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THE DATE

November 22nd & 23rd 2003

THE PLACE

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE, TELFORD, SHROPSHIRE

THE REPROBATES

WHITE ENSIGN MODELS!!

This year's IPMS (UK) Nationals was up to the usual standard, with some stunning models on display.  Unfortunately none of us got a good chance to get away from the stand and take many photo's, but Jim Baumann has promised us copies of his, which I'll add as soon as they arrive.  For now, we'll give you a brief look from the WEM point of view.  If you do want a more general overview, take a look at Brett Green's video at http://www.scaleworkshop.com/workshop/video16bg_1.htm

As usual we set up the stand Friday afternoon and were pretty much ready for the onslaught on Saturday morning.  The rugby World Cup seemed to smooth the flow of people a little, with a more even attendance over the two days this year, which meant we were quite busy the whole weekend, instead of run off our feet on Saturday and reasonably quiet on Sunday, which is often the case.  This year the stand was staffed by the usual suspects (Caroline, John, Frankie, Peter Hall and myself), plus Helmut Latoschinski, who joined us from Germany.  Following the feedback regarding John and Frankie's efforts in the past, we all decided to don uniforms this year,  except for Peter, who found that his had apparently and inexplicably shrunk in the wardrobe!  He's promised to fix this for next year, but whether this will involve drastic dieting or tailoring, we are as of yet unsure.  Anyway, here are the crew photos (click on them for full size piccies).

Helmut and Dave discuss the relative merits of the Bismarck class and the Sherman Firefly.  Dave maintained that the Sherman won hands down on account of it was easier to get to the pub in it.

Caroline, Helmut, John and Peter discuss who buys the first round when they get there.  You'll notice Dave has slipped away by this stage.  Caroline's hair was later lifted off the collar in regulation manner following some friendly advice from Yeoman Snyder....well, friendly compared to a Rottweiller with piles, I suppose.

Caroline admiring John's huge weapon.  Dave has to make do with .38".

And finally, our caption competition, featuring Frankie and John (printable entries only please).

Actually, Frankie was sewing on a fly button that had come adrift, but let's not let the truth get in the way of a good story!

We thought the uniforms would just provide a little interest for customers and add a bit of colour to the stand, but the response was fantastic.  A number of people remarked on how it made the stand look smart and professional, and it meant we were easily recognisable throughout the weekend, which led to a few customers being able to find our stand or ask advice while we were away from the stand.  Net result, we'll do it again next year!

Helmut was brave enough to bring over with him his 1/400 Scharnhorst, heavily modified from the Heller kit, which drew many admiring looks over the two days.  A scratchbuilt fuel lighter and supply barge added nicely to the diorama.

A few close-ups give some idea of the effort that went into this build.

He also brought over his 1/72 Arado 196, sitting on the WEM photo-etched Kriegsmarine catapult.  We have to admit though that he had super-detailed it to the nth degree, and put it onto a scratchbuilt section of superstructure (so please don't expect it to build up like this straight out of the envelope!).

Peter Hall brought along his 1/350 USS Yorktown to display on the stand.  As this build features elsewhere on the site, I'll limit myself to a couple of close-ups of the flightdeck.

The White Ensign Models Trophy for best ship model went to Mark Slota with his fantastic 1/350 60 gun 4th rater, HMS Centurion.  Unfortunately, we were unable to present Mark with the trophy due to a foul-up over the time of the award ceremony, so many apologies to him over that one, but nevertheless our heartfelt congratulations on a stunning piece of modelling.  Bear in mind we are talking 1/350 scale here!

Our commiserations to Jim Baumann, a number of who's entries were not judged due to a misunderstanding regarding the judging criteria, but all those that saw them will appreciate they were up to the usual Baumann standard.

For those of you who have never visited the UK IPMS Nationals, here are a couple of photo's that will give you a feel for what it's like.  These were taken looking in both directions at one of the two halls that make up the event.

Jim Baumann has been kind enough to supply us with his photo's of the competition entries, so take a look.

As some of Jim's ships ended up not getting judged, I've added JB's Showcase, so you can feast your eyes on some of his vast collection of model ships.