2026 Nats and the Quest for the “Perfect Margarita”

by Dave Tingley

Lovey Ft Wayne Indiana?

Never thought I would type those words, but, in fact, Ft Wayne grossly exceeded expectations. Jim Coatney and I headed off to the IPMS Nats this past week for an extravaganza of both plastic and aircraft grade aluminium. I am originally from Columbus, Ohio, just about a two and a half hour drive from Ft. Wayne. We decided to fly into Columbus as I still have family there and I was able to borrow a car for the week from my in-laws. We landed in the evening, had a wonderful dinner, then headed to bed early with vision of airplanes flying through our minds. On Wednesday morning we decided to make a small detour and visit this small, tiny, and obscure airplane museum in Dayton, maybe you’ve heard of it? The “National Museum United States Air Force” at Wright Patterson AFB. Well, lets just say, it is BIG. They have room in one of their hangers for a B-52, B-36, B-47, and about 20 other aircraft like a pair of F-105s (a D and a G version) a few Phantoms, MiGs, etc. And there are FOUR hangers. What I was there for was the hanger devoted to the propeller era. B-29, B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26, Fw 190 D-9, Me 109 G-10, Me 262, Me 163, A6M2, N1K2, Ju-88, P-51 D, P-40, and on, and on… There are so many wonderful displays at the museum, we kinda lost track of time. With a still 2 hour drive to Ft Wayne in front of us, we departed the scene in the late afternoon and headed for The Show. We arrived too late to do any of the registration stuff, and the vendor rooms had closed. What we were able to do was go on a hunt for margaritas, so that was a bonus. I was even dressed for the occasion. We found a tiki bar outside the baseball stadium that was directly across from the conference center. Sadly, the margarita was only “meh,” but really, Indiana is not known as a tequila hotspot, so I can’t be too disappointed. Jim and I were overall both quite impressed with downtown Ft Wayne, several nice hotels, a large conference center, a baseball stadium right in the middle, lots of bars and restaurants, all walking distance. Great little town.

To the show!

We started with registration. Lots of happy volunteers got us thru the line quickly. Our swag bags were really nice, conveniently sized to fit 1/32nd aircraft and sponsored by Squadron….. I headed off for a clinic on making painting masks for stencils instead of using decals, Jim headed to the vendor room. There are many clinics during Nats, some are on historical subjects, many are dedicated to modeling skills. By the time I was done with my clinic, I was a bit worried that Jim had bought ALL the kits, fortunately, there were still a few left. Here is the thing, Nats is a whole different ball game from any other show I’ve been to. The amount of space dedicated to vendors is similar to a large Best Buy store, 20,000 sq ft. It is simply massive. Model companies like Tamiya, AK, Eduard, Zoukei-Mura, and Special Hobby have booths. Mail order shops are represented, Squadron has a huge presence. Mom and Pop shops are there. Finally, the small companies who specialize in making resin/3D for specific subjects. Companies like Werner’s Wings, run by Floyd Werner (look up his work if you want to see some 1/48th aircraft masterpieces) who has a ton of upgrades for Huey Cobras and other helicopters- he should know them, that’s what he flew for a long time! All of these companies are perfectly happy to help you empty your wallet. Sadly, they were very effective at their craft when Jim and I were concerned….

Now, really, To THE Show!

Again, the hall dedicated to exhibiting models was very big, 20,000 sq ft-ish, and it needed to be. 3,600+ models on display. I found myself walking down aisle after aisle with a huge grin on my face. “Look at this one!” “And this one!” “Holy cow, how creative was that!” “Look at the faces on these figures!” One after another, models that were just jaw droppingly good. From a massive 3ftX2ft Iwo Jima diorama by Greg Cihlar to a 1/72nd scale Jagdpanther by Steven Hustad, so many of these works were just awe inspiring. One of the really neat things about Nationals is that they always need a lot of help to put on one of these events. Jim is a lot smarter than I am, he volunteers his time working on the data capture and awards slideshow. He disappears all of Friday evening into the wee small hours of Saturday compiling the photos and winners in each category for the big awards presentation on Saturday evening. I have a much simpler, and more fun, responsibility. I was able to join the armor judging team on Friday night. I get an up look close at a number of great kits and really approach these models with a critical eye. What I found is really interesting. Many of the models look great from 3 feet away, but have some issues when you get up close. Now, I am not the greatest builder or painter of models, so I certainly don’t mean to throw shade, but it was remarkable how quickly my judging team was able to work thru a field of 20 models and find the best one. Second place was pretty quick, but then the difference between third and fourth got to be much more difficult. This is a really important lesson for anyone going to a model show. The most important thing you can do is to concentrate on the build quality. Are the wheels straight? That right there knocked out almost half of any category with wheels. Do the tracks fit snugly up against the drive sprocket? Again, half the field is out. Do all the wheels touch the ground, do the tracks hit the ground evenly? There goes half of the remaining models. All of a sudden we went from 20 models down to just 5. Next, we are considering painting, weathering, and finish. Next is improvements and added detail- document these!! Scope of work is the fourth thing we look at, is this a “Shake and Bake” Tamiya kit, or is it an old Matchbox? Did the builder include a detailed base? Finally, the last thing that the judges look for is accuracy. This last one never came up in our judging as the first four criteria were enough to find our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers.

To the end….

Saturday is the last gasp. Vendors are getting ready to pack up, and there are deals to be had. Remember that Minicraft FW 190 D-9 kit that you bought on Wednesday? Well, it is just crying for upgraded exhausts and wheels. That Panther you picked up on Thursday? Definitely needs a couple of crew figures. The Corsair that found its way into your bag on Friday? Well, I sure do need a book that gives me detailed photos of the landing gear bays. Thank goodness for Saturday. Many of the piles of models are marked “20% off all models on this table.” Shoot, I saw many vendors selling at a 50% discount. The more they sell, the less they have to pack up! Later that evening we got to go to the awards show. It was in a 1000+ seat theatre across the street from the conference center (again, great downtown in Ft Wayne) where Jim’s slideshow gave us the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in all 200+ categories. Immediately following that, there is a mad dash to pick up the models. This is the only thing that I didn’t like about the event. I wanted to talk to a number of the builders and compliment their work, but by the time I arrived where I had seen the model, it was gone. Thus ended the Ft Wayne 2026 IPMS NATS. I am thankful for the opportunity to travel to a world class event like this, thankful to have a great travel buddy in Jim Coatney, and am definitely looking forward to Huntsville, Alabama in 2026, annnnnd just announced, Shreveport, Louisiana in 2028!