Huddersfield Model Show

IPMS Birmingham were represented at the Huddersfield show on Sunday 21st Feb. by Gareth Thomas and Roland Turner.

Having travelled up to Yorkshire on Saturday afternoon we stayed overnight at Richard Farrah's house in Leeds going out in the evening for a meal with Richard and IPMS(UK) President Paul Regan. Despite having moved from Birmingham over ten years ago Paul remains a member of the Birminham branch and although he has few opportunities to attend our meetings frequently lends his support to our activities.

At seven a.m. on Sunday morning we were joined by Paul Hughes of the local branch and leader of the Bomber Command SIG, for breakfast at which time it was noticed that it had started to snow, at this stage only very fine flakes but it was begining to settle. By the time breakfast was finished the snow had become heavier and was now about an inch deep on the ground.

Cars were quickly loaded with models and show paraphinallia and we set off in convoy for the relativly short trip to Huddesfield, Paul and Richard leading the way in Paul's car, through ever deeper snow. Because of the speed that the snow had fallen there had been no chance to grit the roads and even on the motorways (M621 & M62) we had to crawl along at as little as 25 mph leading us to wonder if the show might be abandoned. Despite the conditions we arrived safely at the venue to find that the show was going ahead and clubs and traders were already setting up in the sports centre, the only problem being access to the car park which is up a short but fairly steep incline and quite a few vehicles had to abandon the attempt and park in surrounding streets. Fortunatly our car, a hired Vectra estate, was able to maintain traction and we managed to get into the covered area of the car park.

Our display was quickly set up and because there were only two of us to man the stand we individually went off to see who had made it to the show and of course forage for bargains. It soon became evident that the weather had put off a number of clubs and traders, there being lot of empty tables and those that had made it to the show  had stories of long delays and appalling driving conditions, one trader, Paul Davis, taking over five hours to travel from Solihull. None-the-less a good show was put on with a steady flow of visitors through the doors and everone seemed to enjoy the show although Garath was feeling unwell, he had planned to do some actual modelling on the stand but in the end spent the day quietly, taking things easy and manning the stand. We had been allocated tables near the centre of the hall and received quite a lot of attention with regular questions and discussions about  the   techniques used to achieve various effects and finishes.

IPMS (UK)'s favorite frenchman Jean-Pierre Desprez, proprietor of Model Art Decals, lent the proceedings some gallic flair.

'El Presidente' Paul Regan was in attendance selling off some of his kit hoard.





At the end of the day we emerged from the hall to find that most of the snow had melted and we were able to travel home without any problems. All-in-all a pleasant weekend spent with fellow modellers and of course a big thank you to Richard Farrah for his hospitality.

Milton Keynes Model Show

On Sunday 7th February the club attended the Milton Keynes show putting a display of our members' models demonstrating their wide range of interests. As always Norman Otty's and Roger Hartill's figures as well as Norman's Hunley Diorama drew a great many admirers.

As well as Roger and Norman, the show was also attended by club
members Peter Betteridge, Paul Hickman, Jim and Chris Maher, Terry Walton, Roland Turner and Bill Nicholls. Bill spent part of the day glued to his transistor radio - he claims that he was listening to the Birmingham City vs. Wolverhampton Wanders football match - but we all suspect that he is still waiting for the secret coded message from SOE to go out and blow up German munitions trains in occupied France!

The IPMS Birmingham Brick, Newark Air Museum.

The story behind the IPMS Birmingham brick goes back to June 2001 when three of us (Jim Maher, Terry Walton and Roland Turner) paid a visit to Newark Air Museum on our way to the Newcastle show.

At that time the museum was trying to raise funds for a new hangar/display hall by selling bricks that were going to be used in its construction for £10 each. Ever eager to help we bought a brick on behalf of the club and each of us signed it.

Little more was thought about the brick until last November when four of us (Michael Gossage, Gareth Thomas, Terry Walton and Roland Turner) along with our good friend John Kesler from IPMS Syracuse, New York, USA visited the museum. The new display hall had been built and filled with exhibits, so we went looking for 'our brick' and soon found it inside the entrance lobby where it was duly admired and photographed for posterity - funny how you can become quite proprietorial over a piece of baked clay!

For those who have not yet visited Newark Air Museum we can give it our wholehearted recommendation.

Link to Newark Air Museum.

January Meeting

At January's club meeting we had a a couple of demonstrations of re-polishing clear parts such as canopies.







John Duffield also brought along the Airfix Lightning that he is working on to show how he is getting a genuine bare metal finish using the foil wrappers from chocolates. Now there's a good excuse for scoffing so many!

The monthly competition was won by Ron Adams with his superb 1/1200 scale HMS Prince of Wales.








We were also had the pleasure of being able to welcome a new member, Dave Marsh who we hope will enjoy being one of our band of modellers.