A great show and a great week-end was had by all at the IPMS Nationals in Telford (8- 10th November). Large numbers were in attendance, business appeared to be brisk among the trader tables, and I gather the competition entries reached a record high of over 1,500! All very fitting given that this year was the 50th Anniversary – what a way to celebrate half a century! As always, it was very professionally run (by volunteers!) and they put on one hell of a show. In my book, it’s a modelling show that you want to keep coming back to again and again. There’s just so much to see and everyone is so friendly and giving of their time that it’s difficult to cover it all in a week-end.  The bulging SIG (Special Interest Groups) tables are a dreaded reminder of just how limited some of us are in terms of modelling skills, such was the quality and volume on display. My first and favourite “port of call” is always at the table of the guys from “Les Garagistes”.  This year they celebrated their 10th Anniversary with a Silver award for their “10 X 10” display featuring each of their ten best models from the last decade – and all were absolutely breathtaking! And if that wasn’t enough, their very own Mike Easter went and won Gold (on the competition tables) with his MFH Lotus 56 Turbine. Top award in the modelling competition was what appeared to be a scratch-built model of a stunning Steampunk Bugatti Tesla Magnetic Levitation prototype which was a superb piece of modelling (by I believe the same guy who won last year – sorry not sure of the name) and it was at least 1/12 – 1/8 scale. As I mentioned earlier, the number of entries broke all records and consequently, trying to get round the competition hall (to get some decent photo’s) was extremely difficult – hence the scarcity of images in my post! In summary, the report from Telford is that the Scale Model World show is in “rude good health” and continues to go from strength to strength – roll on 2014!
The Guys from Les Garagistes:
Best of Show:
Some of the 1:1 displays:
