ModelWarships.com

2005 IPMS UK National show at Telford by Jim Baumann

Once again the 2005 IPMS UK national show--also known as ' Scale world 2005' or to those 'in-the-know' ....simply as Telford.... was held in the Telford International Centre- this year as usual comprising of two vast halls brimming with models and modelers... however the organizers had surpassed themselves this year in that the ever-growing extensive competition section was placed in an equally vast adjoining hall comprising the show entrance, official IPMS organizers/ membership etc tables etc as well as a large, spacious food court serving hot meals, hot and cold snacks, beverages of all kinds, amply supplied with tables and chairs. This meant that tired feet could take a rest, inspect their latest purchases(!) and meet friends over a cup of tea whilst still being 'at-the-show'...

A truly great innovation this year was the young ladies with the tea and coffee trollies, a great bonus for traders and visitors alike who could slake thirst whilst unable (or unwilling!) to leave the fray.... !

As usual at any model show aircraft of all shapes and sizes took up much of the exhibition space, and there were many fine be-winged models on display along with many great model cars, trucks, figures of all descriptions, superb examples of AFV modeling and so much more.

A vast international contingent visited from around the world, I find it always fascinating to hear so many different tongues all managing to converse with each other, successfully(!) about ...models!

Some well known authors of naval books were seen around the show- it must be satisfying for them to see their published research being utilized in a manner with tangible results.

Suppliers of all kind of tools, books and kits were reporting a good trade.

On the shipping front the main traders present were: L'Arsenal, Wiener Modellbau, YS Masterpieces, RC Cammett and of course White Ensign models, resplendent the entire weekend in genuine WW2 Armed Forces uniformed attire...

Each of these main traders had some new items at the show, many long and eagerly awaited!

I hope I have covered the new releases that were there to be seen...

The competition was reasonably well supported, with a number of very fine models being entered, some of which will be familiar to MW readers--I was unable to photograph some of them successfully--apologies if you were left out..! I did not photograph mine--they can be seen on my gallery page any old time..---

The IPMS Special interest groups of battleships and small craft were very well represented this year, with many models being completed specifically for the show.

There were large numbers of fine ship models on display which were not part of the competition--despite spending both days taking innumerable photographs I still now recall some that I missed!

I hope you all enjoy the images here, apologies for some of the dubious quality of pictures, many models were shot through glass or Perspex with consequent distortion of clarity . Some of the models were very small indeed--by the time I had enlarged them the quality of image fell away dramatically-nevertheless |I hope the quality of the models to remain visible!!

If you have any specific queries about any of the models please do not hesitate to PM me!

See you all next year!

JIM BAUMANN