It was a sad day to get the news that Ben Chapman, who had portrayed The Creature From The Black Lagoon, passed away last week.

I was fortunate enough to actually meet Ben and have extended conversations with him. He was a kind and generous man, and was he proud of his film legacy! There were two men who played the Creature. Ricou Browning performed all the swimming scenes of the movie, but Ben played the gillman on all land scenes. He was a gentle giant, and had so many stories to tell. The last few years Ben and Julia Adams and Ricou could be found at shows together. Hanging on my wall is a movie poster signed by Ben and Julia. When I asked Ben to sign this poster, he dismissed my pen and produced a paint pen that would be more suitable. He was right, and I will never take it down. Ben, Aloha, and we will never Forget you.

And then there were two.

After all the resin dust has settled, there are two major magazines waiting for your modeling dollars. Amazing figure modeler, with terry webb and david fisher leading the way. A strong lineup led by steve riojas and mike falcingo, have been the standard for the hobby. The revamped kitbuilders, re-tooled by dan and barbara jorgensen, has great articles and color galore to attract any modeler's attention.

I say, why not both? I like to gather all information and research as possible to expand my model building skill. But I am aware that some must choose because of budget. Both mags are quarterly, that is three months at a time in which to release your issue. Why do they have to be the same month? If they alternate, i'm sure that a great deal more readers could afford one magazine a month. This is a hobby, not corporate warfare.

My report starts not with the marvels I saw at the show, but the horror of getting there! Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, the first thing you find is that Louisville, KY is not an airline hub. So that means transfer points. Sometimes lots of transfer points. My WonderFest trips have consisted of a simple stop at Cincinnatti, or St. Louis, or even Houston. But this time around I flew to Phoenix, to Philedelphia, then Louisville. But because of the wonders of airtravel, I left Oakland, Ca at 8:00 a.m. Thursday and arrived in Louisville at 1:00 a.m. Friday! My luggage was safely locked up in the baggage claim office for the night(I could see them through the window), and I could only pray that my room reservation was okay. It was, and air conditioning and a shower helped me feel human again.

Later that morning, I had breakfast with Randy Neubert, creator of VOO DOO FX. Randy has mastered the art of adding light kits to bring life to any vehicle, and is now enhancing figure kits and dioramas. Check out his site! Then I saw the always gracious Bob and Kathy Burns, and some of the other WF regulars. It started to feel like a show!

I hooked up with Vinnie of RESIN CRYPT, and helped set up his table. Where was my friend, Danny Sorraco of Dimensional Designs? Having as good a travel experience as I did. On his way to San Francisco International, his cab got into an accident. MISSED FLIGHT. After getting an alternate, he reported late at the gate.MISSED FLIGHT. Faced with the choice of flying out later Thursday night or early Friday morning, he chose the a.m.. Good choice, because he had left hiw wallet and I.D. in the cab. When he reported for his morning flight, a glance at his watch told him he had plenty of time to check in. The problem? Unknown to Danny, his watch had stopped. MISSED FLIGHT! When it seemed that he would never make it, finally fate took pity and let him arrive just before 1:00 a.m. Saturday.

You might wonder, is the show worth this kind of torture? And the answer is usually yes. This time I could not honestly say that the show made me forget what it took to get there. There were some very awesome kits, dealers galore, and fantastic artists and modelers. Jeff Yaegher was very cool guy to talk to, and WonderFest could have been renamed The Jeff Yaegher Show! Not only did he sculpt the majority of XoFacto's kits, but he seemed to have sculpted at least one kit for every major kit producer. The man is a kit sculpting machine!

Steve Riojas, a staff writer for AFM, was keeping pace with Jeff as the builder/painter of most of the build ups scattered through the showroom.

As a modeler, the number of kits for sale was overwhelming. But instaed of grabbing everything I could, I thought of how to get it back home. Luckily, there was a shipping service set up on Sunday to solve that problem.

Do I recommend WonderFest? Absolutely! despite the travel, I would plan to be back next year. Maybe I can drive............