Sutton Coldfield

18.09.05

This event was held once again this year at the Town Hall in Sutton Coldfield, a most impressive building that at first sight looks like the frontage for a Victorian railway station! Access is not the best from a traders point of view, with a limited frontage, right on a main road, but at least once unloaded there is a car park just across the street that will cost you just 60p for the entire day.

The event is housed in the two main halls, with the competition area in a well lit room right at the front of the building.

There were a great number of clubs attending, even though this year's show clashed with two others in the UK. On the tables were a diverse selection of models, with a good mix of subjects and here are a few that caught my eye.

The Aerobatic Display team Special Interest Group (SIG) always put on a colourful display!

Two nicely finished 1:48 kits, one of the Ki-61 and the other the Spitfire Mk VII, both built from the Hasegawa kits and both, I think, built by the same modeller.

A beautiful selection of 1;48 racing aircraft., all the work of one man, really caught my eye. The P-38L is that flown by Tony Le Vier, the P-39Q is that flown by Alvin Johnson, the Spitfire is a FR MK XIV flown by J.H.R. McArthur and the P-51s are both Bs; the green one is that flown by Bob Oldham, while the red one is Excalibur III, flown by Charles Blair, one-time husband of Maureen O'Hara no less! This latter aircraft is preserved by NASM in the USA.
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A nicely built and weathered Lockheed X-32B seen on the Sutton Coldfield stand

A Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero built from the lovely 1:144 Sweet kit and complete with carrier deck

A Mitsubishi F-2A in 1:48 seen on the Warrington stand

The competition area seemed well attended and here is an overview of what was on display

A from-the-box build of the Trumpeter 1:24 Fw 190D-9

The same goes for this Roden 1:32 Fokker Dr.I

While this 1:32 MiG-29A must have been built from the old Revell kit

This striking Tiger Meet scheme was well executed on this Revell 1:32 Tornado

Tamiya's 1:48 F4U-1 Corsair

No, not 1:32, this is the old Dragon He 162 in 1:48

Accurate Miniatures' 1:48 Ilyushin Il-2

Dragon's 1:48 Gotha Go 229B two-seater

The Kyofu (Rex) made from the 1:48 Tamiya kit I presume?

Nice and simple, but effective, P-51B built from the box with just the addition of Aeromaster decals

Well built and weathered Do 217K-2 built from the Italeri kit in 1:72

The Junkers W.34Hau in 1:72, most likely built from the Special Hobby kit

Two impressive dioramas, both done in 1:144

Whilst in 1:48 there were these two entries in the diorama class; an Albatros D.V (Eduard) and a Bf 109E (Tamiya?)

Thanks
My thanks to all the team at Sutton Coldfield for their warm welcome and for organising such an enjoyable show. It will not be my last visit there and if any of you are interested in next year's event it will be on the 10th September, so book now!

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