I made my usual trip to beautiful Melbourne in early June to sample the usual delights of Expo and wandering around Melbourne. It was a slightly truncated version but good nonetheless. On arrival it was a wet grey day but this cleared by the early afternoon. Melbourne for me is a mix of ritual and randomness. I usually start with Hearns and spend very little there, this year it was Schonerts Ju 88G from Hasegawa. This thing is festooned with radar aerials and I intend to whif it with a few more just for fun. Rumour has it that Hearns is for sale, admittedly I was asked three times within a few minutes if I needed help so I think times are a little tough.
Next stop was the little group of shops under Flinders Street station. These rather quirky shops with quirky opening hours are a holdover that have long ago left Sydney. One of these spaces used to be a shop but for many years has been an art space. The obligatory busker was also on hand.
On to Vic Hobby which is now owned by the son in law of the Frontline owner, so its still in the family. Another reno here and looking more like the Newcastle store every day except it is much more hobby orientated. I bought something here but not much.
Various perambulations led me through some food and rest to checking out some old buildings. Melbourne’s rep for good food and outdoor dining is still well and truly alive.
Buildings with quirky directory boards
Old style directions
And old style offices
And decoration styles
Eventually wound up in the Block Arcade to see this sign on a new age shop
Obviously the magic isn’t working that well!
The day was rounded out with a visit to Showcase Models to pick up a 1/35 Marder from a Russian company with packaging reminiscent of Novo and a Ju87 book from Hylands. This is another store that seems quieter these days. Then again this trend is universal today, there are less second hand bookshops in Melbourne CBD these days. As for Sydney Elizabeths is the last one left and its a bit out of the way which is the only way it is surviving. Twenty five years have certainly cut bookshop numbers in Sydney, it used to take me all day to wander through them all, now there are way too few.
Saturday was the usual early morning lift to Expo with John, catching up on events and getting ready for Expo. Arriving early allows me to have a good look around and I bought a Panzerwrecks 13, a tank weathering book and no models. Being the defacto resin expert I ended up fixing up the u/c pitot tube etc on a kit that John had bought in. It always amazes plastic modellers how slow and careful this process is but experience is a great teacher.
Noticeable at Expo was the reduced number of entries with the lack of interstate competitors being cited as one reason, another popular one was the tight knit group of regular winners being associated more with the organisers. Possible solutions suggested were to introduce a Masterclass category and a non competition class. The latter is done at Wollongong and seems to draw a reasonable number of entries. Of course some were proclaiming the end but I am more inclined to think that demographics are also an issue, there are less modellers and we are all getting older. Undef 40 modellers are an anomaly now.
Overall Best of Show was a truck so I really didn’t notice this one. Peoples Choice was a sub which was very nice and hopefully photos of this will appear below. I also got to the show on Sunday and this early start enabled me to get anything I had missed. The usual social nature of this event was present so I got to chat with a few fellow modellers. In particular was Dean who had done the Jap fleet at Pearl Harbour, it was obviously a labour of love involving lots of kitbashing. His comments on armour modelling ofter being a tank and a building at most was pretty true. His dio of the Staligrad waterfront was drawn from the movie I believe.
The rest of the weekend was taken up in social/family stuff, some AFL X 2 and a quick visit to Minotaur sci fi bookshop.
This was 1/144 scale
The one I repaired
Santa’s plane
Manga madness
There was also someone selling 3-D printers, the way of the future.
A must read is Cory Doctprow’s book Makers which is free under a Creative Commons licence about this emerging technology. I want one but they are still a bit too expensive for me. The Dalek fascinated me.
Also at the show was a Count the Rivets competition with a jam jar full of pop rivets. I didn’t win so I am obviously not enough of a rivet counter! This was the 30th year of the show although you wouldn’t have known it from the lack of celebration, unlike the 25th.
Well I am hopefully about to start modelling again after a long hiatus. Part of this has been the realisation that I need an old man’s light ie a magnifying lamp to do fine work now so I got one from Jaycar for $109. This looks like the Starship Enterprise with a gazillion LED’s which even impressed my eldest. The swing arm is strong with a positive positionable action and a decent desk clamp, something many lights lack. One of my older lamps will be reassigned upstairs to the office.
Next job is to clean the desk a bit.
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