The entries   in  the ship categories of the competition at Telford this year  were in  my view of  higher  quality, albeit  down a little on numbers compared to previous years. Highlights were the splendid scratch-built HMS Inflexible and HMS Kangaroo in 1-1000  scale..(!), along with the sublime sum of work for the 1/700 Mare Island Diorama, an appreciation of the work contained within  can be seen here.

The  coaling diorama by David Griffith was most evocative  and beautifully executed! David Griffiths innovative forced perspective   MTB  diorama  defied  attempts to be photographed successfully  at Telford! -Hopefully we shall see this in the gallery soon. Jos Visser and Bruno Gire  both entered  very splendid  models ---both  of whom alas unfortunately entered them   in the wrong categories ... --the small print in the competition rules has caught out  many modellers -including myself..!

Sharp looking models in the smaller scales also from  Mike McCabe, Don McKeand and Mark Slota among many other fine modellers. Eric Dyke submitted two of his entirely scratch-built models  in 1/192  with some fine submarines. Sadly not all the entrants have a photo in this presentation-the reasons for which  was that I was kept very busy  assisting  the press photographers to such an extent that I did not actually get around to shooting the comp models myself!! (Moving and guarding the uncovered ship  models!! ) To this end I must thank  both the professional photographer Jon Godsell along with  Berthold Tacke, editor of the German nagazine’ Modellfan’  for their generosity in permitting me to use  their images.

The only image from the competition that actually  originated from my camera… was that of the Calypso diorama - and even for this image …I must thank my five year old daughter Alexa!! The results of the competition in the ship classes  are as below:

Class 62
GOLD     HMS Winchelsea     Mike McCabe

Class 63
GOLD                      Vladimir Monomakh 1885     Jim Baumann
SILVER                    SMS Planet     Jim Baumann
BRONZE                  HMS Glorious     Maurizio Boverio

Class 64
GOLD                        Scharnhorst     Ulf Lundberg
SILVER                     Bismark     Ulf Lundberg
BRONZE                   Yahagi     Ulf Lundberg
COMMENDED         Takao     Ulf Lundberg
COMMENDED          Suzutsuki     Ulf Lundberg
COMMENDED          Northsea Fishing Trawler     Neal Parsons

Class 65
GOLD                          HMS Manxman     Mike McCabe

Class 66
GOLD                         HMS Diamond     Eric Dyke
SILVER                      HMS Abercombie     Eric Dyke
BRONZE                    HMS Brissenden type IV hunt class     Roy Allen
COMMENDED          USS Vermont BB-20     Bruno Gire

Class 67 
GOLD                            Ko-Hyoteki Type A     Costas Papageorgiou
SILVER                         The Piglet     Giora Kahanov
BRONZE                       German Human Torpedo "Neger"     Lars Brage
COMMENDED              Kilo Class Submarine     Frank Laturnus

Class 68
GOLD                     HMS Iris     Mark Slota
SILVER                  Colonial Merchant Ship, Susan Constant     Stephen Newton

Ship Diorama:
GOLD                        HMS Inflexible & HMS Kangaroo 1918     Andrej Brozyma
SILVER                     We are all in the black gang today     David Griffith
BRONZE                   The Mare Island Naval Shipyard     Bruno Gire, Jean Mahieux
COMMENDED         HMS Ark Royal     Stuart Horley
COMMENDED         Isle of Thanet at Dunkirk Gare Maritime     Mike McCabe
COMMENDED         The hunting party     David Griffith

Special trophy's:
The WHITE ENSIGN AWARD:     "  We are  all in the black gang today"       David Griffith (HMS Indomitable Coaling Diorama )
 
YS MASTERPIECES   Trophy:    USS Saratoga CV 3     Jos Visser

OVERALL SHIP CATERGORY WINNER- BEST SHIP    ‘Vladimir Monomakh       Jim Baumann