MODELKRAFT SHOW 2013: A FEAST OF SCALE TALENT ON DISPLAY

MAT IRVINE:
The UK-based Milton Keynes Scale Model Club held its annual ModelKraft Show recently, and there were thousands of beautifully-finished miniatures on display.


General view of the ModelKraft main hall (below) reveals a mass of models, and plenty of visitors.

The smaller exhibition area (below) on the first floor, with the main hall visible through windows at the back.

Friend of SMN, and co-organiser of the HaMeX model events, Paul Fitzmaurice’s trade stand (below) was packed with model accessories - and every item on it is transported to and from shows in his Skoda Roomster minivan, which he packs and unpacks with millimetric precision. Paul has also set up the newest model club in the area, details at his website. Visit Paul here.

You can’t have too many Phantoms… despite its antiquity (first flight 55 years ago!) the cranked-wing F-4 is still a major draw with aviation fans and modellers alike.

A neatly-presented 1:25 scale AMT 1965 Lincoln Continental (below) completed with one of the kit’s options, a station wagon back.

Just to prove that model-making need not be all about planes, ships and automobiles, this intriguing diorama was built using a combination of three Airfix skeleton kits and imagination.

Below, part of the club stand of the organisers, the Milton Keynes Scale Model Club.

You never know who you might see at these sorts of events. Who would have thought that Lord Vader himself was a model enthusiast? Well, having rampaged around a galaxy far, far away, and a long time ago, he probably needs to relax these days with a quiet hobby…

A turntable presentation (below) for this AMT Ford Pinto, newly rebuilt from when he first made it years ago, by Harrow Model Club member, Jon Rackham.

A giant-size 1:32 scale English Electric Lightning (below) built from the Trumpeter kit. This is the version fitted with overwing fuel tanks, intended to increase the range of this notoriously thirsty interceptor.

The Airfix 1:24 scale Sea Harrier is always a favourite. The kit may be some years old, but in the hands of a skilled modeller, it still stacks up well.

ModelKraft attracts clubs from across the UK. Here is the table (below) from the IPMS Swindon Branch. 2013 is the 50th anniversary of the UK IPMS, and it will be celebrated at Scale ModelWorld in November, 2013 at the Telford International Conference Centre.

Someone seems to know his science-fiction artwork, as this wrecked spacecraft resembles the sort of thing that book-jacket illustrator Chris Foss was painting back in the 1970s.

* SMN notes: 
The Formula 1 model car display attends Automodellismo on Mat Irvine’s home territory. Auto 3 will be held this coming Sunday - for details of this full-size and small-size show in Hanslope village, click here.


A selection of science-fiction stuff from the International Plastic Modellers Society (IPMS) SF Special Interest Group (SIG) will be at the HaMeX smallspace event on July 7, 2013.

SALUTE TO RAY CUSICK, CREATOR OF THE DOCTOR WHO DALEKS

Raymond Cusick, the production designer behind Doctor Who’s Dalek enemies, has died aged 84. He worked on the BBC TV science-fiction series from 1963 to 1966.


Screenwriter Terry Nation (1930-97) wrote the episode of Doctor Who in which the Daleks made their entrance, but it was Ray Cusick who arrived at the final look, complete with eyestalk, sucker arm, and exterminator armament.

Lunchtime inspiration
In a 2008 episode of the Doctor Who Confidential TV show, Ray Cusick explained that inspiration for the Dalek design came during a lunch with special effects expert Bill Roberts, who was responsible for making the mecha-monsters. Apparently, Ray picked up a pepper pot and moved it around the table before saying, “It's going to move like that - no visible means.”

Chief enemy
Daleks have remained essentially unchanged in appearance over the half-century since they first appeared, and are still the best-known of the Doctor's enemies, and have had a new lease of life since the show's 2005 revival. Tom Spilsbury, editor of Doctor Who Magazine, has hailed Ray Cusick's design as ‘timeless’, and we have to agree with that.

And of course, the Dalek call to “Exterminate” has become something of a cultural meme, especially in the UK. Our pictures here were taken at the 2012 smallspace model show, which featured life-size Daleks moving in the streets outside, and as you can see, Imperial Stormtroopers were out in force, and Doctor Who's robodog companion K-9 was snuffling around, too.

Other TV shows
Apart from Doctor Who, Ray Cusick worked on other British TV shows, including the cop series Z Cars, Dr Finlay's Casebook and the historical drama, The Forsyte Saga.

To see Daleks for real, make a date in your diary for the 2013 smallspace model show, which will be held on July 7. 

More SMN Daleks here.

Dalek models, kits and collectibles available here.

INCOMING - HAMEX 4 MODEL EXPO DUE SUNDAY

SMN PREVIEW:
The sales tables are booked, club stands organized, hot sandwiches on order, models good to go... Yes, it’s HaMeX again, this time the fourth in the annual event series. For anyone living in reach of the Milton Keynes area in the UK, this is the model zone to head for this coming Sunday.

As usual, the two organizers will be there, with Mat Irvine displaying his many models, and Paul Fitzmaurice demonstrating airbrushes and other modelling equipment.

More kits on show
In Mat’s words, “the HaMeX show is invariably less 'things-to-see driven’, compared with Automodellismo and smallspace, as it is intended purely as a swap meet. However I'm aiming to have even more kits there than usual - some 'new old' ones have been dug out, including a range of 1:20 scale cars and I have more 'fix-er-uppers'.

More from Mat
“I will have some models on display (as it's in the publicity...!), but exactly what I've yet to decide. It won't - necessarily - be FX stuff, hence the poster just says 'model display', not 'effects model display'! I'm not saying no FX models will be there, just don't want to be specific!”

Lucky dip
So the show looks like an interesting lucky-dip of good stuff. We’ll be reporting on what actually appears week. Meantime, the pictures of HaMeX 3 should whet your appetite.

Visit HaMeX here for details on all shows. 

Paul Fitzmaurice online here.

MORE FANTASY AND SCI-FI MODELS ON SHOW

 Here's the second of our two catch-up photo-reviews of the 'smallspace' modelfest held earlier this year. As with yesterday's selection, be very impressed with the quality of workmanship on display.


And again, there are more to enjoy at Starcruzer* the site with the tagline 'From Earth to Infinity'.

Not strictly a sci-fi subject (below) as it's a state of the art UCAV drone, complete with section of tarmac. But the robotic aircraft looks futuristic enough to earn its keep in this lineup.

And here's a couple of excellent AFV models, included for variety, and because they simply look so good...

MORE FROM SMALLSPACE - THUNDERBIRDS PUPPETS FROM DUNCAN WILLIS

The smallspace show displayed UK science-fiction models at their best. And for nostalgic fans of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation TV shows, the puppets of Duncan Willis took some beating.

Early TV shows

Duncan is seen above, with three of his replicas, Steve Zodiac, Lady Penelope, and the chauffeur Parker. In Duncan’s words: “I am a lifelong fan of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation shows, with my first proper memory being of watching Fireball XL5 on TV, although I can just about remember watching Torchy, a Torchy annual being one of my most-read bedtime books.”

Early Anderson inspiration

Torchy the Battery Boy was the second TV series produced by Gerry Anderson. Fifty-two 13-minute episodes were made, for airing in 1958-1959. Predating Torchy were the Adventures of Twizzle, the very first Anderson series.

  

Recycled materials

Duncan adds: “I have been making puppet replicas for around six years, and like to make scratch-built props for them to sit on/in. The props are mostly made from recycled waste materials which I get from friends in the building trade. I am presently hoping to make a living as a self-employed model-maker.”

For more information, visit Duncan Willis at his Facebook site, Superpropreplication.

SMALLSPACE - MODEL SHOW REPORT

The new model show smallspace was a huge success - outside the hall, Daleks rampaged the streets, while inside model-makers showed off their skills.

Thunderbirds are Go

Gerry Anderson’s famed puppet and live action TV series were a popular subject at smallspace, so here’s a first burst of pix, to give you an idea of the beautifully made models on display.

More to come

There’ll be more to come throughout this week - enjoy!

Neat 6-wheel Rolls-Royce, with Lady Penelope under the wide canopy.

Tasty red markings sported by Thunderbird 3.

The Meta probe (above) looked a serious design for a deep-space craft.

Plenty of Thunderbirds collectibles and models available here.

FROM POLITE ROBO-DOG TO SNARLING KILLER-CANINE - DOCTOR WHO K-9 UPGRADE

SMALLSPACE COUNTDOWN:

The smallspace “model show for all things space, science fiction and fantasy” will be held this Sunday, July 1, and among the sci-fi stars on display will be the original K-9 robot dog from Doctor Who.

Old and new robots

The robotic dog stars at smallspace courtesy Mat Irvine (above), who has also co-written with Mike Tucker the seminal book BBC VFX. K-9 at smallspace is the original dog, but a newer one was created for an Australian TV series. Here are a couple of pix from the TV series, and note how advanced our canine mechanoid now looks.

Detail-up model

There are plenty of K-9 collectibles around, but injection kits are hard to come by, that’s for sure, so for model-makers the best bet is to start with a ready-built, then use it as the basis for a superdetailed display model. Kit-bashing from the ground up is another possibility, and if you go this route, then something entirely new might be an interesting route to take.

Deadly dog

The Sydney-based visual effects designer Nick Kaloterakis could provide inspiration, as his website features an excellent concept for a 21st century robodog, and very nasty it looks, too. It’s not just an autonomous mechanoid, but has been seriously weaponized, to become an attack dog, rather than the polite and cerebral K-9. 

Movie worker

Nick Kaloterakis has worked on movie blockbusters such as Transformers, so his robodog slots neatly into that gritty and modish genre. Nick’s images here are intended as ideas-generators, rather than examples of anything you can go out and buy, more’s the pity - but we can hope, and meantime it’s a project for kit-bashers to think about.

Visit the hugely talented Nick Kaloterakis at his Kollected website here.

Look at a radio-control K-9 here.

Other Doctor Who collectibles here.

Check out the smallspace show here.

Look inside Mat and Mike's BBC VFX here.

Mike Tucker (left) and Mat Irvine with BBC VFX book and Dalek