About IPMS Birmingham

A branch of IPMS(UK) we are a club for modellers and those interested in modelling in Birmingham and surrounding areas, we welcome people of all abilities to attend our meetings on the third Sunday of each month - please see "About IPMS Birmingham" page for venue details and times.

Thursday, 25 February 2010

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.

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