NNL WEST 40th Anniversary Farewell Show less then a month away!

[modelcarbuildermag.com]

Just a heads up, if your coming from out-of-town for NNL WEST you need to make your reservations at the host hotel by this Friday December 20th! Go to the website (www.NNLWest.org) and click on the locations page, then scroll down for the host hotel link. Believe me, these are the cheapest rates in the area. If your planning on going on the Friday Shop Tour you better come in Thursday night because the tour leaves from the hotel lobby at exactly 9:00am! There's still swap meet tables available! We have just added more swap meet tables AND display tables to accommodate this final show turn out! So if you've ever wanted to attend the biggest model car show this side of the Mississippi, this is your last chance!

Edited December 13, 2024 by modelcarbuildermag.com

[Kit Karson]

On 12/11/2024 at 5:51 PM, modelcarbuildermag.com said:

Just a heads up, if your coming from out-of-town for NNL WEST you need to make your reservations at the host hotel by this Friday December 20th! Go to the website (www.NNLWest.org) and click on the locations page, then scroll down for the host hotel link. Believe me, these are the cheapest rates in the area. If your planning on going on the Friday Shop Tour you better come in Thursday night because the tour leaves from the hotel lobby at exactly 9:00am! There's still swap meet tables available! We have just added more swap meet tables AND display tables to accommodate this final show turn out! So if you've ever wanted to attend the biggest model car show this side of the Mississippi, this is your last chance!

C U there! -KK

[carrucha]

Coming up this Saturday.  I have been going to this show since 1994.  Sad to see it going away.  See you there on Saturday!

Edited January 2 by carrucha

[vamach1]

It will be my first time at this show.  Better late than never I guess.

[Metalmad]

I have attended the show a few times and I will be making the drive up tomorrow. I'm sure there will be a good turn out since it will be the last one.

[Brudda]

Going to go for sure. Cannot wait 

[vamach1]

 

Found this video on YouTube. One hour and 40 minutes.

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Rex!

Thanks for this complete coverage of a superb display of talent and imagination!

CT

[Brudda]

Hello. Not a lot of pics but here are just a few that caught my eye

[Phildaupho]

Thanks for the photos. The low rider paint jobs are amazing!!

[Phildaupho]

11 hours ago, vamach1 said:

Found this video on YouTube. One hour and 40 minutes.

Thanks Rex for the fabulous video giving me the opportunity to see all the amazing models I missed seeing by not attending. It was almost as good as being there except not having the comradery of the other attendees and of course not getting to shop the swap meet. I was especially impressed with the many incredible lowrider paint jobs. Apparently many were done by young people who hopefully will keep the hobby going and maybe even NNL West !!

[SSNJim]

That blue 59 Chevy low rider is amazing. I thought it was at a full size auto show at first when looking at the side view. Beautiful car.

I guess I missed it. Why is this the last NNL West?

[vamach1]

2 hours ago, SSNJim said:

That blue 59 Chevy low rider is amazing. I thought it was at a full size auto show at first when looking at the side view. Beautiful car.

I guess I missed it. Why is this the last NNL West?

The age of the organizers/volunteers plus the cost of the venue are the primary factors.  Without a national organization it’s inevitable for events that are only once a year.  On the other hand IPMS has thousands of members and chapters and regional and national and international events and local and national dues which ensures they will be around a long time.  However, IPMS events are contests with dozen of categories and judging and is open to planes, tanks, ship, figures, fantasy, etc. so with a much broader interest.  To generalize I believe car modelers tend to be very creative and like less structure and rules, so these NNL events were stated decades ago they did spread around the county but this is the 2nd major NNL event that has come to an end.  I hope NNL East and ACME and other major model car events continue but as others have noticed looking around the average age of the entrants and vendors seems to be at or near 65.

Edited January 5 by vamach1

[Brudda]

3 hours ago, SSNJim said:

That blue 59 Chevy low rider is amazing. I thought it was at a full size auto show at first when looking at the side view. Beautiful car.

I guess I missed it. Why is this the last NNL West?

Yes

[SSNJim]

Thanks for the explanation, Rex.

[Brudda]

I was contacted by Andy Kellog about putting my car on the NNL west poster in 2021. I believe he might have been the guy in charge for the NNL west. Not really sure. But he passed away this last year . I cannot even imagine how much organization it took as well as how much it must have cost to put it on. The cost to display a car was $20 And I heard there were over 1300 cars entered. Plus the vendor tables cost $75 each. And there was a lot there. I hope it was profitable for someone to take it over someday. It’s a great show. Here was my car for the 2021 NNL west poster. 

 

[Kit Karson]

19 hours ago, vamach1 said:

The age of the organizers/volunteers plus the cost of the venue are the primary factors.  Without a national organization it’s inevitable for events that are only once a year.  On the other hand IPMS has thousands of members and chapters and regional and national and international events and local and national dues which ensures they will be around a long time.  However, IPMS events are contests with dozen of categories and judging and is open to planes, tanks, ship, figures, fantasy, etc. so with a much broader interest.  To generalize I believe car modelers tend to be very creative and like less structure and rules, so these NNL events were stated decades ago they did spread around the county but this is the 2nd major NNL event that has come to an end.  I hope NNL East and ACME and other major model car events continue but as others have noticed looking around the average age of the entrants and vendors seems to be at or near 65.

Rex, thank you for all you have done to support the hobby, Brother!

[sfhess]

On 1/5/2025 at 10:29 PM, Brudda said:

I was contacted by Andy Kellog about putting my car on the NNL west poster in 2021. I believe he might have been the guy in charge for the NNL west. Not really sure. But he passed away this last year . I cannot even imagine how much organization it took as well as how much it must have cost to put it on. The cost to display a car was $20 And I heard there were over 1300 cars entered. Plus the vendor tables cost $75 each. And there was a lot there. I hope it was profitable for someone to take it over someday. It’s a great show. Here was my car for the 2021 NNL west poster. 

 

entry 

It was $20.00 for admission to the show, which included the display of as many vehicles as an entrant wanted, not "to display a car".

Andy Kellock was the one who passed away.  A good guy, greatly missed.

Edited January 8 by sfhess

[Nolan]

Howdy, 

I went to the NNL West, my first model car show in 50+ years.   Big difference from the shows back in the day in western Kansas!  I took a couple of my motorcycle models, the Harley FXST Springer from my WIP and Under Glass threads and my Kawasaki Mach III 500 H1E.  It was a great show, made a couple of new friends, scored some old kits I had been looking for, saw many, many fabulous models.  The paint jobs on so many of them made me glad I put my junk on the back row of tables!

If you saw an old, bald, tall, greybeard....oh wait, that describes 90% of the attendees!  I was the one in a Cletus McFarland flannel.  😁

Nolan

[Kit Karson]

Had an opportunity to meet up with a couple of modeling icons:

[Marc Weller]

Great show, actually an epic show. Here’s a slide show with a few of my favorite entrants.

 

[carrucha]

It was an awesome show!  Big thanks to all of the organizers and volunteers for putting on this great show the past 40 years!

[vamach1]

Pics of some of the Fords at the show.