Show Report: Scale Model World, Telford, 2019

Under cover of buying opportunities for xmas and birthday goodies, I was able to persuade Teresa to accompany me to Scale Model World in Telford. I first learned of the show, IPMS' flagship event, via model-making pals at the Wisbech IPMS branch. 

I booked us a night in an AirBnB place, near Wenlock Edge, in a very beautiful spot (and at a bargain price!), which turned out, having just had the car washed, to be down a muddy potholed lane. The weather, which had started sunny and turned rainy, had been an almost biblical deluge for most if the latter half of the journey.

We didn't get to see the countryside, or the local historical attraction - the world's first Iron Bridge, built by Abraham Darby III  - due to the poor weather and lack of sufficient spare time. The first day we barely saw anything through the heavy rains and eerie mists! The view across the valleys from the picture window of our B&B, on waking on Sunday, was magnificent in the sunshine. My photos don't really convey the splendour, alas.

The view from our AirB&B bed.

And up by the window itself.

Day One

Having dropped our gear at our accommodation, we headed to the show for the last hour or two of the opening Saturday. A fairly rapid tour of the three enormous main rooms at the Telford International Centre revealed the enormity of the event. Apparently it's the largest model show of its type in Europe, possibly even the world? And there's a strong International presence that tends to back that idea up.

In the end I didn't even look around either the competition area, or the 'kit swap' room. Doh! Nor did I take many, or in fact any, photos of the hundreds, possibly thousands, of models on display. I did briefly say hi to the Peterborough IPMS group, who are local (but I haven't visited), and the Wisbech group, who are even more local, and who I regularly attend.

One item I was very interested in beforehand was the Horton Ho-229, in 1/72 (also available in 1/144, 1/48 and 1/35), by Japanese co. Zoukei-Mura. Sadly for me, at £40 this was way too dear. It's a splendid looking kit, however, and a fascinating modelling subject. But I reckon I'll get a Revell one for now! Some pictures from the show follow.

Two 1/72 examples, and the dinky 1/144 version.

A very funky 1/35 version of the model.

Also available in 1/48! Note very cool wood textures (decals?).

Another view of the 1/72 kit: in both skeletal and skinned form.

The stall that stood out for me on my first dash around was Collect-a-Kit, on account of their vast stock of 1/76 and 1/72 kits, including lots of old Esci, which I feel peculiarly nostalgic about. Almost all of these kits were priced up at £8, which seemed quite reasonable and attractive. In the end I bought quite a few. But, and rather strangely, no Esci kits.

We rounded off our first day at SMW with a delicious Italian meal at Wildwood, followed by a trip to the pictures to see Roland Enmerich's Midway movie, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. After the ordeal of the overly long and foot to the floor oddysey of getting there, this was a great way to complete our first day.

Day Two

The Sunday allowed me to spend more time checking the entire show out more thoroughly. Sometimes I was accompanied by Teresa. But more often she was off doing her own thing. She showed most interest in bigger shinier models, and even suggested I buy her a lunar lander kit as we perused the very impressive NASA SIG stand.

Fool that I am I overspent on both days. And what with fuel, food, cinema and accommodation this proved to be a very expensive weekend. I'm going to have to find some stuff I can flog, to get money back into my haemorrhaging bank account. Pictured below, my haul from the show; all 1/72 or 1/76, except for the 1/35 Tamiya 88mm. The latter, something I always lusted after as skid, Teresa bought me as a b'day or Xmas gift. Bless her!

I do love these old kits; beautiful box art paintings!

More 88mm guns for a battery, and some IBG models (new to me).

Preiser figures, IBG mags (!), and the Tamiya 88mm.

I really love Preiser's 1/72 WWII German figures. I don't often see them on sale anywhere in the UK. A pity, as they're amongst the best for WWII Germans in 1/72. . The set I acquired at the show, whilst rather pricey, are beautifully sculpted. And come in kit form on numerous sprues, giving many assembly options. The Preiser boxes are also jam packed with info, inc 'Gestaltung- und Bemalvorschläge', or design and painting suggestions!

These figures, the IBG Stug, and the Hasegawa Mercedes G4 (inc. saluting Hitler and entourage!) were the first things from the show I unboxed and started working on. I'll be posting on these soon..

Show Report: Colours, 2019

Imagine my gleeful surprise, whilst away on a short holiday with the mrs, on discovering that Colours 2019 was on the very weekend we were staying near Newbury! Well, actually, I'm stretching it a bit. We were staying in Burghclere, in order to visit the Sandham Memorial Chapel, and look at the Stanley Spencer paintings there, on wednesday and thursday. By the time Colours came around, we'd be staying in Aylesbury, and visiting Waddesdon, NT property and former home of the Rothchilds. But, as we were visiting the latter on the friday, I figured we were close enough to justify a return to Newbury on the saturday.

And lo, it came to pass.

French and Austrians clash at Wagram.

It's congested in town...

I'm beginning to wonder about me and wargaming shows. I find them exhausting. And most of what they contain is of little or no interest to me. And also, the types of folk that constitute the wargaming community are, to a fairly large extent, a rather odd bunch, and feel a little alien to me. But despite this, I feel compelled to attend these shows. Or at least a few of them. 

More space to manoeuvre in't country.

A French ambulance on the field of battle. A great touch.

On this occasion there was only one game I felt drawn to enough to want to document it, and that was a 15mm battle of Wagram. There were other games that had clearly been labours of love, with some impressive terrain and figures (I really ought to have photographed the 6mm Franco-Prussian game). But I just wasn't seduced by them on this occasion.

One noteworthy thing was that the event was staged on three levels. I think the last Colours I went to was in an entirely different building, and all on the ground floor. The spaces it occupied today were bright, airy, and not as crowded as either Partizan or Salute get.  I still had my 'dizzy spell', where I feel like I'm about to feint or pass out. I seem to get this at all the shows! I used to get the same thing when I went round art galleries as an art student. I'm not sure if this is physical or psychological, or what!?

My sole book purchase.

I had hoped to buy a couple of books from Paul Meekins, but I left it too late to make my desires known. By the time I emailed, the van had already departed for the show. And they hadn't just so happened to pack the two titles I was interested in, as sometimes fortuitously happens. The only book I bought Naval, Marine and Air Firce Uniforms of WWII, by Mollo and McGregor, a Blandford title that's a companion to a similar title focussed on the land based forces of WWII, I got from Anita Books.

My sole model purchase.

Figure and model wise my swag bag was also very minimal: an Italeri 1/72 Elefant, some decals for WWII German stuff (Decal Details), a couple of 10mm baggage wagons (Lancer Miniatures) for my Russia 1812 Napoleonics, and some circular MDF bases, for 15mm Napoleonic commanders.

Sundry odds'n'ends: decals, baggage wagons, bases.

I kind of enjoyed the show, in much the same way I've kind of enjoyed all the shows I've been to in the last few years. I think what this is all pointing to, for me, is that I need to get down to really finishing my armies, building some terrain, and fighting some battles at home! 

Show Report: T'other Partizan, 18th August, 2019

Just got back from The Other Partizan, and thought I'd post a little report. Mostly pics. 

I managed to persuade Teresa, my wife, to go with me. She used to go to all the mini-military events I went to. But stopped doing so some while back. We've had a busy few days, and Teresa more so than me. She soldiered on gamely (boom-boom!) as we went round all the tables, checking out all the games. But then succumbed to exhaustion, and went back to the car for a nap!

These Adler 20mm SS troops were my sole figure purchases.

I was then free to mooch around spending willy-nilly. But in the end I didn't buy that much. Just some new SS troops in 20mm, from Adler (with tiny little collar badge decals!), and some books. I'd have liked to bought a few more books, and probably some WWII vehicle models as well. But there really wasn't a great deal I felt tempted by, in the end. So I wound up feeling a little deflated.

Cool... A wicker man!

I'm assuming the pictures immediately above and below are from Infamy Infamy, a 28mm Romano-British participation game put on by Harrogate Wargaming Club. I do like the 'Wicker Man'. The film of that name is a cult classic, and I love it (the remake... well, let's not go there). This was a great looking game. Excellent figures and great terrain. 

Very nice looking Romans (casualties or reinforcements). Warlord Games?

Fortus Romanus.

A Pacific theatre game. Nice terrain.

Next is the USMC landing and attack on Pelelui, a 1944 Pacific theatre battle, staged here in 20mm by the Like A Stonewall Wargames Group. Teresa liked the verdant tropical terrain. The excellent HBO series The Pacific depicts action from this campaign to great effect. 

An American plane flies over the jungle.

The terrain for Bloody Omaha, a 15mm game by the Peterborough Wargames Club (pictured below) looked terrific. I'm currently reading Stephen E. Ambrose's superb D-Day book, which focuses on Omaha somewhat more than the other beaches. So it was nice to see a game depicting what I'm reading about!

An Omaha beach landing scenario. Again, nice terrain.

A nice encampment in this medieval game.

There were several late medieval or early renaissance games, and once againI don't know exactly which is which amongst the ones I photographed (and I'm only showing a portion of the photos I took here). I've never been drawn to collect figures from these eras, let alone contemplate gaming them. But I do admire the way they look on a table when I see them.

This was rather interesting; an Irish Rebellion battle...

There were a couple of Irish related battles/games. I'm assuming the one pictured above and below was the Bramley Barn 28mm Wilson's Farm, 1798, a beautifully set up demo game. It looked weird to me, at first glance, seeing phalanxes of pike-wielding Irish troops facing the muskets of the British forces. Looked kind of like ECW meets 18th Century. Strange!

Brits have muskets, whilst Irish 'bogtrotters' have pikes!

The next few pics show an Ancients game which might be set in England, or possibly Germany. The smartly uniformed Roman Legions face some superbly done barbarian types, with excellent wagons, druids, and even a flock of shaggy-haired sheep. I wish I knew exactly which game it was, so as to give due credit to whomever's excellent terrain and figures these were. A fantastic looking set-up!

Nice mise en scene type stuff in this Ancients game...

Love the carts and druids and whatnot...

The view from the Roman lines.

54mm ECW, from Mr Miller and Friends.

There were some wargames in the smaller scales, but these were either naval or armour, i.e. not figure based. I don't think I saw a single 6mm or 10mm battle. Of course the larger scales can potentially make for better eye candy. But I do like the larger scope that the smaller scales allow. And in the right hands they can still look very impressive. They are, I reckon, especially suited to large Napoleonic battles, where the big Battalions can be deployed in all their glory. 

There were however more games in 28mm than I'm used to seeing, and some of these with large models, such as the Pirates one. Lots of gurt big ships! Then there were some strange games, with some kinds of kiddie toys, peg soldiers, etc. There were lots of games. And I didn't get pictures of everything. I mainly photographed what appealed most to me.

Camel train in... the Sudan? Or is this the Afghanistan game?

As has already been shown by my inability to accurately caption all my photos, I didn't make a note of the games I was photographing at the time. Guess I should've. So I'm putting the names to the games now as best I can. I oigjnally assumed the pics above and below were from They Don't Like It Up 'Em, a 28mm Sudan game. But then I realised that the planes probably mean it was actually The Boondock Sayntes' 1919 De Haviland Down.

Afghanistani infantry and cavalry.

British aerial supremacy.

The Colonial combat pictured above and below was a very handsomely appointed game. Very enjoyable eye-candy, with great terrain, figures, and other stuff, like the aircraft. Once again, I only wish I could be certain what the game was, to give due credit to a fab looking game. As noted above, after initially locating it in the Sudan, I now think it's the 1919 Afghan game, De Haviland Down. Either way, it's a great game layout.

Lovely desert dwellings, also Colonial HQ, by the looks of it.

Another view of the aerial flypast.

There was only one Napoleonic game, that I noticed. Apparently there were two, but I only recall the one shown in my pics! And I always look out for games from my favourite era. And the one I did spot was set in Spain. Not my favourite theatre. But the figures were abundant, and very nicely turned out. 

French Guard Engineers...

Massed French artillery.

Massed French cavalry and artillery. Looking fab!

Spanish Cavalry, in yellow garb.

A North African beach landing...

There were several North African WW2 games, and I confess, yet again, I don't know which is which. This one had a beach landing by the Allied forces, and Rommel atop a nicely appointed colonial type building. Another one had the Italians fighting an Allied unit that I took to be the Desert Rats. Both sides were using a railway line as a road. Must have been a very bumpy road!

Rommel's rooftop radio-mast HQ.

AWI action from Steve Jones.

Whilst I spotted one very nice looking AWI game, pictured here above and below, I didn't spot any ACW action. After the Napoleonic era and WWII, ACW is my next port of call, interests wise (see later book purchase info!). And most shows I go to I see at least one game from that era.

Looks like the British are fighting themselves!?

Cavalry about to collide...

It's now some time after originally posting this pictorial show report, and I'm still working out which games were which, and slipping in new bits of text accordingly. Several pics follow that are a League of Augsburg Beneath Lily Banners thing called The Three Kings or something similar. You can read more on it here. Not my normal period of interest. But it looked very tempting when so fabulously presented.

A rather splendid battery...

Apparently this is Swedes vs. three other nations (or even Empires?).

Originally I'd posted thus about this game:

One or two of these games I can't even place by referring to the list of games on the Partizan website. That would include the one pictured above and below here. Looks 18th Century. I dimly recall a game referring to a clash of three empires or kingdoms. Was it this one? Maybe this is the League of Augsburg game? That's not actually given on the Partizan webpage (simply listed as  (TBA!).

At least I was on the right track!

This staff group looks dangerously exposed.

Vehicles using a rail bridge as a road... bone-shaking!

The second of the aforementioned WWII North Africa games. Was this one in fact the Forest of Dean Gamers' North Africa 1941, Chain of Command, demo' game? Or hav I muddled the two. North Africa WWII games up?

Brits as well as 'Eye-Ties'...

'Modom, your carriage awaits'.

No idea what this game was. Can anyone enlighten me?

A rather cool looking fort...

Next, another 28mm Sudan game. Now...this must either be They Don't Like It Up 'Em, by RAWgamers, or an untitled game by Iron Brigade. Can anyone clarify?

British troops form square, to meet the revolting natives' attack.

Reinforcements exit the fort.

But wait... danger lurks in the water. And not just the crocodilian variety.

A splendid evocation of a Dutch town.

55 Minutes in Peking. A Victorious Miniatures Boxer Rebellion game.

A Douglas A/B(?)-26 Invader flies over the beach, in Gothenburg Gamers' 28mm Bay of Pigs demo'.

The defenders seek to stop the landings.

I had a small wad of cash to splash, and immediately blew a big chunk of it at David Lanchester's book stall, on Shelby Foote's ACW trilogy. I've wanted this for several years now. The last time I saw any of it, it was just volume two, in a bookshop in Ely, for £39.99. Today I got the whole trilogy for £50. A lot for me to spend in one go on books. But, I very much hope, well worth it. Shelby Foote is great on Ken Burns' ACW series.

A very attractive set!