Remembering Donn Yost

Donn Yost – 3/33/1957 – 8/30/2023

The modeling world lost a very well-known and respected member recently. Donn Yost lost his battle with cancer at the end of August and will be greatly missed by family, friends and a huge following of fellow modelers including KC Slammers members.

Donn was well known for his modeling skills, most notably his ability to lay down beautiful airbrush enamel paint jobs. Few names are better known in the modeling community. Donn’s DVDs “The Art of Airbrushing Show Quality Model Cars” and “Tips & Tricks for Building Show Quality Model Cars” were used by countless modelers as a key tool in their quest for painting perfection. It is not uncommon to overhear discussions of Donn’s DVD at model contests and other gatherings. Not only did his models have beautiful, glossy finishes, they were great examples of his overall modeling skills. Donn’s work always has a neat, precise and cleanly built appearance.

Donn loved his family and pets, sang in church and played softball. He taught himself guitar and played in a band with his buddies. The KC Slammers wish his family and friends the best in their journey to cope with his passing.

Thanks for another Great Heartland

Congratulations to Wes Salazar our 2023 Heartland Champion with his Best of Show 1964 Chevy Impala. We also want to congratulate all of our Class, Specialty and Master Award winners. Every year we have some repeat winners as well as new faces taking home the trophies, and 2023 was no exception.

We awarded two Heartland Master Modeler hats this year. One went to Wes Salazar for exhibiting an ultra-high level of craftmanship year after year. The other hat was awarded to Wes Campbell. Wes also builds to an unbelievable level of detail and quality. He didn’t enter this years show, but did bring several of his masterpieces for display. Both of these model builders represent the top tier in automotive modeling.

We thank you all for participating and sharing your work with the rest of the modeling community. Thanks also goes out to our fantastic group of vendors with a seemingly unlimited supply of models, specialty parts & tools, and a special thank you to Elvis for creating such a great atmosphere to enjoy it all. We look forward to seeing you all next year.

Heartland Upate

Just a few more weeks and we’ll be doing it again. Heartland 2023 looks to be another great one. I’ve been informed that we’ve sold out of vendor tables. Sorry if you we’re looking to get one, but they go pretty fast. This means we will once again have a huge selection of models and related accessories at this year’s show. As in recent years, the vendor area will be overflowing, spilling out to the lobby area.

That being said, the competition on the model tables is my favorite. We always have plenty of entries, but maybe this year we’ll break the 500 mark again. Hope to see you there.

Heartland 2023 Countdown to JUNE

The 2022 Heartland Model Car Nationals is wrapped up and in the books. We want to thank all those who participated including entrants, vendors, visitors and our club members working behind the scenes. You all allow us to present a fun, friendly and enjoyable place to display your artistry and skills, meet up with like minds, share techniques and stock up on parts and pieces for your next unique idea.

We can’t thank you all enough.

This year was our 30th show with the last 20 being held at the Overland Park Convention Center. We started holding the Heartland Nationals there when they first opened the building. In fact, we held our first show there while the building was still under construction. A building is a necessity for a model contest and show, but the most important thing are the model cars and you guys show up with one masterpiece after another to create the core of our show.

This year we tried something different with the Master Modeler hat. Unlike the trophies, this is awarded to the model builder, not the model. With only 5 handed out this year, it’s not easy to get one. Congratulations to this year’s recipients; Clay Kemp, Rod Maskiw, Fonzell Brown, AJ Wasmer and Ken Leslie. We also applaud all our class and specialty award winners as well as those that brought their A-Game, but missed it by a fraction.

We can’t thank you all enough.

Our club photographer, Ken Sweeney took a bunch of pictures of your work for submission to the Model Car and FineScale magazine contest issues. We all look forward to grabbing a copy when the issues are released.  We also have at least once shot of each of the models on the contest tables. Those are posted on our Fotki site that can be accessed via the Photo Gallery selection on our website menu.

Now as a new year begins, we are gearing up for this years 2023 Heartland; same great venue, a long list of classes and master awards, and hopefully some familar faces and also some new talent. Hope to see you all in June.

Let’s Do it Again – Heartland 2022

The 2022 Heartland Model Car Nationals will be the 30th consecutive (except for the 2020 Covid break) show put on by the KC Slammers Model Car Club based in Kansas City. Ours is a model car show that averages between 450 and 500 models entered each year. We have 29 separate classes and 16 Master Awards, including the Heartland Champion award. In 2021 our Heartland show had 85 vendor tables with tons of kits, aftermarket parts, etc.

The Overland Park Convention Center is a great venue with plenty of parking, nearby restaurants and lodging. We put together a PowerPoint awards show with photos of the class winners and Master Awards along with the entrant’s name and class sponsor. It is simply a great show put on by fellow car modelers for modelers. For our military minded friends, we even have a class called “Military (automotive related)…any non-track, automotive-style vehicle used by any military force from any nation”. You need to join us and, hey, we’re almost dead center in the middle of our country.

