Casey Rupley (webmaster)

by Dave Tingley

It started, as usual, when Jim Coatney shot me a text, “Hey there is a model show up in Denver, wanna go?”  Well, he didn’t have to ask me twice.  Jim, Zachary Foster and I piled into my wife’s, my very generous wife BTW, nice big SUV and started heading North like a flock of Canadian Geese.  I used to live in Denver and was able to arrange for free accomodations for us, that meant freeing up capital for later!  After battling traffic from Pueblo all the way into the heart of Denver, we arrived at my friends house, we were able to relax for a little while, then went out for some Mexican food, with, you guessed it, Margaritas!  Not too many as we had to be on our A game to navigate the COMMIES model show on Saturday AM.  

Jim had been there last year, Zach and I were first timers.  We arrived at the show to find a smallish venue, but the work being exhibited was certainly top notch.  The vendor area was also on the smaller side, but there were plenty of great deals to be found.  I picked up a Tamiya 48th Corsair, but missed out on a 1:1 scale (real) tailwheel from a 109. Steve Munsal who owns/runs the aftermarket armor company Value Gear was there, we chatted with him a little more about him coming out to one of our club meetings later this year.  We placed our models out on the tables in the various categories, then spent a little more time looking at the displayed models and taking stock of our chances at awards.  Then it was time……..

The other big reason to make the trip up to Denver is Aberdeen Bookstore.  This is not your run of the mill Barnes & Noble knockoff.  This is not even a lovingly appointed cute shop with a cat.  No my friends, this is Mecca.  The Eighth Wonder of the World.  Shangri-La.  Call it what you would like, but it is the finest collection of military books on the planet.  Piles of them.  New.  Used.  Out of print.  First editions.  Greek, Roman, Crusaders, Napoleon, Civil War, WWI, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm…  What am I missing?  Oh yeah, WWII.  Lots of WWII.  And by lots, I mean an absolute archive.  Want a book on the 116th Panzer Division’s Panther Company?  Yeah, I bought that one.  Need a book on the 505th Heavy Panzer Battalion, check.  Do you need a minute by minute account of the Battle of Prokhorovka (Kursk), well, I actually passed on that 1,700 page behemoth.  Zach said at least eight times, “this is the last book I want.”  If you have never been to this book store, it is truly remarkable and I cannot suggest it highly enough. 

After our wallets were significantly drained, we decided that it was time to high tail it back to the show to see how we did.  Although none of us walked with any “Best of’s,” we did manage to walk away from some pretty stiff competition with a pair of second places courtesy of Jim and Zach.  As the show wound down we were able to chat with some of the folks there, introducing ourselves and our club, and congratulate some of the winners.  Time was running short and we had to scurry along for the last bit of entertainment for the trip, opening weekend for the Rockies.

My friends in Denver had snagged some tickets for us, so we grabbed some warmer clothes and took the light rail to the stadium.  What a fun night.  Great stadium.  Great weather.  Great friends to go and hang out with.  Dinner made up of Hot Dogs, Nachos, Beers and whatever else we fancied.  It certainly was not a pitching dual, and the Rockies were not looking like they were going to mount a rally when we left in the 8th inning. 

The following morning we went out for breakfast, bade our host farewell, then hopped back into my wife’s car and pointed South for the return trip.  

There are lots of reasons to go to a model show.  Some folks go for all the good deals to be found in vendor rooms.  Some folks go to ooh and aaah over the masterful works that are on display.  Some folks go to visit with old friends or to see some of the new friends that we make along the way.  Some people go for the competition- “how do I stack up?”  Conan the Barbarian goes to crush his enemies, to see them driven before him, and to hear the lamentations of their women, but as I said, everyone has different reasons for going.  I go to shows for all of those reasons (except Conan’s) but perhaps it is mostly to sample a margarita in a different town!