Spot the F1 fan in that photo!
Scale ModelWorld 2018 took place over the weekend of the 10th/11th November in Telford. SMW is frequently cited as the biggest and best model show in the world. From my view I don’t doubt it – there’s always so much to see and do. A huge number of fantastic club displays, plus the best selection of traders at any single event in the UK all year. So for a motorsport modeller like me, there’s more than just a few token car kits available for a change!
I was attending in an exhibiting capacity for the first time proper this year. My club, IPMS Middleton Cheney had exhibited back in 2016 with a Star Wars-themed table which won Best Club Display. I paid the guys a visit on the Sunday, but I wasn’t involved in the display. This year we went with a pub theme, displaying kits that were in some way related to a bottle of beer or other alcohol. Most of these were references to names – think Spitfire Ale, etc.
My contribution to the club display
I had six cars on display with three bottles of beer from two separate breweries. These were Silverstone Real Ale Co. and Prescott Ales. Both do a few beers named after motorsport themes like Chequered Flag and Pit Stop. I was able to debut two new (almost!) finished kits thanks to some last-minute work stretching into the early hours of Saturday. The two kits were the Ebbro Tyrrell 002 (as Jackie Stewart’s 003) and the Revell Ferrari F2007. These two joined regular stalwarts the Larrousse LC90, Benetton B190, McLaren MP4-30 and Benetton B192. However, neither the Tyrrell nor Ferrari were finished – both were without seat belts, a few details and touch-ups!
In the end the club collected third place (bronze) for Best Club Display which is a great achievement on reflection. Considering we had no layout plans prior to showing up on Saturday morning and did it all “on the fly”, it worked out pretty well. There was some serious competition from the other clubs.
Away from our own stand, there was as usual some mightily impressive work on display. From my own personal interest, the Garagistes, Car & Motorcycle and F1 & Motorsport SIGs all laid out some fabulous models, and there was quite a few other clubs with cars and bikes on display.
New toys and tools!
With plenty of traders, I was always likely to part with some cash during the show, and so it proved! I eventually ended up with four new kits, two McLarens – a Protar 1:24 MP4/2C and a Tamiya 1:20 MP4/8, plus a 1:12 Honda NS500 and, perhaps most exciting, a Red Five Minardi PS05. I knew of Red Five but had never done any proper reading about them. Having since done some research, I see I’m in for some fun with that kit! This will be my first resin build, so there’ll be plenty to learn. I’m chuffed it’s in the stash considering it’s a 1:20 Minardi.
Along with the kits I picked up decals for the two McLarens, plus a set for my Fujimi Williams FW16. I also bought both IPMS seam tools, and on recommendation, some Vallejo Plastic Putty. This stuff will transform my build quality – no more gaps or dodgy filling. It’ll come in handy for that Red Five kit!
So now Scale ModelWorld 2018 is over it’s time to crack on with some new projects. Keep an eye out for updates in the very near future. I may have already started work on the Red Five Minardi!
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