Our 2022 theme is “Droptop” which means If you can put it down, take it off, open it up, fold the top and stick it in the trunk…or if it’s a hard top with a retractable roof such as a ’59 Ford Sunliner or BMW Z4 you’ve got a “Drop Top” and you are THEME ELIGIBLE! See you there!

2021 Heartland Showtime !

We’re down to the last week before Heartland Model Car Nationals contest time. As you may already know, this year we will be moving upstairs at the Overland Park Convention Center to a much larger space. This will allow plenty of elbow room for social distancing.

The north side building doors used in previous years are still the preferred method of entry. This will allow for a convenient path from the 110th Street parking lot into the building. Once inside, you will need to go up the escalator and then circle to your left to our larger Exhibit Hall A. You can also enter from the south side of the building (College Blvd), but this does not provide as good a path to parking.

Vendors will need to switch to the dock area on the east side of the building, upper level for loading and unloading. Once finished vehicles should use the parking on the lower north side as in previous years. No parking is allowed in the loading dock area.

For contest entrants, we will be locking the doors to the contest tables precisely at 7:00pm. We need the time from 7:00pm on for a long night of judging. With this in mind,

Please try to arrive no later than 6:30pm to sign up and turn in entry forms.

This will allow for sufficient time to complete the entry process and place your models on the tables. This has been a problem in past years, so please respect our need to get started on the judging at a reasonable hour.

After over a year of Covid-19 lockdowns, we are looking forward to a great model car show. We hope you are to. We look forward to seeing you all at this year’s Heartland Model Car Nationals; one of, if not the largest model car contest in the Central USA.

2021 Heartland Nationals

It’s On ! – June 12th -13th 2021

Planning is underway for this years Heartland Model Car Nationals. After almost a year with next to no model car shows across the country due to the Covid-19 virus, we are able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, the worst is behind us, especially considering that here in Johnson County, Ks we are now in phase two of the vaccine rollout.

The big news is that we will be making a temporary move upstairs at the Overland Park Convention Center this year. This year only we’ll be in one of two main exhibit halls where we will have roughly three times our normal space to accommodate social distancing. We will be providing more information and details as we work through the planning process.

Where were you in ’62 ? – Where will you be in June 2021 ?

Slammers May/June Meetings

Unfortunately our meeting venue, The Matt Ross Community Center will not be available in time for our May & June meeting. Considering this, and the current limit on gatherings of 15 or more people, we will be cancelling these two meeting. We look forward to the situation improving in time to hold our next meeting on the first Tuesday in August.

Heartland Nationals 2020 CANCELLED

UPDATE: 07/21/2020

A month and a half ago, Kansas was advancing rapidly through our 4 phase Covid-19 recovery plan. From that perspective, we were fairly comfortable that this year’s show could go on with minimal inconveniences. Now, with the current resurgence of virus cases we have decided to cancel the show for this year. Considering the crowds we normally get, it would have been difficult, if not impossible to manage social distancing, face mask rules and other constraints in order to maintain a safe and healthy environment while still allowing everyone to have a good time and enjoy the event.

Sorry to be the messenger of bad news, but health and safety have to come first. We thank and appreciate the modeling community for the great support of our show. We look forward to seeing you all next year in June.

UPDATE: 04/23/2020 – We are happy to announce that we have worked with the Overland Park Convention Center to come up with an alternate date for this years Heartland Nationals. The new date is August 22nd & 23rd. That gives us an extra two months+ for life in the Covid-19 virus era to calm down and hopefully return to some sort of normalcy. We hope you will make plans to come join us.

UPDATE: 04/20/2020 – The KC Slammers will be postponing this years Heartland Nationals until later this year. We are currently looking at available dates in the August / September time frame. Our goal is to minimize conflicts with other shows in this area (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa). Please check back over the next few days for further details. Thankyou

04/15/20 – In light of the current Covid-19 virus and related social environment, the KC Slammers contest committee is actively discussing our options for this year’s Heartland Nationals contest and swap meet. We expect updates to the State of Kansas and Johnson County, Ks plans for extending or ending the current stay-at-home orders by the end of the week. We are also contacting our venue, the Overland Park Convention Center to determine our options for rescheduling the event for later this year.

Please check back this weekend, April 20th, for further information. We expect to have a more definitive plan and details at that time.

Stay-at-Home Bench Time

All of us Slammers wish you the best during these trying times. We are all cooped up in our homes with the hope of keeping our selves and others safe and healthy. On the plus side, the extra time at the modeling bench is welcomed. Many of the Slammers are hard at it, converting their latest ideas into plastic. We hope many of you are able to spend some extra time on that next masterpiece as well.

A few of the many works in progress: