Telford Show - any real news?

[viper494]

Hi all

I was told by someone that it was signed from the M40 i did think it to be a long way off but it was not to much of a problem we had the map,we did not recieve any floor plan from the guy in the RAF outfit at the door he even queried my dads age to which i thought was taking the p...,after all he dose not look as though he was in his 50's.I can't remember the name of the stall marked 25%off but he was by the second hall entrance,i looked at the 1/24 sea harriers he had and they where marked up at £74.99 - 25% =£50.00 this was according to him,so when you put this in conjunction with the prices in the hgh st stores its the same hence your being conned.The whole thing from the start cost me and for what i walked away with was a bit poor to put it mildly.

[GR3A]

i was told that i would find signs from the M40 to the show,it never happened.

Who on Earth told you that??? That'd be like putting up signs for Buckingham Palace as you're leaving Oxford...

Seriously, it was a brilliant show and very well organised. Don't forget that this is probably the biggest show of it's kind in Europe (if not the world) and it's organised by a small group of enthusiastic amateurs. It's not a trade show (with all the money that the professional exhibition producers have at their disposal).

It's a hobby show, run for the pleasure and enjoyment of modellers. On that basis, I think it's quite remarkable!

Well done IPMS(UK).

[viper494]

well it looks like i was told different,as i was lead to believe that this was a trade show and with that in mind it was poor,but if on the other hand it was done by a few enthusiasts then there is room for improvement as i still found the whole thing a little bazar especially the parking,in my book if you organise something then you organise the whole thing not just the bits you like.

[Patrick_Nevin]

Hi

this was my first time going and i found the whole thing to be organised chaos,i was told that i would find signs from the M40 to the show,it never happened.We then got to the M54 and a first sign,so we followed the signs to the place,then after joining a long Q we got to the front only to find that the car park was full,the idiot in charge of the parking should of put the sign out at the entrance to the car park stating that it was full as so not to cause all the fray tempers.Then we about turned and set off for the over spill car park,and yes having not been before there was no signs as to where to go to get to the show entrance,i found the whole thing a bit of a shambles as i had my 75yr old dad with me and he is not in the linford christie league of gentlmen to go climbing hills and mile long walks.When we eventually got into the show the whole thing was all over the place i could not seem to find some of the trade stands and some never even turned up,on walking around the stalls that where there,i found the ones i brought stuff from did not take the plastic this was most inconvenient as i had no cash on me nor did they give much in the way of discount if at all,there was one stand who was claiming to have all his stuff to be at 25% off but when you looked closely the stuff was in no way discounted from the prices shown outside the show in the high st stores.I must say im not going to say any more on the subject other than this was a very huge dissapointment for me as a first time visitor,i will not go again.

P.S. Im only speaking on behalf of myself and my dad and not others.

Cheers Clive.

I guess YMMV but it was our first time too and we had a very different experience. My wife's cheap Sat Nav found the place without a hitch, we did get there early and carry a fair bit of cash just on the general principle that this might have been useful - got good parking and no hassle with the credit cards. We were let in a bit late due to not being IPMS, but this meant we had ample time to be humbled by the assorted amazing work in the 'holding pen': the subtle Ar-234 diorama, brilliant 1/144 F-86, that just...breathless Sunderland Phil J photographed elsewhere, lovely little crashed 109 scene - effectively it was a total assault on the senses and all the more inspiring for it.

When we did get in to the trade section I'm inclined to agree re comments on the general pricing but we did all right, perhaps against the odds :) (Can someone explain to an outsider why anything German/39-45/racy looking now commands furious, ha-ha-you-must-be-kidding pricing?) However I wasn't too bothered as I still was able to justify 163 Komet, 162 Volksjager (to be detailed aping FrereLeO's excellent work here and the engine pics from ARC) and ye olde Matchbox 109E. All in 1/32 with Ed bits to suit. Now all we need is about a hundred years practicing build/paint techniques, to do them justice when they get built.

What was really good though was being advised by other modellers while shopping. Now, thanks to this welcome advice have the Micro Chisel (which I wouldn't have bought otherwise but IS good), that rather neat thin Swann-Morton knife and a Flexi-file (which walked over some otherwise tricky stuff last night.) A very kind gentleman also talked me out of buying a punch/die set in favour of a considerably cheaper improvised solution and for that. many thanks sir!

Plan to go again next year

:D

Patrick

[Julien (UK)]

well it looks like i was told different,as i was lead to believe that this was a trade show and with that in mind it was poor,but if on the other hand it was done by a few enthusiasts then there is room for improvement as i still found the whole thing a little bazar especially the parking,in my book if you organise something then you organise the whole thing not just the bits you like.

Dont know where you got some of your info from but Scale Model World is an Opertunnity for IPMS UK Branches and Special Interest Groups to show off what they have built to other modelrs from the UK and Overseas. Traders are there primarily as they help paying for the hall and its a good opertunity to sell. They are paying to be there so why should they offer a discount? many do to get your trade, also you can get some good second hand deals with branch memners selling there kits.

IPMS UK rent the Telford International centre for the weekend, then centre control when you can set, when stands have to be dismantled, acces to the actual building and car park, and the catering.It is hard enough to organise the stewards needed, the volenteers for taking the money, judging the competion and helping out without having to run a venue.

As far as the guys in RAF uniforms on the door, these were local Air Cadets and they always do a brilliant job helping out. Sorry if your dad was offended. I myself did an hour on the front desk Sunday am and it is difficult to judge if someone is over 60 these days. A couple of "younger" looking gents provied me with ID otherwise I would not have known they were over 65.

Julien

Edited November 20, 2006 by Julien (UK)

[karlwb]

This was our fourth visit to SMW at Telford, and yet again I was very impressed with the way it all went; the SIG's and displays and the traders were all great.

Apart from SMW, we also go to at least two or three other model shows per year and we love them all.

There are a few things that we try to do before we go, to prepare our selves for most eventualities as you don't really know what to expect, that way you are less likely to be disappointed because you miss out on some thing.

1 - Getting there - I always prepare a map and driving instructions before I go, usually detailed enough to get me to the door. I don't have a sat-nav so I rely on a good old map book, pen and paper. So far it's not let me down yet, and I never expect to find any signs pointing me in the right direction. It's also worth doing some instructions to get you home again

Also, make sure that you get there early, or at least on time; especially true for SMW. We try to get there at about 8.30am so I can be fairly confident that I can get a space in the car park - to do that we have to leave our house a 5am as it's about a three to three and a half hour journey.

2 - Payment - never expect to be able to use your plastic. small traders usually don't have the facility to take plastic; the new chip-and-pin/mobile phone tech gadgets that are available now are very expensive even to hire for just the day so they would have to make a lot of sales to make it worth while renting one. A few still have the old machine that takes an imprint of your card on the slips of paper, but I don't know if you can still get these. So I try to cover all of the bases, take your card's, cheque book and most important, cash.

3 - Food - I never expect to be able to find food on site, although I know that the shows I regularly visit do cater. Make sure that you pack your lunch.

4 - Camera - make sure to take your camera; re-charge your batteries (plus spares) and clear out your RAM cards.

Also on top of that I apply my normal journey checks, such as making sure my car's fuel tank is full and the car is in good order; check you tyres, etc.

HTH

Karl

Edited November 20, 2006 by karlwb