noelsmith

Gil and Pat, it you can get over here to Telford I think that you will both be very impressed and very welcome. Our show attracts many visitors from Europe and beyond. In one of the halls there are tables from a number of different country's IPMS organisations promoting themselves too. Lots of traders, special interest groups and local UK club tables on show. The hotels in the immediate vicinity do get booked up but there are ones to be found within an hour's drive, as I guess you would hire a car for your visit. Birmingham and Shrewsbury are two cities that are fairly close for hotel accommodation. And of course there are many museums, castles, stately homes to visit in the UK.

This thread has made interesting reading with quite lengthy posts. The US Nats really do revolve around the competition, more so than in the UK SMW show. The exhibition centre at Telford shuts the doors at 6pm on the Saturday, no exceptions. On Saturday when the competition is run all the pre booked entries have to be on the table by 11 am. Judging takes place within a very tight time frame on that afternoon so the area can be opened up for viewing once the results are in. We do not have the luxury of judges to be able to work late into the night as in the US Nats whilst making their deliberations and moving models into their correct categories from modellers who have not took the time to read and understand the rules. At Telford they get disqualified. Period. Draconian but necessary given our judges time scale to work in on the afternoon. As for judges picking up models in cotton gloves and using a torch magnifier to inspect underneath them? Well that appears to be a bit OTT to me. We are judging scale models not inspecting micro chips. And by its nature, lifting any model puts it at risk of being dropped! I would think that the local chapter organising Madison are getting some sleepless nights with all this going on. The UK Competitions Secretary is on our EC, but has complete autonomy in running the competition and pulling competent judging teams together without interference from above but support when asked for.

Is it not made clear to all contestants that their models are placed on the table entirely at their own risk and that IPMS although taking reasonable care will not be held responsible for any loss or damage howsoever caused. Yes. it is irritating if your model gets damaged in competition or at a show (been there and got the tee shirt). But anyone showing a model should appreciate that they are taking a risk if their model goes into competition or on public display and need to be a bit grown up about it if their model suffers a breakage. Aren't we supposed to be modellers who can build, restore and repair things after all? Anybody would think that a model getting damaged is a life threatening situation judging by some of the belly aching and diatribe aimed at that judge on social media. So a tank model got accidentally damaged by a human being looking at it whilst judging it. If indeed that is what actually happened? I expect that poor guy felt sick to the stomach at the time. I know I would. It's no small wonder he felt that IPMS wasn't for him after all that. Glad he got dissuaded from leaving.

The old Tower Films production of A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim is the best by far. For sheer atmosphere that very old film from the 50's captures the essence of Charles Dickens novel perfectly. There have been many Scrooge based films made since, but even with CGI and modern special effects none have surpassed that old original. Alastair Sim was the perfect casting of Scrooge, and George Cole as the young Scrooge. Kevin's Ghost of Christmas Past captures the essence of that character well. Look forward to any more that Kevin might do from that film.

My wish would be for someone to produce (an accurate this time) plastic kit of the CSS Alabama Confederate Sloop of War that is half the size of that enormous old Revell kit.

That looks interesting James.

Very nice model. Suggest photographing it against a plain background for better effect. All the chair backs and general room stuff distracts from the model you put a lot of work into.

A very attractive exercise in steam punk scratch building.

Since my original post the Revell Vasa has been discontinued for the time being. The old Airfix one continues to be in their catalogue and available. It is not as accurate as the Revell one unfortunately, but can still be built into an impressive ornate ship model.

Some time ago I suggested renaming IPMS to ISMS (International Scale Modellers Society) to reflect where scale modelling is going but it did not go down well at the time (about 30 years ago). IPMS still has a lot of work to do about how we are perceived outside the society. To the uninitiated outside it the mention that we build plastic scale models prompts the response 'Oh! So you stick Airfix kits together as a hobby?' We all know differently of course, but it is a matter of perception by the uninitiated. For example if I were to say that I was a Model Ship Builder, to the uninitiated their perception of how I build models would in all probability be totally different, visualising that I would be a craftsman working in wood not plastic.

Michael, to answer your question IPMS UK membership fee includes entry to Scale Mocelworld on both days and 6 magazines or year plus other IPMS UK benefits such as free pre entry into the competition. SMW is open also to the general public for an entry fee that can be paid on line before the event. The daily public entry fee per day is pitched to be deliberately very close to taking out a membership thus encouraging people to join IPMS. The hire of the International Exhibition Centre at Telford costs many thousands of pounds to hire all 3 halls each year and IPMS UK relies very much on traders fees to cover this. The eye watering costs of running this event each year prompted the society to become a limited liability company to protect each and every one of our UK members against personal liability if IPMS UK were to suddenly go into liquidation. Our show is a mix of displays by branches(chapters), special interest groups, foreign branches, traders and of course the competition that the show in its present format evolved from. I think it differs quite a lot from your Nationals.

Regarding purging the IPMS Facebook Area of users who are non members one has to ask the question, would it be worth all the effort? 14k users of a constantly used and changing site? That is a lot to ask of non paid volunteers to purge and moderate. Once the initial flush of enthusiasm goes by the board, what then as interest and commitment will inevitably wane? It takes a certain type of person to continuously police, moderate and purge something like this on a constant basis. Like all these things they start out as what seems on the face of it a good idea until the boredom of routine sets in and those volunteers start to drop away and things revert back to as before. The Facebook thing whether considered good or bad may best just be left as it is. Attempting to purge and moderate it may be just flogging a dead horse. As I see it there are more important things actually going on within IPMS that need addressing rather than worrying about non members access to a Facebook page.

