Telford may not have Californian sunshine, or American centennial celebrations - though it's been a break destination over the years through its Industrial Revolution associations - but it features regularly on this page when IPMS/UK puts on the annual ScaleModelWorld, for which I treasure the American description as a "Hobbyists' Convention" (Chicago, 2001). Having covered much of the activity on the Mike's World page this will be largely the photo supplement, mostly concerned with a personal selection of the models on the competition tables, but I must start with one that also appeared for a time as part of the "What If?" Special Interest Group exhibit as well as here on the purple (puce?) table covering that identifies only too readily the SMW competition area. Kit Spackman has been building models in this category long before the SIG was formed (nearly twenty-one years ago, as you ask) and as well of the Meteor PR.19 for which he has become well-known and, in conjunction with the model, widely celebrated I remember vividly his 92 Squadron F-104K and Blue Angels Buccaneer. He's also seriously into airliners (and the relevant SIG) and his chef d'oeuvre this year was a three-dimentional realisation of an advertisement by the Star Allance airline association, next to which he thoughtfully placed a clipping from a newspaper, which you can see by the nose, in case anyone might be tempted to challenge the likelihood of such an aircraft. Described by Kit - if not by Seattle - as a Boeing 777-900, rather more than two different kits and a considerable amount of putty went in to it along with much time, determination and perseverence. For the doubters, there is a category in the competition called I think "Hypothetical Aircraft" which caters for the likes of us and proves - in conjunction with other recent events - that the IPMS/UK committee does have a sense of humour. This "superstretch" also appeared for a time on our SIG table accompanied by a TSR.2 in classic Speedbird colours, presumably with executive seating in the bomb bay area after the fashion of the BOAC Mosquitos on the Swedish run. While we're at the What If? stand, one of the others that I liked particularly was a Spitfire variation that even Neil Robinson would find it hard to place, but still managed to look somehow familiar. The accompanying description from builder Dave Drake not only gave the origins, development and service history of the Supermarine Spartan but listed the eight donor kits that gave rise to this very convincing model, and for me the package of research, model and writing, giving a complete, logical and believeable history, is precisely what I like, enjoy and find fascinating about this form of modelling (model magazine editors please copy). We sometimes have a theme to build at least part of our annual display to, and this year's was "1941". My contribution to this is appearing/will appear in "Workbench", with the explanation and what was involved, and is also currently on the cover page.

Most of the rest of the photos I brought back were from the competition area (that vivid puce background, again). Not unsurprisingly several of the models that drew my eye were in the "Hypotheticals" category, and the winner of this was labelled as a Meteor FB.2. In 1:48th it bears a more than passing resemblance to the Trent-Meteor flown in 1946 with a turboprop adaptation of the Derwent, with added tip tanks and under-wing and -fuselage stores. You can't see it properly in the photos but this also came with a full and well-reasoned account of the type's development and history; it's an excellent model, and my only quibble is that I have some doubt that it would have had six-bladed propellors. I may be over-influenced by the Trent's five-bladers, but reading recently about Griffon-Spitfires I remember that they were given six-bladed contra-props because of doubts about problems with six blades in the same plane. I'm nowhere near an engineer; what do I know?

Of the "real" aeroplanes on the table, the one that gave me the greatest pleasure, and indeed envy, was the Black Bomber, the sole Valiant B.2. Predating the recent and very welcome Airfix kit this was a substantial reworking of the earlier Mach 2 offering, and it was accompanied by a very full account of the work involved prodced as a small spiral bound booklet. I hope that some enterprising Editor will take the opportunity to translate this in to a magazine article as I strongly suspect, though I only had a brief ripple through the "instructions", that the steps taken here would be equally applicable to the Airfix kit. I know I'm not alone in finding this variant fascinating, for the irony of the fallout from its cancellation as much as its dramatic appearance; and what I'd really like of course is a resin conversion of the quality of the Cammett Nimrod AEW.3. My blandishments to this end didn't seem to have much effect at Telford; and it would be quite wrong of me to spread any rumours of a possible alternative much before, say, Southern Expo. In the meantime, I look forward to picking up one of the Airfix PR./K. conversion packs, which should be available in the spring, while bearing in mind the space taken up by one, let alone three. Another superb and eye-catching conversion was the Short "Hythe"-class, a real life conversion from the Sunderland. As well as being an excellent model, and beautifully presented coasting up to the mooring buoy on very convincing water with a crewman stretching out of the front turret space, it came with a back story which, as far ar I can remember it, was that as the last flying boat to return from the Falklands it brought back an air mail letter which was displayed next to the model. I wish now I'd tried to find the names of the modellers whose work I've shown here, to give them the deserved credit; perhaps if the expected SMW "special" of the IPMS/UK magazine has their names I'll add them here.

Two last treats, at least on this page (my contributions to the two SIGs will appear - shortly? - on the Workbench page). One is a World War I flying boat mounted on a catapult; foolishly I didn't make a note of its type , and although for some reason the name Ago sticks in my mind I'm probably wrong. It just looks fascinating! And the last appeared in the Science Fiction section, and I onlt know that its a Gemenon because the name next to it was caught on my photo. Whatever it was/is part of the fun is trying to work out the donor kits which could have been used in its construction.