Warwick International Model Boat Show
Well the show is over now but what a manic three days. On our arrival late Thursday morning we were greeted with another club setting up camp on the tables allocated to the Wicksteed club and the initial thought that we may well end up under the mezzanine floor again making it the fourth year running and the thought of having to lay ‘Saggita’ the ten foot high 10r yacht on it’s side was too much to contemplate. Becky, one of the Show staff seeing us wandering around looking lost pointed out that there had been a change of plan and we were in fact in one of the three top positions in the hall with a stand about a third as big again as we had planned for but right next to the pool.
Needless to say after the initial elation subsided we realised that the banners would not hang as intended and we would not have enough drapes to cover all the tables and we might not have enough boats for the display, but true to the modelling spirit of the show community Ron Dean seeing we might be in a fix offered some of his models should we need them.
As it turned out the models we had taken when spaced out looked fine and un-cluttered without looking sparce and Maureen found three sheets of the same manufacture and colour as already on the stand on the Friday so we were in business!
Needless to say after the initial elation subsided we realised that the banners would not hang as intended and we would not have enough drapes to cover all the tables and we might not have enough boats for the display, but true to the modelling spirit of the show community Ron Dean seeing we might be in a fix offered some of his models should we need them.
As it turned out the models we had taken when spaced out looked fine and un-cluttered without looking sparce and Maureen found three sheets of the same manufacture and colour as already on the stand on the Friday so we were in business!
On Friday Morning Steve and Nick on behalf of the Wicksteed club presented Phil Abbot with a straight running craft that we all thought would, when restored help him regain his straight running crown from Steph.
There is only so much that can be said about these shows but there was one comment on the lips of all those who took part and represented their club and those members who turned up to support them and that was that they thought that this was the best year ever. For the Wicksteed club the larger stand and position in the hall made all the difference.
We had a good selection models on show as well as a high standard of model building and presentation. Nick, Brian and Tony all put on first class demonstrations on the pool and the commentary on the pool activities was clear and informed.
Our stand position meant that we were almost one of the first stands to be visited by those attending the show and to that end all those manning the stand had a very busy three days, a total of about eighteen hours of talking with other modellers and like minded souls as well as meeting with other clubs and this year we were able to start the 2014 Model Boat Mayhem planning early as all the main players attended the show on Saturday.
For the first time ‘Sagitta’ came together as one, the hull, the masts and the experimental sails. Being nearly ten feet tall and with a keel weighing in at twenty eight pounds she was a monster sitting atop a three foot table and proved to be quite an attraction and generated a lot of interest within the yachting groups and boaters in general. Being built after the war and sailed at the Wicksteed Park Model Yacht Club as it was then, it made her almost a figure head to the whole display. This should and did not however detract from the excellence of the array of fine exhibits on our stand all of which were a lot more practical to take to the lake side than said yacht which has all the makings of a pain in the preverbal for this sixty seven year old but she still remains in my hands even after an offer to purchase at a staggering seven hundred pounds from a dealer who I suspect would have sold it on as an interior design piece in a hotel or the like.
There is only so much that can be said about these shows but there was one comment on the lips of all those who took part and represented their club and those members who turned up to support them and that was that they thought that this was the best year ever. For the Wicksteed club the larger stand and position in the hall made all the difference.
We had a good selection models on show as well as a high standard of model building and presentation. Nick, Brian and Tony all put on first class demonstrations on the pool and the commentary on the pool activities was clear and informed.
Our stand position meant that we were almost one of the first stands to be visited by those attending the show and to that end all those manning the stand had a very busy three days, a total of about eighteen hours of talking with other modellers and like minded souls as well as meeting with other clubs and this year we were able to start the 2014 Model Boat Mayhem planning early as all the main players attended the show on Saturday.
For the first time ‘Sagitta’ came together as one, the hull, the masts and the experimental sails. Being nearly ten feet tall and with a keel weighing in at twenty eight pounds she was a monster sitting atop a three foot table and proved to be quite an attraction and generated a lot of interest within the yachting groups and boaters in general. Being built after the war and sailed at the Wicksteed Park Model Yacht Club as it was then, it made her almost a figure head to the whole display. This should and did not however detract from the excellence of the array of fine exhibits on our stand all of which were a lot more practical to take to the lake side than said yacht which has all the makings of a pain in the preverbal for this sixty seven year old but she still remains in my hands even after an offer to purchase at a staggering seven hundred pounds from a dealer who I suspect would have sold it on as an interior design piece in a hotel or the like.
While there were the usual traders that you would expect to attend such a show were in evidence most of us managed to spend a few bob with some of them and I know that SM Tools were busy with members of the Wicksteed club. Component Shop were just across the isle from us and proved irresistible, and it was noted that Adrian from Speedline was pestering Steve to sell him Steve’s CBM, possibly to copy and reproduce as a kit as he specialises in quirky semi kits like my LCM3 and the turbine powered Bluebird, and I know that one member has ordered a yellow submarine from him for delivery in a couple of weeks.
I managed to pick up a very nice MS Dolphin, all wood construction, with provenance dating it to nineteen fifty six, a really period, typical motor launch with that slightly toy like quality ( that appeals to me) of that era for not a lot of money complete and ready to run. This was on the Howes stand who also had several other second hand boats from the same source. They also had stacks of returns from their mail order dept., for five or ten pounds and even allowing for replacing the electrics would still prove to be a good deal.
Mount Fleet models had a small display of around six kits that they are now producing after the devastating fire at their factory that would have had most lesser mortals throwing in the towel, but the couple that now run that business are made of sterner stuff and just got stuck in to rebuild the company and rebuild the product range. I was pleased to be able to supply them with a kit of the cruiser tug to copy and get back into production as this was one of the models completely lost in the fire.
Ron Dean’s stand was mainly comprised of accessories this year and always seemed to be busy though there was always a lot of talking going on but you seldom go away without buying something from Ron, one of the main players and I hope he won’t mind me saying, characters, of the model boating world not only in the United Kingdom but also world wide.
I managed to pick up a very nice MS Dolphin, all wood construction, with provenance dating it to nineteen fifty six, a really period, typical motor launch with that slightly toy like quality ( that appeals to me) of that era for not a lot of money complete and ready to run. This was on the Howes stand who also had several other second hand boats from the same source. They also had stacks of returns from their mail order dept., for five or ten pounds and even allowing for replacing the electrics would still prove to be a good deal.
Mount Fleet models had a small display of around six kits that they are now producing after the devastating fire at their factory that would have had most lesser mortals throwing in the towel, but the couple that now run that business are made of sterner stuff and just got stuck in to rebuild the company and rebuild the product range. I was pleased to be able to supply them with a kit of the cruiser tug to copy and get back into production as this was one of the models completely lost in the fire.
Ron Dean’s stand was mainly comprised of accessories this year and always seemed to be busy though there was always a lot of talking going on but you seldom go away without buying something from Ron, one of the main players and I hope he won’t mind me saying, characters, of the model boating world not only in the United Kingdom but also world wide.
A real master stroke this year from the Meridienne Exhibitions event team was the invitation to Kitten vo Mew a Burlesque entertainer and singer, to sing a medley of 1940’s songs after the two minute silence on the Sunday morning and throughout the afternoon, it seemed to lift the whole event. For those that study the composition and age spread of clubs in general it will not have gone un-noticed that a very large proportion of the spectators that were sitting around the edge of the pool and those that migrated there when the singing started seemed to know most if not all the words to most of the songs! Evidence enough that we still need to try and encourage more younger members to the hobby and into the clubs.
A big thank you to Steve, Nick, Tony, Brian, Nigel, John and Angela Pates, Rob, Roger and Maureen who manned the display during the event and also to the members who came along to support us and the club.
Well I think I’ve gone on for long enough now to have given those of you that were unable to attend the show an flavour of what went on and hopefully the accompanying pictures will show you that this year was a good one for the Wicksteed Park Club and the model boating scene in general.
As a footnote Tony Newstead is looking for new members to join his Pudding Club! (Don’t ask)
All photo's courtesy of John Pates.
A big thank you to Steve, Nick, Tony, Brian, Nigel, John and Angela Pates, Rob, Roger and Maureen who manned the display during the event and also to the members who came along to support us and the club.
Well I think I’ve gone on for long enough now to have given those of you that were unable to attend the show an flavour of what went on and hopefully the accompanying pictures will show you that this year was a good one for the Wicksteed Park Club and the model boating scene in general.
As a footnote Tony Newstead is looking for new members to join his Pudding Club! (Don’t ask)
All photo's courtesy of John Pates.
Please find a link below to the modelboatmayhem.co.uk website, for more pictures, and videos, taken by Martin Davis.
This video was taken by Martin Davis, club member and tribal elder of Model Boat Mayhem.
That's all for The 2013 International Model Boat Show.