.  You can edit your preregistration packet at any time through May 2nd.  This includes changing your registration information, your number of entries, and the individual model entry forms.     

To edit your pre-registration packet, log into to AMPS webpage home https://www.amps-armor.org/SiteMain/Main.aspx   Near the top of the page look for  International Convention  section. 

• Select the “View Details” button in that section. 
• On the next page, go to the top menu options and select “REGISTER”. 
• From the pulldown menu, select “Pre-register for the Contest”.
• On the next page, scroll down to the bottom and select “Go to My Registration Record”. 
• On the next page, scroll to the bottom and select from one of the buttons to change your pre-registration record as desired.   
  • To change the number of build entries, select “Edit Information”. 
  • To edit an existing entry form, select the Pen icon at the right side of the entry row. ·        
  • To add a new entry form, select “ Add A Model”   When done editing your entry form, remember to save your file before closing.   

Remember to print and bring your Pre-Registration packets to the convention.   These forms are needed for the RamRod station.  The AMPS Show staff has limited print support for those who forgot their pre-registration packet.   

We’ll see you in Camp Hill!   

Help Make This Show a Success

AMPS shows need a lot of people helping out to run successfully. In addition to judging, we need people to staff the RamRod table, runners who carry the models to the display tables after they are judged, and raffle table help. Your assistance for a couple of hours can make things run so much smoother, and ensure that models get judged quickly and the awards ceremony starts on time.

Click this link to see all the available volunteer opportunities, and put your name down for one (or more). It's a lot of fun, and gives you something to do in between the seminars and shopping. 

Do you have Questions for the Roundtable Panel Members?  

During the 2023 AMPS International Convention (May 4th – 6th) we are holding two roundtable styled seminars.   

These roundtable seminars are open to all convention attendees.  Both seminars will include a moderated period of question and answers (Q&A) between the participants and the panel members.   

If you have a question for the panel members (in either roundtable), we want to hear from you!  We ask you to submit your question by email to scalesapper@gmail.com. 

In your email, please tell us: ·        

• Which round table Seminar does your question pertain to. ________________         
• Write out your question(s) _______________________________________________  

We encourage you to include (optional) information about you, so we can tell the roundtable participants who the question comes from.   

• What is your name? _____________________________________________________   
• Where do you live (hometown)?  _________________________________________   
• Are you a member of a local AMPS Chapter?  Which One? ________________  

The first roundtable is the Business of Models with panel members representing numerous sectors of the modeling hobby industry.  Our panel includes members from kit manufacturers; aftermarket accessories, paint and weathering products, hobby store retailers, and vehicle research and reference book author/retailer.    This Business of Models round table is scheduled for Friday, May 5th at 3:00 – 5:00pm.  

The second round table is the Masters with AMPS Masters as panel members.  These accomplished AMPS Masters will share their thoughts on the society, and the hobby.   Here is your opportunity to hear from the Masters directly and to ask them a question or two.  The Masters roundtable is scheduled for Saturday, May 6th at 12:30 – 3:00pm.  

We will collect questions by email up to May 2nd.  After that, you may submit additional questions in writing at the convention.  We will have two ballot boxes to collect all questions up to 2 hours before the seminar.     

We’ll see you at the convention! 

This Year's Show Theme - The Pacific

The AMPS 2023 theme "The Pacific" is open to any model, figure, vignette or diorama that fought in a Pacific campaign from 1940 to 2022.

For the purposes of this theme, we will define "The Pacific" as any theater of conflict from Burma in the west, to Hawaii and the US west coast in the east, and from Australia and New Zealand in the south to the Aleutian Islands in the north.' Examples of conflicts are the entire Pacific Theater, Burma or China in WW2, Korean War, Vietnam, the Cold War in Korea, or other documented conflicts in that region (i.e., the UN peacekeeping action in East Timor (1999 to 2005) and the brief civil wars in Fiji (1994, 2000 and 2006)) from 1940 to 2022.

If there is any question about an entry, the head judge will confer with assistant Judges and make a determination of eligibility. 

Reservations for the How to Do seminars for the 2023 AMPS International Convention in May are at or above 50% reserved.  Act now if you want to reserve one of the remaining seats.   

To reserve a seat in one (or more) of these HTD Seminars, you need to either be pre-registered for the contest, or have pre-purchased admission to the show. To pre-register or purchase admission, scroll up a bit to the pre-registration announcement and click one of the buttons.

To reserve a spot, make sure you are logged into the AMPS website and then click here.   Next to each of the HTD seminars, there is a Sign Up button.  Click on the button to reserve a seat.   

Once reserved, you will receive an email informing you about your reservation.    The first 25 to sign up will reserve a seat.  Reservations for seat number 26 and beyond will have standby seats if space becomes available.  

Seminar Listing for the 2023 Convention

The AMPS membership has spoken.  For the AMPS 2023 International Convention, we have a total of seven seminars lined up.  These include four “How to Do” seminars

1. Soldering Photo Etch (PE) delivered by Rob Riviezzo
2. Weathering Track delivered by Dan Feldman
3. Desert Groundwork delivered Frank Blanton
4. Creating stone / brick / cobblestone with foam board delivered by Jeff Feller  

In addition, we have one informational seminar from Bob Burik on “Modeling the US Army and USMC in OIF ”.  This topic coincides with the 20th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.   

We also have two roundtable seminars:  

The first is the Business of Models.  We have assembled a 7 member panel covering the business of models community.  This includes members representing Kit Manufacturers;  Aftermarket Model Products;  Paint and Weathering Products;  Modeling Books;  Model Retailer;  and Advisor to Model Manufacturers.   The panelists will share their perspectives on our hobby and respond to pre-collected questions.   

The second is the Master’s Roundtable.  This roundtable includes 5 AMPS Master level modelers who will discuss their perspectives on our hobby and respond to pre-collected questions.   

If you have a question that you want answered in either the Business of Models or Master’s roundtables, let us know and we’ll add it to the list.  Send your questions to scalesapper@gmail.com.   

Attendance in each of the four How to Do (HTD) seminars is limited to 25 attendees, plus a few standby’s (due to the hands on nature of the seminar).  We will open online sign-up for these seminars later in January.  To sign up for one of these HTD seminars, you must be pre-registered for the convention.   

We are working on the full seminar schedule and hope to announce it later in January.    

AMPS Judging Training is Online

The Armor Modeling and Preservation Society (AMPS) is a fantastic and unique organization for armor modelers. It is based on the idea to make every armor modeler better at their skills and reward well-executed modeling work. AMPS provides recognition and constructive comments for every model judged at a show.  Each model is judged against a set of AMPS criteria, and no other modelers. To do that, all AMPS members are encouraged to become involved in the judging system in some capacity. Our judging system is peer based, so we need many trained judges to ensure consistency and fairness at our many shows. 

Training seminars are held at all International Conventions, and at a many local and regional shows. We have now put the training presentations online so that you can train yourself. Any AMPS member can access this training, and it is encouraged!  Whether you are just starting to build armor models, or you have been building armor for a while, reviewing these lessons are bound to help you be a better modeler and increase your understanding of the AMPS judging system. 

Click here to view the online training sessions.

Training will be provided at this year's International Convention in Newport News, so if you would like instructor led training instead of self-training, be sure to sight up for one of the judging training sessions at the show.

And don't forget. AMPS shows need lots of judges. Please consider signing up for one or more judging sessions (if you participart in at least two sessions, you will get a free AMPS show t-shirt!).  You can sign up for judging and other tasks by clicking here.