Well, hard to believe its been and gone for another year. This year has, I believe, proved to be a vintage Telford. The competition especially was exceptional in terms of the quality of the models entered. The exquisite Handley Page 0/400 in 1:72 which turned out to be ‘Best in Show’ was a work of the utmost in modelling skills.
Another which caught my eye in the competition, was the Northrop F-5E Tiger II which even had a booklet detailing how the model was produced.
The 1:96th scale Saturn V complete with launch gantry must be an absolute nightmare to transport. I don’t know about you, but I’d be very reluctant to fork out for a 1:48th C-130 Hercules and then hack it about for the stunning diorama of a crashed example.
Apparently traders were pleased with the level of sales, some even saying, “What recession?” Saturday was definitely the busiest of the two days. Sunday was by far the best of the days to have a reasonably easy time getting around the stands.
Notable on the Airfix stand was the DH Sea Vixen FAW2 which looks to be very impressive. (See Build Now and then Finished Now for Geoff’s full build review and Here Now for his in-box review). Also, the Vickers Valiant B1 in1:72 particularly took my eye. This has quite exceptional moulding – with the vortex generators and the wing fences being particularly noteworthy.
Revell were previewing their new 1:32nd BAE Systems Hawk T1 and very promising it looks, too. Roll on February 2011.
A highlight for me was found on the Canary Islands stand. This was an impressively worked 1:48th Sea Hurricane. Some extraordinary modelling ability was shown in this wonderful model.
Geoff, your editor was busy on both days spreading the word about SMN. I dread to think how his and Sara’s feet must have felt at the end of it all! (It took two days to recover, but we loved it all – superb stuff! – Geoff)
There you have it, another great show and thanks to all those IPMS stalwarts who did all the hard work to bring it all together: and roll on next year.
Tom P.
Here are some Maritime highlights for you to enjoy…
Read a personal view of the Show from Bill Curtis – with an Armour slant!
