AMPS 99 Wrap Up
By Cookie Sewell,
President, AMPS

Thanks to all of the modelers and armor fans who helped make AMPS 99 a truly great show! While we have a lot of thank yous which will be said when the final show report is done, I have to thank several people up front for the great job that they did in making the show roll so smoothly.

First off are Vern Goodrich, Annie Goodrich, Ralph Martin, and Katie Sewell, who manned the desk for long hours without complaint, truly yeoman service. Next are Steve Andreano, Bob Collignon, Bob Clifton, Mike Siggins, Tony Bartoszek, and Paul Roberts, who shepherded the judging which was key to the competition. Ben Cliche ensured that the seminar room was in order, and my wife, Nancy Sewell, (AKA "Mrs. Cookie"), logged in all of the results for medals tabulation. A special thanks to Terry Thompson, editor of "Fine Scale Modeler", who spent the entire show with us and learned a great deal about how AMPS ticks.

We could not have brought off the show without the help of you, the modelers. This year over 60 modelers volunteered their time to judge, and for the first time in my memory, we had to turn down people who wanted to judge! Likewise, a number of "unsung heroes" rose up to help set up the show and move things when we needed sheer brute force.

Finally, I want to thank our seminar presenters who braved I-95 and one of the worst accidents in recent memory on that highway to come and provide the attendees with great seminars. These include Tom Gannon on Israeli armored vehicles; Steve Andreano on the German museums at Koblenz and Sinsheim; Steve Zaloga on detailing armor models; Chris Mrosko on airbrushing; and a panel of experts – Steve Zaloga, Bob Collignon, David Kahn, Chris Mrosko, and Dennis Levy – on the AMPS version of "Stump the Stars", answering modeling questions from the people who came.

We must also thank our vendors for their time and generosity, and also the major model companies and FSM who provided some of their products for raffle prizes. (When ready, I will be publishing a complete list, but Tamiya America, Marco Polo Import (via M&Models) and Baseline Hobbies were exceedingly generous!)

This year’s big winners included Mark Muller with his 1/35 scale scratchbuilt Soviet MBV motorized armored rail car "Stremitel’niy", which took a Gold Medal in the Masters level, Best Workmanship Award as provided by the New Jersey Historical Modelers Association, and Most Popular Model; and Mike Siggins, who took a Gold Medal in the Advanced Level for his 1/35 major conversion of a US Grizzly armored engineer vehicle, which also was awarded Best US Military Vehicle and Judges’ Best of Show. Additionally, Mike and Chris Mrosko were advanced to the level of Masters.

The Manufacturers’ Best products of 1998 were as follows: Best Plastic Kit - Tamiya Cromwell; Best Multimedia Kit – Hobby Fan M911 and M947 tank retriever combination; Best Plastic Accessory – AFV Club T16 and T36E6 tracks for US Light Tanks; Best Multimedia Accesory – Armoured Brigade Sherman Howitzer Turrets; Best Figures (three way tie) Tamiya British Infantry NW Europe 1944, Warriors "The Dismount", and Yoshi "SSG Lafayette G. Pool"; Best New Product - M.V. Products IR Lenses; Best New Book or Reference Work - "Inside the Great Tanks" by Hans Halberstadt.

AMPS 2000 is now off and running, and next year’s theme will be "Little Wars" – third world countries at war, with the topic covering the men and machines who have fought in the small wars which have marked the 20^th Century.

Once again, thanks to all who came and supported AMPS 99!