That's not a vintage kit. It's veteran! I'm talking about the kit being so old, not whether the subject is vintage or veteran. Ron, you have made a good job of that very old kit. I can remember buying one when I was at school in the 50's.

Italeri' s 1/12th scale Bugatti 35B

How can anyone really police an IPMS Facebook group or restrict access to it? FB like Tik Tok and other sites is an open platform on social (unsocial) media depending on how you look at it. FB and others can either be briliant or become a cess pit at times. There may be volunteers to be moderators on it, but the reality is that after a while it could well become too much of a drain on their time amongst other more important commitments they have like work and family. Also they may well get embroiled in stuff on line they don't want or need! Not sure that a Director of Social Media either could of would make any difference to on line responses to any social media platform IPMS uses. Reading about all the 'in fighting,' going on at executive level I fear that IPMS at times falls foul of being full of its own self importance when it is just a model making group when all said and done!

Gill, we have the 5 members requirement to form a branch (chapter) just as IPMS USA does. From what you say there are lots of clubs at grass roots level with a mix of members and non members. It's exactly the same over here in the UK.US It works really well generally I would guess both in the UK and the US. A case of 'If it ain't broke don't try to fix it. Sad to hear about the resignations and discord at EC level in IPMS USA. Change tends to be resisted sometimes and 'office politics' seems to take on a life of its own. No doubt it will get sorted out sooner or later. IPMS USA will survive all of this I am sure, and I wish them well in the process. Our Scale Modelworld show is an event that is open to the paying public to visit besides the members so anyone does not need to be a member to visit. It has the reputation of being the biggest model shop to visit in the UK once a year, and that alone attracts many visitors.

Reading all this reminds me of what happened quite a number of years ago over here in the UK. A dictate from the then EC was made that all branches must consist of IPMS members exclusively. The 'Freeloaders' comment in earlier posts reminded me of this incident. Basically it was a situation that got up a lot of people's backs who were running local model clubs with a mix of IPMS members and non members. So what happened? Many of the branches (chapters) changed their name from IPMS whatever and renamed their club without the IPMS name and effectively became a local club with open membership where IPMS members were welcome to use their facility. Effectively cocking a snook at the IPMS UK executive and simply carrying on as before! Other IPMS branches in the UK just carried on and ignored the dictate. Basically it was completely unworkable as IPMS could not police it anyway, so in effect everything just blithely carried on regardless. I would guess that many meetings at local level in the US consist of members and non members who all support the cost of their meeting hall venue at local level. If what happened over here some years ago is something to go by things will probably just carry on as normal at local level. The 'Freeloaders' as they have been described in all probability pay their dues to their local clubs, do not give one iota about what the IPMS USA Exec Committee does or says, have no interest in being coerced into joining IPMS and are quite happy as they are meeting up with local fellow modellers. Another thing is that some IPMS chapters might actually rely on the income from non members to help pay for their meeting places. Maybe best left alone to do it 'their way' at local level without interference.

I have had quite a few interesting discussions with DAK on this forum. Will miss his forthright style often seeing things from opposite directions. Despite our many differing views our discussions were always civil. He described himself as being very opinionated and that is what I liked about him being a very lively guy to have discussions with on this forum. He will certainly be missed in a big way on here.

This thread has made interesting reading from an IPMS UK member's viewpoint. The US Nationals appears to revolve around the competition whereas at SMW on our side of the pond, the competition is still very important, but the current show that it has evolved into over the years does not totally revolve around it any more. IPMS executive board members come and go. It's just natural evolution. The notion that IPMS USA could become a basket case just has to be viewed with disbelief. Complacency can creep into any organisation at top level. It is a matter of recognising it and dealing with it at the time. Nobody is indispensable and there will always be someone that will step up when really needed. I don't know how the US exec committee runs, but all UK board members hold a two year tenure in each position at which point their jobs are put up for re election to the whole of the membership. Present incumbents have to lobby for their position against candidates who would like to be elected to their position.

Heard or read somewhere that Disney have been considering a remake of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Took the time to read Jules Verne's novel recently and considering when he wrote the story it still is a great read.

The more you look the more you see. This particular period piece diorama really draws the eye in to seek out the incredible amount of detail on it and within. Absolutely top class modelling!

A very original diorama!

There is also a guy named Francois Faucher up in Quebec who is also doing wonders on that big old Airfix Bentley as well as Nick Edwards at Unobtainium. He is making a model of one of the limited edition repro Bentley Blowers that Bentley themselves are building finished in black instead of the usual green. His work can be seen on the Model Cars Magazine Forum and on the Britmodeller Forum. Francois refers to himself on them as 'The Guy From Quebec'. Mind blowing what these two guys are doing to that elderly kit.

Superb model!!!! Looks like a lot of Steampunk influence in this build detail. Very imaginative. Looks quite a big model. What scale is it? Looks bigger than 1/8tn. 1/6th perhaps?

Since retiring I have had a go at scratch building some classic cars. Bugatti Type 59 1/16th scale Best Civilian Vehicle SMW Telford 2012 Nieuport Astra Hispano Suiza S6C (in its original form with swept aluminium wings) 1/12th scale Silver SMW Telford 2014 Brooklands Napier Railton 1/18th scale Gold SMW Telford 2013 I hope you like the pictures Noel Smith IPMS 2303 (UK)