The Little World

What do you show of yourself when you make a tabletop display for the big local scale model exhibition?

I don’t mean what model do you show – that’ll either be something you’ve slaved on for the last year or something you made aeons ago. I mean what are you selling when you are not selling?

I showed a one-table airfield; Luftplatz Strelsau. It was the flying field of the Ruritanian airlines in Strelsau with a number of authentic models of airliners of the late 1940’s. Anyone who questions the authenticity should consult Anthony Hope. I was delighted with the thing as it arrived unbroken to the hall and left in the same condition – that has not always been the case in the past.

As a part of my Saturday fortnight club, I assisted with promoting the idea of photo backdrops that people could use to take their own scale model photographs. The idea was good, as the photos could be done very well with the ubiq-uitous mobile phone. There was also an advertisement for studio photo services that attracted several genuine punters.

My weekly Tuesday club had a separate stand with a ring of models completed this year. Many of these were good visual attractions as they were aircraft in the larger 1:32 scale. Large tanks in 1:16 also featured at the front of the stand. It may sound crude to tout size as attraction, but the truth of the matter is the walking and gawking public respond to it.

They also respond well to signage and graphic design. The stands that had these got the most visitors, and kept them engaged long enough for the enthusiasms of the exhibitors to get a chance. You gotta make them stop and read a sign to make them look more closely.

The Science Fiction stand never fails to attract the public vote on the basis of imagination and colour. They, too, are wise when they build larger models and light them up. If they can tie their display in to popular motion picture or television screen material the viewers have a readier reaction.

One unique display this year reminded me of a model railway setup. It was a blast furnace building an associated vehicles and supply lines. Here the use of coloured lighting made everyone stop and look closely.