Welling Model show and 'open day', Saturday April 15 2023

 

Welling in south-east London, England, in the borough of Bexley, 'used' to be in the historical county of Kent but is now just part of the huge suburban city sprawl....but it does have a model club and an annual show and 'open day' which a few members of our club attended on Saturday. We headed there on Saturday morning, just 60 miles up the motorway from Canterbury. By 10:00 we had our tables set up and we managed quite a respectable display. I was even tempted to put a few entries into the competition which was a bit of a 'first' for me. There wasn't really much point going up against a scratch-built BE 2a in 32nd scale or Rod Janes' Bristol F2b 'Crocodile' (eventual 'Gold' winner) or even his Junkers D.1 ('Bronze' winner), but still, the point was to support the club. Shame the competition categories were not 'broken down' into scales - Rod might not have won the 72nd scale class after all. In total there were only 67 competition entries, well down on the last 'pre-Covid' show's 200+.  And Medway/East Kent club member Callum's was the only entry in the 'Junior' category. A special shout-out to the bust and figure models from the Faversham club. A few pictures from the event follow.

Your blog host behind our East Kent Modellers table display.

 A selection of club colleague Bob's builds including a couple of superlative Airfix 48th Vampires and an Airfix Blenheim I in Finnish markings. Below these, his T-62 from Tamiya..

 Brush-painted Meng Fokker Dr.1 in 24th scale by David from the Gravesham club. A previous 'Gold' winner at the show..

Rod Janes' WnW  Junkers D.1 (above) and David's brush-painted Eduard D.V in 72nd

A couple of Andy's  Luftwaffe 32nd scale masterpieces

Cast of 'Dad's Army' in bust form by the Faversham club.

'Aircraft' class in the competition. 'Gold' winner was the WnW Bristol F2b and probably the reason why there were so few entries! The checkered masked and painted 'Brisfit' was Rod's 'covid lock-down' project! CSM Caudron was another of Rod's superlative builds...

From the sublime to the ridiculous - Kotare and Beacon Models Spitfire Mk I in 32nd and 144th scales

 

Here are two 'new' model companies that deserve every tiny scrap of 'publicity' going. Both have opted for Spitfires as their first releases to really 'launch' their respective companies.

Kotare is the Mark Robson/Richard Alexander entreprise that has risen 'phoenix-like' from the demise of Wingnut Wings. A beautiful 32nd scale Spitfire I is their first release and thanks to Rod, the East Kent Scale modellers club got the chance to examine the box at a recent club meet. Apologies for the poor lighting.

Beautifully produced handbook/instruction manual. Complete with rigging guide!

Flawlessly molded parts. But a relatively low parts count - only around 140. Resin exhausts  - but no engine. The decal sheet is A-4 size and 'printed in Italy'  - probably Cartograph, but not stated. Did you know that a Cartograph decal sheet in a box costs the model producer as much as the plastic?  This is such a nice package it looks too 'nice' to build  - I'm sure that they will be snapped up by collectors whatever..

But....as much as I wish Kotare well, I do have to point out that RRP at around £95 (certainly in the UK) is as much as a 430-part Airfix 24th scale Spit IX ! 

One of the markings options in the kit is the 234 Sqn machine 'Dirty Dick' forced down by JG 53 during August 1940. 

More reference photos on my 'Jet & Prop' blog here

Moving on to the new Beacon Models  Spitfire Mk I vs Bf  109 E-4 'Dogfight Set' contains a Mk I and an Emil in 1:144th. Model build by Callum. (..and no, I'm not employing the term 'model kit-set' here..ever!)

3-D printed airfield 'dispersal scene' also available.