[THE DC]

The next exhibit booth belonged to Steve Brown. Mr Brown was a dedicated builder, working upon a kit even as he manned his presentation. The kit, the Cut & Assemble Victorian Railroad Station, was authored by a giant in accessible kit designs for paper modeling, Edmund V. Gillon Jr. Like Alan Rose, Gillon has contributed greatly to our craft, mass-marketing a large variety of architectural structures, of simple buld-design, but clever & attractive detail and explicit instructions. I have found his books very useful to teach the craft principles to young modelers, as they start out in the learning of kit building. Many model designers underestimate the need and value of instructions with their kits; an especially sound need for those starting out and making an effort to build a kit, without the designer's knowledge of how the parts are supposed to assemble. I have observed many times where youth give up on a kit out of frustration, due to lacking directions.

Like Alan Rose, Edmund V. Gillon Jr. provided detailed and explicit instructions with his kits. There has been more than one occasion when I have wished I could have thanked him for his work. His kits have permitted me to guide youth and geriatric clients through building of small villages around their Christmas trees, and then they use the kits as centerpieces during facility open houses and holiday dinners with guests.

Unfortunately, I will never get a chance to thank Edmund V. Gillon Jr. The prolific and talented designer passed away in 2008.

Steve Brown provided an exhibit in the vein of Alan Rose and Edmund V. Gillon Jr. His booth was demonstration, instructional, and inspirational. Mr. Brown's start on the Victorian Rail Station model was interesting. He was cutting pieces and displaying completed portions of this detailed and attractive kit as part of his table exhibition. He had made progress on the attractive Gillon. kit, displaying his process and techniques in his exhibition of his finished pieces (see pic 1). The addition of a partially completed kit permitted him to share his build ideas in a way more effective than he could have with only a finished kit. The "in process" kit encouraged questions and discussions about technique and build processes. In addition to his display of his construction efforts, he displayed a wide variety of kit subjects, scales, and designs, to illustrate what is possible with patience and skill.

At one corner of his table was a selection of flyable paper aeroplanes, of simple, functional appearance, while at the other corner were detailed, well-finished kits. The subjects displayed were a wide variety; a space shuttle, a piano, a missile, some excellent birds, trains, boats, and even a phone booth (see pic 2). Next to his in-process Victorian Rail Station, were several other small buildings. Mr. Brown was proud to display, and share detail about a building-kit, that he had built decades ago. Near that preserved construction was a duplicate kit completed, that he had only rebuilt in a more recent year, after having preserved the original for what would be a lifetime to many.

His prolific building experience was rivaled by his patronage to the IPMC. Around the perimeter of this exhibit table were a collection of name tags from years prior to this 2021 event. So many were displayed that the name tags overlapped with each other along the entire perimeter of two sides of the table!

Mr. Brown was also kind enough to share some build tips for fellow modelers, that I can share now. He noted that he finds basic Elmers Glue adequate for some of his building efforts. He also extolled the value of a good cutting mat. Additionally, he suggested developing a portable build kit, explaining that kit-work can be completed in remote area, not just in a stable home environment. He explained further that he regularly built kits when out and about, when he had some extra minutes between tasks. He suggested that the portable kit should be basic and simple, displaying his selection of tools in his kit: an adhesive bottle, a cutting tool, some coloring tools, items to facilitate folding, and a small box to secure and protect your portable kit.

The exhibition was very effective, as the table not only displayed his talent, technique, and his history with the IPMC, but his additional presentation of a kit, in medias res, permitted and encouraged the sharing of process tips and mentoring to visitors. I'd recommend a visit next year, when he has added the 2021 tag to the perimeter of this table, probably starting the third part of the perimeter?!