Looking back on Scale ModelWorld 2013

Well, Scale ModelWorld 2013 is over and we can look back on a show that lived up to its billing as "The best model show in the World".

First of all,  thanks go to our club Chairman Pete Betteridge , Treasurer Matt Nicholls and Dave McQueen who went up to Telford to set up our stand on the Friday afternoon so everything was ready for members to put their models on the table when they arrived on Saturday morning.

In the competition the  club had three winners, Bill Mohan got a Bronze award for his 1/72 scale Short Sherpa and David Allison also received a Bronze for his 1/43 Lola Judd T88 Indy car but pride of place goes to our only junior member Isaac Peat who gained a Gold Medal for his Jeep and Sherman diorama, congratulations Isaac.

John King meeting IPMS (UK) President Paul Regan

We had our friends from IPMS Syracuse, USA, John Kesler, Jim Marconi and John King visiting for the show. This was John King's first time at SMW and his his first trip to Great Britain. "The Boys from Syracuse" had arrived at Heathrow on Wednesday morning and been met by Michael Gossage, Gareth Thomas and Roland Turner and taken to the RAF Museum at Hendon. After an overnight stay at Eastleigh they went on to the Tank Museum at Bovington and the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton before travelling up to Birmingham. Friday was taken up with a visit to Warwick Castle.

Gary Wenko, Overseas Liaison Officer

The show was a celebration of the Society's 50th Anniversary and was bigger than ever, at the Branch Secretaries and SIG Leaders meeting on the Sunday morning it was announced that the visitor numbers were up by 6% on the Saturday compared to 2012 and competition entries had increased from 900 plus to over 1300.

There were many foreign visitors with people who had travelled from as far afield as South Korea, Argentina, Canada, USA and most European countries to menion but a few, either to display at the show or just as members of the general public, keeping Gary Wenko the society's Overseas Liaison  Officer busy, a task on which he appeared to thrive.

The AMV 83 team from the south of France

 
As always the overseas visitors brought a selection of local delicacies and liquid refreshments with them to share with visitors to their stands adding to the convivial atmosphere.



A number of awards were given for the best displays with the Aerobatic Display Teams Special Interest Group winning Gold for the best SIG display.

As already mentioned the competition had a huge number of entries this year and all to a very high standard with the best in show going to Stefano Marchetti (for the second year running) for his remarkable fantasy piece "Bugatti/Tesla Type 159sc - magnetic levitation race car".

Inevitably with anything of the magnitude and complexity of Scale ModelWorld something is almost certainly going to go wrong at some stage and this year was no exception with a problem on the Saturday morning at the members' entrance. This appears to have been due to conflicting information which the show organisers attempted to resolve quickly but were frustrated by the centre management. While it was annoying for the people involved, it should not be allowed to detract from an otherwise superb event and the IPMS (UK) Executive Committee, all of them unpaid volunteers, are to be congratulated on its success.

Avon Show, Yate

Sunday 22nd August and the club attended the ever popular Avon Show held in the Community Centre at Yate, just north of Bristol.

We were allocated a large L shaped stand and fortunately were able to to fill the space with a varied selection of models, one end being given over, appropriately in the 70th anniversary year, to a Battle of Britain display. 

The branch was represented by David and Christian Child, Pete Betteridge, Terry Walton, Norman Otty, Roger Hartill and Roland Turner. Unfortunately Bill Nicholls, who had intended to attend, had fall a few days earlier and has broken his wrist, however we did speak to him by telephone from the show so he was there in spirit so to speak.

This superbly finished 1/48 scale Fiat BR.20 Cicogna built from the Special Hobby kit was displayed on the Locate & Cement stand.

Imposing in 1/32 scale on the 580 Modellers stand, this Phantom F-4B was in the markings of VA-111 "Sundowners"

It's always good to see a bit of humour creeping in at model shows, sometimes we modellers can take things a bit too seriously, so a variation on "Compare the Meerkat" was welcome - it looks like one of Alexander's relatives managed to get a commission in the British Army!  

Meanwhile outside the hall there was a small display of military vehicles including this Royal Marines, helicopter portable, Citroen 2CV.









For more photos from the show go to the show album on the new IPMS Birmingham Facebook page.

Shows that we will be attending in September:

Sunday 5th - Wombourne,   The Community Centre, Church Road, Wombourne. WV5 9EZ

Saturday 11th - Droitwich Salt Day, Victoria Square, Droitwich, Worcestershire.

Sunday 19th -     Sutton Coldfield Model Makers' Society Show, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall.