Blackpool Model Boat Convention 2017

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

Posted by Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 11/10/2017 19:29:07:

DG you have rather confirmed my impression of you I'm afraid. You say you only buy the magazine occasionally and presumably never grace the shows with your attendance.. So you are a peripheral presence really.

 

I'm not sure why you need confirmation – I've been saying that I think that model boating needs a new direction if it wants to improve its popularity – so you can hardly blame me for not supporting the 'traditional' approach very strongly. My sites are only ever going to be peripheral – a few hundred visitors per month rather than the thousands which a professional site like yours can manage – but at least I am trying to go where the young entrants to the hobby are…

 

P.S – You have seen this story? https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/millennials-need-instructional-video-for-operating-tape-measure

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 11/10/2017 20:10:27

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

'If it wants to improve its popularity.' Who is 'it' when it is at home? Model boating isn't an entity as such. It is just a lot of individuals, often of a certain age, who do their own thing. There is no purposeful identity involved to take things forward in a collective way.

Maybe there was in the past with the MPBA etc. but no longer I'm afraid.

The magazine provides a platform for advancing the cause of model boating and you could consider writing an article to promote the hobby, I'm sure they would be glad to publish it. and it would reach far more modellers than those who frequent the online forums.

It is all too easy to sit on the sidelines saying that this or that should be done but those that do so rarely take any positive action. In the meantime people like myself, Dave Milbourn and others write practical articles which are intended to spark interest and promote the hobby. At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, my article on my Fishery Cruiser Brenda has attracted a surprising amount of interest from readers of he magazine who love the design of the model and will hopefully inspire others to do something similar. Publication in Model Boats reaches a far greater audience than posts on an internet forum.

You have been promoting EeZeBilt models for some years now but only on the internet forums, I am not aware of anything appearing on either of the two model boating magazines which would have reached a far wider readership. The opportunity is still there with Model Boats.

Colin

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

Posted by Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 11/10/2017 20:42:14:….

It is all too easy to sit on the sidelines saying that this or that should be done but those that do so rarely take any positive action. ………my article on my Fishery Cruiser Brenda has attracted a surprising amount of interest from readers of he magazine who love the design of the model and will hopefully inspire others to do something similar.

You have been promoting EeZeBilt models for some years now but only on the internet forums, I am not aware of anything appearing on either of the two model boating magazines which would have reached a far wider readership. The opportunity is still there with Model Boats.

Colin

Hmm… given that I have regularly argued that model boat data and plans ought to be freely available, it would be a little inconsistent to write for a commercial magazine, and I hope I can't be accused of not putting my money (or lack of it) where my mouth is. Besides, I have seen a couple of EeZeBilt articles appearing in your esteemed publication – an occasion when I even bought a copy!

However, I do wonder why a discussion on problems with the model boat hobby and how they might be addressed turns into a discussion of my undoubted failings – which are hardly the issue here.

Your Brenda is undoubtedly an attractive boat, with a wealth of detail, and perfectly finished. But, alas, not an easy subject for the EeZeBilt treatment. Even if I had the skill (which I don't) I suspect that newcomers to the hobby will be looking for something simple but striking. Here is a preview of the latest EeZeBilt – INS Nipat, which will be coming off the stocks in a month or two:

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Here is a preview of the latest EeZeBilt – INS Nipat, which will be coming off the stocks in a month or two:

This could be the model that the world is waiting for – but the world will never find out while you hide it away in a dark corner of the Internet. Unlike you to be shy, DG – but then again we don't even know who you are. I'm still struggling with the concept of a bloke who never visits model shows, seldom buys a magazine and gets most of his modelling stuff over the Internet offering the solution to the decline of the hobby…

It's certainly not leading by example.

DM

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

Actually, DM, it's the model the Indians are waiting for – I don't know about the rest of the world… see, for example, **LINK**

It's very like me to be shy – I seldom go out, and then only in disguise! And I certainly neither want to be a leader, nor claim to offer a solution… both quite exposed positions!! All I wanted to do was to get people talking and thinking about how to improve Model Boating's position in the hobby pantheon – and getting pictures on Facebook seems a wonderful idea.

Incidentally, several hits on my websites come from things called 'Facebook Tags' – whatever they are….

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

I was speaking to Iain Lewis earlier today and he told me that the show is now FULL. He has had to increase the size and number of tables from what was planned to cater for all the club and trade stands. Shame it's a 280-mile round trip for me. Still, there's Warwick in a month.

DM

[CookieParticipant @cookie15923]

That,s great news Dave , cant wait till the show , maybe we will bump into each other at Warwick.,

Dave

[CookieParticipant @cookie15923]

It,s ok for some people who dont like to meet fellow model boaters and prefer to just sit in front of a screen ,but for me and many others the shows are not only a place to go and see loads of models and buy our goodies but also meet people who you only talk to on the forums , This year at Haydock i meet loads of people inc Paul T and Captain Bob we had a good chat and laugh ,then meet DM at Coalville for a chat .

Regards Dave

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Dave/Kevin

I shall be on or around the Component Shop stand at Warwick for most of the Saturday, where I shall also be meeting our Swedish correspondent over from Belgium, the incomparable Mattias 'Banjoman' Hallin. Who knows? I'm pretty sure that Admiral Sir Colin Bishop will be there at some time and Paul Freshney might even break the habit of the last three years and come to say hello! "Gribeauval" Mike Pendlebury is usually to be found near a lifeboat along with The Boy Wonder, who consistently threatens to out-model him. Be aware that the admission on the door is a tenner unless you're an elderly 'concession', so book ahead on-line and save a quid. There's plenty of free parking on site and, to top it all, I'm told that the steak pie and chips in the cafeteria is sublime…
See you there. **LINK**

Dave M

[Paul FreshneyParticipant @paulfreshney24971]

Dave M

Warwick:

Alas. I am going on the Friday with my good friend John Elliott as GP daughter and grandson descend on us for the weekend for his birthday. I am pushing it a bit for the Friday, but Warwick was on the calendar first!

Colin is I think going on Saturday to do a report for MB and Graham Ashby – my successor – is going as well, but I do not know when.

Free parking – yes – but if it has been raining, take an extra pair of shoes or boots, as the car park is a 'prepared' field.

Food is always good at Warwick and reasonably priced.

Paul F.

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

As Dave M. says, I shall indeed be at the Warwick show on the Saturday, but fear ye not: no weapon of mass distraction will be brought along – just the "man" part of the nick but not the banjo …

I've also had a rummage up in the attic, and found not only my box of curios from younger years but also the one remaining ship from my old c. 1980 naval wargames fleet mentioned earlier in the thread:

As you can see, not the most well-built or carefully finished ship in the history of our hobby, but there it is. About 14 cm long and 12 mm or so at its widest. My knowledge of warships of the 20th century is rather limited (my true interest was always strictly civilian), so I could not even begin to undertake an attempt at identification. Underneath, I've written "New Orleans", but that might very likely have been a made-up name based on my interest in N.O. jazz rather than a reference to the New Orleans-class cruisers, which it does not at all look like anyway. I seem to recall that we made these ships from some sort of plans, but 37 or so years on the details elude my memory …

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 12/10/2017 21:22:58

Edited By Banjoman on 12/10/2017 21:23:24

Edited By Banjoman on 12/10/2017 21:23:51

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

That looks like the cruiser HMS Enterprise which was fitted with an experimental twin 6 inch forward mounting to be fitted in later 6 inch gunned cruisers. I'm certain of it.

Colin

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Thank you, Colin! A quick, wee image google seems to pretty much confirm that, and I’m well impressed by your speedy and accurate identification!

Also, according to Wikipedia, that particular HMS Enterprise was 170 meters long, while 14 cm at 1:1200 would correspond to 168 meters, which pretty much settles the question of which scale we used. And if the model is that close to a real ship, we must indeed have been using plans to build from – maybe out of a book of 1:1200 waterline models?!

Anyway, many thanks once more for the ident!

Mattias

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Topic tidied up.

Colin

[CookieParticipant @cookie15923]

Had a great time at the show ,i was talking to one trader who said it was the best show of the year so far by a long way,the atmosphere was really buzzing ,well done to Lain and Stavros for their efforts and all the clubs and traders who made the effort and attended .

Dave

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