The International Model Boat Show - Warwick 2012
Well, another year has gone by and the Club was back at The International Model Boat Show at the Warwick Exhibition Centre for the 2012 show.
Our stand size had been increased by sixty per cent on last year but was still in the same position, half under the mezzanine floor that houses the restaurant, but on balance that position has it’s advantage. When talking to some of visitors who were circling the stand many, having just arrived at the show and on their way for a coffee found them selves doing a complete tour of our stand. They had been attracted by Bob West’s Cable Layer and the sheer variety of models on display did the rest.
For those of you that were unable to attend the show I’ll just give you a taste of the models on display on our stand. As I have said Bob’s enormous Cable Layer sat on the back corner dwarfing my two 1:72 scale S100 Schnellboots sitting next to Nigel Marriott’s Russian ‘1164 Atlant’ a build in progress and a showcase for Nigel’s scratch building skills.
Our stand size had been increased by sixty per cent on last year but was still in the same position, half under the mezzanine floor that houses the restaurant, but on balance that position has it’s advantage. When talking to some of visitors who were circling the stand many, having just arrived at the show and on their way for a coffee found them selves doing a complete tour of our stand. They had been attracted by Bob West’s Cable Layer and the sheer variety of models on display did the rest.
For those of you that were unable to attend the show I’ll just give you a taste of the models on display on our stand. As I have said Bob’s enormous Cable Layer sat on the back corner dwarfing my two 1:72 scale S100 Schnellboots sitting next to Nigel Marriott’s Russian ‘1164 Atlant’ a build in progress and a showcase for Nigel’s scratch building skills.
Moving a little further on there was a cluster of well presented small boats, Bob Baker’s scratch built French customs launch, Patrick’s “London” Tug and Kath Rice’s trawler ‘Lord Suffolk’ with my Snowberry, a Revell kit conversion in front. Both the Snowberry and the Schnellboots attracted a lot of attention as they had been converted to RC and have all been sailed on our lake at Wicksteed Park. I will repeat here as I did at the show and on the show cards that while I own the models they were built and the RC conversions carried out by Dave Abbott for reviews in the Model Boat Magazine.
Any short review such as this cannot do justice to the next collection of boats, electric motors, I.C engines and Radio equipment from the distant past. Dennis Hubble and Dennys Warren put on this quite amazing display. Thankfully Dennys Warren was on hand for two days of the show to help many of the visitors back down memory lane when they had questions about his radio gear and the working display of electrical and mechanical servo equipment as well as talking about his I.C. powered ‘Cachalot’ scratch built in the 1960’s and still smelling of castor, suffice to say they were a crowd puller. Dennis Hubble’s display of toy boats sat to the right of a glass case filled with a unique collection of I.C. engines, very early electric motors and electric model outboard engines, again a crowd puller.
Moving further round we had three of Dennis’s boats, ‘1640’ RAF safety launch, tug ‘Imara’,e Sea Queen ‘Misty Blue” and then ‘Gin Palace’ the ‘Keith Carey Shield’ winner for 2012. Brian Hart’s well presented tug ‘Confiance’ was next in line and drew a lot of comments for its clean lines and detail.
Right on the corner was my LCM 3 Landing craft with ramp down and M16 ready to disembark. It was confirmed at the show by the kit manufacturer Speedline, that this was the first model to be made, and sailed with all functions working.
Next in line were two boats from our very own Bob Maggs.
The first was HMS ‘Rushen Castle’ a Castle class frigate and alongside ‘Clan Ross 3’ a Clan Ross cargo liner. Both these boats were presented in the manner that we have come to expect of Bob.
Following on were two very different and quirky boats exhibited by our Chairman Steve Brown though the subjects are not unusual from that stable. The first was HMS ‘Gnat’, while Steve built the hull, all the rest is the handywork of his son Nick, who, being posted to the Falkland Islands with the RAF was unable to attend the show this year.
The second boat again scratch built entirely by Steve this time was the Coastal Motor Boat ‘213’, both these boats are work in progress though they are both nearing completion.
Almost completing our tour of the stand for this year come two offerings from John Pates, The first being a very well built ‘U-47 submarine built from a Robbe kit and has had many outings on the Wicksteed Park lake as has his second boat on display, a Huntsman ‘31’ again a lovely build and fast on the water.
