BMSS Nationals

Here are some of my initial impressions of this years' nationals.

Venue good, free parking and very light and airy but difficult to find and a bit out of the way.  Nothing outside of the venue to say there was a show on and little in the way of passing trade.  Usual suspects in clubs attedning with a very nice display by The Basement and Faversham.  Quality of figures in the comps was generlly pretty high with The Basement picking up a lot of the awards.  Traders were a bit better some figure traders such as Bonaparte and El Greco but also the usual assortment of bring and buy type stalls which I think detract from the quality.  The catrering at the event was appalling and we had to hike into Dulwich to get something at lunchtime.  This was not the fault of the organisers however.

Overall I think it was better than last year but still a long way short of Bugle Call!

Bob

Your Scribe writes……………….NEWMOD 2011
Full of anticipation I came back from work the night before Newmod 2011 which was being held on the 2nd April , all set to be packed up ready to go on the show day ..did this happen..well those that know me will not be surprised ....it didn’t as I was painting till nearly midnight!!!! So …at 4.30 I began packing up display and the car ….I really must stick to some plan !!!!
After eating burnt toast and packing my satnav (my lovely and long suffering wife Carole ..thanks babe) we set off driving into the light towards the show .
This is the 2nd time for the show and had moved to a new location , Park House School, Newbury . The organising committee had learnt a lot from last years , the show was well signposted , good parking and well laid out (though speaking to the club members ..they had 1/3rd less tables available 2 hours before the opening ..but all sorted out thankfully) . On arrival we were warmly greeted and shown where our tables were ..in the 6th Form Common Room (mine was never like this) , we were located in an extremely well lit room (no need to get my work lamp out) ,and right next to our own coffee machine !!!!
Catering was available at the show run by the lovely ladies from the school , with hot food being available from the start (great sausages and even better fruit cake ..well… I didn’t want to appear rude so I had several!!!!)
The show itself had a good mix of traders including Avid Reader, Little cars , Kit Krazy and Field of Glory Models (a new company) , club displays included friends from Early Risers , Poole Vikings, Chiltern Chicken Modelling Club (great tanks made by a RAF officer!!), Newbury and Ready Wargamers and the Tank Museum Volunteers .
All clubs put on great displays , ranging from tanks, planes , fantasy , an ancient wargame to Wallace and Grommit and Dinosaurs ..good variety .
Also at the show for the youngster’s was a Airfix make and take , with individual help from the Newbury members , at the end of it all looked extremely proud of the finished model …good idea this .
A competition was held in the common room, which was well supported, particularly the juniors..nice to see this so well done to all those that put models in (full results details will be posted together with show pictures on the club website (www.newmod.co.uk)
The show also supported The Royal British Legion who benefitted from a £250 cheque ..a very worthwhile cause indeed .
Thanks to Dave from Newbury ( http://pbase.com/davey_uk) for taking pictures after I forgot to take our camera !!! So what were my thoughts on the show ….. a good one to attend there was a lot of interaction between all visitors and the clubs , organisation well done , friendly and helpful and one that I will definitely support next year ,I have already booked the same place for Newmod 2012 ..looking forward to it already .

Kev