Travelled down the three hours to Canberra on Thursday for the ACT Model Show.

First full day was off to the Australian War Memorial. This is now about 90% of the way through it’s refurb/expansion. You can still see some construction signs and smell the paint in one area, definitely an enamel.

Since visiting earlier this year the Aircraft hall has been finished. This has some good mainly RAAF/RAN planes from WW1 forward.

They have put back the old RAAF murals too.

On the other side of the atrium area is 3 new floors of exhibits. The top floor is a viewing platform over the large middle floor along with info on our Ukraine involvement.

The photos below are what interested me most from the main floor.

The Japanese mini sub was particularly good. It’s less dramatic than the previous effort but the rolling screen that shows  an alternating blueprint and real life view of the living compartment is striking.

Saturday was show day for ACT modellers. Unfotunately due to a commitment in Sydney my visit had to be short. This was my first visit to this show but I hope to be back next year.

It is described as a friendly show and it is. Less pressured and whilst the competition is important it doesn’t seem as cutthroat as Melbourne can be. This is in part due to not using the IPMS system and relying on the Gold Silver Bronze system similar to Wollongong but with an added wrinkle.

Competitors are expected to self classify into Master/Standard and Beginner ranks. The number of classes is much smaller eg just one for ships and subs. Judging was done in situ and in front of attendees so less chance of anything untoward. It just felt more honest to me.

The mostly round tables allowed much better viewing and more chances to engage with others.

The Landkreuzer in 1.72 was nuts with the Storch catapult etc.

Another nice touch was the kids FREE make and take area with an Airfix Red Arrows plane and a freebie area to allow people to get rid of unwanted magazines and models including part built ones. I controlled myself and only took one. There was also an offer of free admission for people in financial difficulties. My partner commented that they just seemed to have a good heart.

Swap meet attendee seemed to be a little horse!

Another noticeable aspect was the traders – lots of quite small traders were able to set up and sell stuff you don’t see in Melbourne. In this respect it felt similar to Telford which is my Gold Standard.

Model Nerds, a Melb based trader were there who don’t trade at Expo I suspect because of the cost of tables or conflict with other traders ranges and the swap meet. Some of their stuff was cheaper than the meet so I snagged a few bargains.

Speaking of the swap meet I only found a book on Helldiver squadrons for an upcoming build.

And more from Model Nerds below
The 262 is wanted for the windscreen only for the bargain price of $12. More on the Hellcat later.

I will definitely be back for this show next year and unconstrained by other commitments I will go for a full day at the least.

Modelling wise I have been doing the rather fiddly cockpit area on the Wildcat with lots of decals etc to add in.

The DnD spider is stalled on adding the venom but I have had a suggestion so that might help me put this to bed. The other Dnd stuff is very slow as I’m caught up in the Wildcat and I’m partly through weathering the wooden boards on the mimic treasure chests.

Currently thrust to the front of the queue is the Hellcat I bought back from Canberra. After one day of some work I have arrived at this point.