Arnold Franklin’s Steam Launch ‘Bat’ attracted a lot of attention from the visitors probably because Arnold has taken two years to build her and with the exception of a few small castings for the twin cylinder steam plant and the flag on the back is all scratch built, that includes the boiler.
My Marten Howes and Baylis steam launch ‘Topaz’ with it’s Peter Baylis Triple cylinder engine almost concludes the tour with Robert Mitchell’s ‘Thames River Launch’ being the ‘tail end Charlie’. There is the possibility that this boat is one of only two in existence since the plans were given to a builder in New Zealand, but little else is known about it.
The high standard of all the exhibits on our stand at this years exhibition is a reflection of the kind of members that week in, week out make this Club what it is, one of the best.
All the pictures of our stand were taken by John Pates and the narrative by Paul Millers.
Almost completing our tour of the stand for this year come two offerings from John Pates, The first being a very well built ‘U-47 submarine built from a Robbe kit and has had many outings on the Wicksteed Park lake as has his second boat on display, a Huntsman ‘31’ again a lovely build and fast on the water.
Arnold Franklin’s Steam Launch ‘Bat’ attracted a lot of attention from the visitors probably because Arnold has taken two years to build her and with the exception of a few small castings for the twin cylinder steam plant and the flag on the back is all scratch built, that includes the boiler.
My Marten Howes and Baylis steam launch ‘Topaz’ with it’s Peter Baylis Triple cylinder engine almost concludes the tour with Robert Mitchell’s ‘Thames River Launch’ being the ‘tail end Charlie’. There is the possibility that this boat is one of only two in existence since the plans were given to a builder in New Zealand, but little else is known about it.
The high standard of all the exhibits on our stand at this years exhibition is a reflection of the kind of members that week in, week out make this Club what it is, one of the best.
All the pictures of our stand were taken by John Pates and the narrative by Paul Millers.
Other Stands From Around The Show
The rest of the exhibition would take too long to describe though a skilled journalist would do it in one hundred words. I will just comment on the stands that I found helpful and were either new to the show or has something a little different. The pictures that accompany this review are from the many club stands that attended the show.
I know that several of us purchased kits from the I. P. Engineering stand, I have dealt with this firm for many years having bought their wood and plywood garden railway rolling stock kits and know the quality of their products. In the boating world they offer, I believe from the original plans the classic ‘Wavemaster’ , now in two sizes, the Sea ‘Hornet’, ‘Nymph’, ‘Urchin’, ‘Scout’ and ‘Sea Breeze’. There is also a small ‘Mr Tom’. All these kits comprise of lazer cut ply parts still in the frets and instructions. Really nice and simple kits that when built will perform well on the water. They also supply a number of cast fittings.
Speedline models, well known for their 1:12 scale life boats were showing off a 1:16 scale moulding set for the Blue Bird K7, the completed model on the stand was fitted with a turbine. Also on the stand was the, now in production LCM 3 landing craft as built by myself, though with variations as befits the class.
A stand you just can’t miss is Component Shop run by Iain and Natasha, for batteries, chargers, LED’s and electronic accessories. It has been announced in the model press and at the show that Action Electronics have sold out to Component Shop though Dave Milburn will still be helping out in the background for a while to come on a part time basis
Mountfleet models has changed hands, so Sue Hinchcliffe bows out after several years at the helm, though I did not have a chance to talk to the new owners. They still have a very large range of boat available to the builder.
What can you say about Prop Shop, probably the best manufacturer of model boat Propellers on the market today, Simon is still running the company and was available to sort out all your problems and was able to supply Dennis Hubble and me with props that will make our vintage replicas with their brushless motors fly.
There were many stands that warranted a visit but really too many to list here, but most can be contacted via the modelling press or the internet.
What can you say about Prop Shop, probably the best manufacturer of model boat Propellers on the market today, Simon is still running the company and was available to sort out all your problems and was able to supply Dennis Hubble and me with props that will make our vintage replicas with their brushless motors fly.
There were many stands that warranted a visit but really too many to list here, but most can be contacted via the modelling press or the internet.
No more to be said then, another successful show for the Club and a big vote of thanks from the Committee to all those who exhibited and attended.
All pictures from around the show were taken by Bob West and the review by Paul Millers.
All pictures from around the show were taken by Bob West and the review by Paul Millers.