Hello all, the IPMS Prison City Modelers May meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 20 at 6:30 PM. We will meet at the Pilgrim Community Church (our normal location) on 500 Arch Street in Leavenworth. One update– last month we decided to push back our club build one month until June. We just needed more time to build!

Our contest is scheduled for Saturday, October 3 beginning at 9:00 am. We are still looking for vendors and sponsors for our trophies. Contact the contest chair to reserve your tables or to sponsor.

The contest theme is “The Land of the Rising Sun.”

To be eligible for the Special Theme Award, a kit must represent a Japanese subject. The subject must have been made in Japan (or built by a Japanese company,) have Japanese markings or represent Japanese culture. Some examples that would qualify are any automobile from a Japanese marque (Toyota, Mitsubishi, Yamaha, etc.,) regardless of the country it was built in, an F-15 in Japanese markings, a Gundam, or a Hello Kitty figure. The country of manufacture for the kit itself is immaterial in determining eligibility (for example, an AMT kit (made in America) of a Toyota automobile would be eligible, while a Tamiya kit (made in Japan) of a P-38 in US markings would NOT be eligible.)”

Time to put down the hobby knife for a day and tell the mothers in our lives how much they mean to us. The model will be there tomorrow!

The results for the 2025 Leavenworth model contest have been posted. Congratulations to all our winners, volunteer judges, and this who just came to Leavenworth to enter their models!
Our next contest is October 3, 2026, and the special theme is “The Land of the Rising Sun.” Until next year, we’ll see you around some Region 14 shows this fall and spring.
Keep building!

We had a great turn-out for the October 4, 2025 show and contest. There were 61 modelers who entered 255 models– discounting the first post-COVID show, this was a record for our venue. Quality of the builds was fantastic, making the decisions hard on the judges.

I’d like to thank the people from other clubs who volunteered to join our judging teams. It is great meeting new modelers, plus it helps overcome any judging biases. I’d also like a big shout out to our sponsors. We have a full page listing who and what they contributed, but I would like to mention in particular Eldritch Foundry and StirlingKits. StirlingKits donated a large number of swag items for the visitors, and our raffle’s grand prize– a T700 Turboshaft helicopter engine kit, retail value of $499!

Here are a few photos of the venue, sponsors, and models that were on display on Saturday.

Save the date of Saturday, October 3, 2026 for the next contest!

The IPMS Prison City Modelers’ contest is finally here! Doors open at 9:00 a.m. for the general public. Location is the Heritage Center, 109 Delaware Street in downtown Leavenworth.

The final sponsor we’d like to highlight is Eldritch Foundry. They advertise themselves as: Where Imagination Meets Craftsmanship

We’re Eldritch Foundry, a team passionate about bringing your gaming characters to life. Specializing in custom miniatures, we combine artistry with innovation to transform every player’s unique idea into a detailed, tangible figure. Our journey is fueled by a love for role-playing games and a commitment to make each session visually captivating and uniquely personal.

When you look at their site, there are literally millions of variations for the figures you create. From choosing the race of your character (human, elf, dwarf, creatures, etc) to the hair style, weapons carried, and body poses, the choices are nearly limitless. After designing the character, you can either have the print the model, or you can download the stl file and print it on any 3D printer. Their website is Eldritch Foundry Custom Miniatures

We will have a display of a few minutures we designed and then printed from the site at the contest.

Good luck to our members who traveled to Hampton VA for the IPMS National Convention this weekend. Can’t wait to hear about the contest and in particular, the vendor room!