1/64 1950's Iowa Country Side

The 2004 National Display Contest proved to another year of exciting model farm exhibits.  In the 1/64 class there were five out standing model farms that stood out from the rest.  These displays included a first place winner Jonathan Klawonn's 1950's Iowa Country Side, Roger Balk's FS Service, Tim Grube's Chicken and Sugar Beet Farm,  Adam Suntken's Hog Farmer and John Sampson and Jason Jeffers North Dakota Sugar Beet Farm.  

Each of these displays is worthy of a full article and will be featured in future 2005 issues of The Toy Tractor Times.   This month T.T.T's Down On the Model Farm will highlight the interesting features and details of the five top displays.  A display builder can set their work apart from others with interesting themes, custom pieces, buildings and scenery.   Each of the five displays accomplish just this.  Little details can make big ideas come to life.  

Jonathan Klowann's display won best of show for its 1950's Iowa Country Side theme.  The display shows the rolling land of Iowa with its farms, corn and cattle.  The lay out its self is sculpted to create slopes around a stream.  The winding stream cuts across the display and farmers bring in summer crops like hay and oats.  Jonathan's scene work is impressive and creates a true country landscape but it is completed by a variety of custom toys to recreate the 1950's era.  In a future issue T.T.T will feature the complete story of this display and its line of 50's era farm equipment.  

Jonathan Klawonn's Display

Roger Balk's 1/64 FS Service

Roger Balk's FS Service placed second at this years big show.  You may remember Roger's 1999 show winning winter farm scene featured in the August 2000 Toy Farmer.  Roger's attention to detail in 1/64 made his 2004 display as impressive at the 1999 winter time lay out.  The FS Service represents a large fertilizer operation in the fall.   Roger created the FS Service to represent a yard as on Friday afternoon as all of the workers and equipment head back home from the field.   The buildings from the office, ware house and mixing building show as much 1/64 detail as possible.  There is even a sparking welder in the shop.   

Roger Balk's FS Serive

Roger Balk's FS Service Shop with 1/64 Welder

Tim Grube's Fowl Odor Chicken Farm:  Over 2,000 1/64 chickens

Tim Grube the winner of the 2004 St. Louis Farm Toy Show with his seed corn farm, placed third a the 2004 National with a display featuring a large chicken and sugar beet operation.  This farm display featured two big chicken sheds filled with over 2,000 1/64 chickens that were all scratch built by Mike Docter.  The farm operation also included beet harvesting with Buhler-Versatiles and CNH tractors.  Tim also had corn harvest finishing with two NH CR970 combines with 16 row 22 inch corn heads.   Fall plowing was also under way with several 4wds.  

Beet Harvest with CNH tractors

Tim Grube's Fall Equipment

Adam Suntken's Hog Farm

Adam Suntken's 2004 Display was a hog operation set at spring planting.  Adam built a farm operation with hog houses, large bin system and a shop.  Viewers can see a new hog house going up as  John Deere 8410T with a 24 row planter begin planting the new corn crop.  

New Hog House Construction

Adam Suntken's Bin System

 Jason Jeffers and Jon Sampson  North Dakota Sugar Beet Farm

Jason Jeffers and John Sampson of J&S Farm Toys built a 1/64 replica of a real sugar beet farm in North Dakota.  In 2003 Jason built an exact 1/64 hill side wheat farm and wanted the 2004 entree to be an exact match of another farm.  Jason's hillside wheat farm was featured in the July 2004 Toy Tractor Times.  The new Beet Farm features many custom beet harvesters, combines and a mix of New Holland and Allis-Chalmers tractors used by the actual farm in North Dakota.  Many hours of equipment and building construction went into this display.  

J&S's Farm is a complete replica of a real farm from its equipment to its buildings

Sugar Beet Harvesting

e-mail: toyfarmer2@msn.com