When I was growing up (before internet and video games… fine, we had Pong) My father was into building plastic models. He was an airplane guy so he would put together models of various planes from typically World War II. Although I recall a U-2 and F-14 vividly. My brother and I would then play with them and break them. He was meticulous in making sure that everything was historically accurate and perfect. As we grew older my brother and I would also build planes… for me they weren’t great, but in my dad’s hands they were fantastic when he got done with fixing the ones I had cobbled together. I would have them hanging from the ceiling of my bedroom. As we got older we continued, until one day it all stopped. I can guess the reasoning, but they would only be guesses. I was as clueless about social stuff then as I am now. I recall decades later going into a closet at my parents house (long after they had moved from my childhood home) and finding a few boxes of model planes, some half completed and those were ones I recall from when I was a teenager so they hadn’t been touched in decades.
Yesterday I attended WonderFest in Louisville, Kentucky on a “whim.” I had heard about the Con from Michael Possert in one of my Rocketeer Fan groups. He had written a book on the making of Cirrus X-3 from the film (since he was part of the team that had done it) and it was now being published. He was presenting about the book and I figured it was close so I could stop by and pick up a copy. I’d like to remind everyone who thinks that I am some sort of a “Super Geek” who knows all about various geeky topics- I am not. While I am excited and passionate about a wide variety of things and willing to talk (and never shut up) about some things I have learned that there is always someone who is higher up the geek food chain than me. On a scale of 1-10 you might be a 1 or 2 on a topic and I’m a 5 or 6, when I go to conventions, I meet people who are 11’s! I shut up and listen or crawl into a corner thinking “I am not worthy to be here.”
WonderFest has opened a whole world of model makers to me. Like my venture to PowerCon last year’s where I learned about Toy Collectors Now I get to learn about model makers, an area I know absolutely nothing about. Being my first time I’m learning as I go and will still not figure things out by the time I end. I will probably call things by the incorrect name and being an introvert with poor social skills I won’t be doing much when it comes to any social events or actually taking with people (who are on the Geek scale 10’s to 11’s or event 42’s) While they might be the nicest person on the face of the Earth, for me I don’t want to sound as stupid as I know I am. Luckily Sue decided to join me on this sojourn (she wanted to go caching) so I had a reason to not hang around too much. plus I was only planning on a single day.
I dropped into WonderFest Friday evening to pick up a one day badge. It was busy, registration was for badges and for those dropping off pieces to be judged. Options included an early bird entry into the vendor halls. Not knowing what to expect I went with a single day. Now what is interesting is unlike many conventions WonderFest has no online badge registration. You can only get your attendee badge in person. You could buy a badge day of, but I decided I wanted to avoid that and be ready for Saturday morning.
As I’ve said before, each group of geeks (I use the dictionary definition here “geek: a person who is knowledgeable about and obsessively interested in a particular subject, especially one that is technical or of specialist or niche interest.”) has different levels, and also in the realm of pop culture multiple overlapping areas. You could be a Batman geek, but only focus on the 1966 TV show compound that with the toys related to the ’66 Batman show, or just toy iterations of the Batmobile… At WonderFest you had so many of these multifaceted geeks. People who love building models- but focus on classic horror films. Maybe it’s Star Wars (there always seems to be a Star Wars group) or Star Trek. If a model was made from a pop culture TV show, movie, etc. then there is a fan out there who has built it to the specifications outlined in the specific episode it appeared.
The thing here was the art and craft of the model. Anyone who has ever tried their had at model making know it takes some skill to do it right. My brother and I were developing that skill, my dad had mastered it. To this day if I try to build a model I will end up with a glue fingerprint someplace on it that I will have to address. Then comes the modifications that, in the past, required a lot more creativity. Now you can 3D print anything you can imagine and design on the computer. Before that you would have to hand sculpt or find parts from other kits to meet your needs.
Saturday rolls around and I get dropped off (the parking lot is packed, the show doesn’t officially open for about an hour) and I step into a full hallway with people lining the walls and a long line of folks carrying boxes or pushing carts. The convention is divided into a number of areas: Exhibit/Vendor Space Hall A & B, a Special Area set aside for bigger names (yes, like any convention they brought in a few celebrities), Rooms set aside for classes and presentations, and a ballroom devoted to the Model Contest. The Hotel is currently under renovation so it was a bit of a challenge to navigate, I think it might have be harder for those who had previously attended since I didn’t know how to get anywhere in the first place.
The Vendor/Exhibit Halls
So what can you buy? The vendor halls had the some of the typical stuff at any Con, but most of it focused on model kits. I’ve seen a few of these kits at comic book shows, but model making was definitely the focus – Although there were a few booths selling comic books (almost as many as Indiana Comic Con 🙄) There were a few booths selling toys, others selling jewelry and pins, some selling artwork and books. Mostly it was model kits and the tools of the trade – brushes, paints, airbrushes, etc. For me, it was understandably overwhelming. I came into the con to learn and decide what my next steps would be. At PowerCon I left with the peace of mind that toy collecting was not in my future. Here at WonderFest I’m not sure. I did not buy any kits, but I thought back on my past life teaching CAD to kids and some of the stuff I had created. I thought about 3D printing and making things that no one else had thought of- my take on something. Turning my drawings into 3D pieces, I’ve got a long way to go, but…
While people were selling things, there were also some displays some were challenges, others were just things that were cool. The challenge this year was to take the Class F Shuttlecraft from Star Trek (the TOS Shuttlecraft “Galileo”) and have fun with it. Start from the model kit and then- whatever. Being a fan of humor, whimsy, and not taking things too seriously, I loved this.
Learning Opportunities
Lots of classes and I really wanted to try out the “Make it & Take it” room, but I’m a bit older that 16 and didn’t want to take a chance away from a kid. There were also airbrush seminars and how to work in various mediums. On Friday, They had a full day course on Blender (CAD) but I no longer have a laptop and with this being my first time I didn’t want to invest the money (around $200) for the class. Mostly I didn’t want to investment in a laptop. At least at GalaxyCon I didn’t feel that bad paying for the Howard Chaykin Workshop, all I needed was a pencil and paper. There were sessions throughout the day, some just listening to professional model makers talk about their careers, also some history lessons (The Ray Harryhausen Foundation was present) Due to some overlap I only attended Mike Possart’s presentation on the Rocketeer rocket pack. Which was awesome and gave me the chance to see up close (and actually touch, one to the screen used packs! *squee!*). It just made me want to get the stuff to cosplay the Rocketeer even more.
The Model Contest
Wow. While there were some amazing things and displays in the exhibit hall, the over 800 displays made by the attendees were awe inspiring. Divided into categories, some of which I had little interest in, each piece was amazing. Maybe it was just me, but the thing I thought was cool as a Star Trek fan, was the representation from that franchise. Usually, you end up with a boatload of Star Wars stuff, and yes, there was Star Wars stuff, but there were some amazing pieces from the Star Trek Universe. Also so many unloved or forgotten franchises were painstakingly recreated by people who obviously were fans, and wanted to share their love of a specific property. As I said almost 900 models, I missed a bunch. Just make sure you’ve got your badge in a pocket on not hanging in front of you… it would be bad if you damaged some of these by being careless.
The typical question and what most people post about is what they bought… For me it was simple- I about a pin for Sue (I want to pet all the cats in the world”) two books: Michael Possert’s Rocket Factory Book & Fantastic Worlds: The Art of William Stout. So not a massive haul, but for a first timer with no clue, I held back from buying any kits, since I was afraid that I might fall down a rather costly rabbit hole, maybe next time after I decide to cut back on a current expensive hobby. Should I have spent another day? Hmmm… I think if I had, I might have gotten more interested and probably bought a kit, while that isn’t bad, I do think I got a taste of the hobbit of model making is about and I’m now curious to learn a bit more. The issue I have to ask myself is where would my finished stuff go?
Of course, the big question is, will I be back next year? I really don’t know, it matters how much more I get pulled into 3D design and what sessions they might be offering. I older brother says he’s interested in attending, and it is more up his alley currently than mine. He’s in the process of making Klingon D’k Tahg daggers. The biggest positive is that it is a convention dedicated to a specific group and their needs, not one just trying to drag in people for profit. So many Cons are all about bringing in celebrities for costly autograph and photo ops, while there were celebrities here, I’m not sure the average person would recognize them or their work which makes WonderFest even more special.