Hi I'm Owen and today I'm very excited
to be at one of the world's largest scale model exhibitions in Telford. Throughout my day at Telford I got to
chat to many talented modellers who gave me lots of great tips and advice on
building and painting cars, tanks, planes, ships, and dioramas… and that's all coming
up later in the video! Telford Scale Model World takes place in
three giant halls, filled with stands, and a competition area upstairs. There are
thousands of incredible models to look at and be inspired by. As well as groups
displaying their models there are lots of stalls where you can buy a vast range
of model kits, paints, books, decals, stands…
You can find anything and
everything at Telford. While having a look around I was called
over by John. He's a multi-skilled modeller and has built kits ranging from
cars to figures, tanks and planes. I asked him if he approaches car models any
differently from planes and tanks. John: I tend to build the car kits the way I've always
built them – so I'll use zero paints and lacquers and other clear coats and
stuff like that which you don't do on aircraft. Owen: Do you ever apply any actual car polish to the kits? John: For anyone who's long-term in modelling they'll probably know the name Ted Taylor. Ted
Taylor used to review and build for Matchbox and Airfix Magazine and stuff like that way back, and he always used to bring up a little tub of this magic
polish which we soon learned was Mer – M-E-R – and I still use it.
It's just
ordinary car polish. I'm old-fashioned – just use a bit of car polish and buff it up. Owen: If you had any advice for people who are just joining the hobby – What would you say to them? John: A universal rule of thumb is enjoy what you're building, build what you like, and
always try a new technique. Even if it's only once a year. Try a bit of
weathering or try a bit of vac-form or try a of, yknow…
Always try to learn a
new skill and just ask people in other clubs or at shows. Never be afraid to ask
anyone because all you want to do is talk about your own models anyway, so if
you ask somebody they're more than happy to tell you you, y'know. So enjoy it, that's all
I can say. Owen: I think some great advice from John. If you'd like to watch his full
interview and find out more about his models and techniques: click the link in
the video description or in the cards. Already the time was flying by. I had
been given permission to film the judging taking place so I made my way up
to the competition area. The renowned competition has multiple categories for
all different varieties of models from figures to sci-fi and even has junior
categories to younger modellers. The quality of the models entered into the
competition this year were truly phenomenal and I came to appreciate how
hard the judges jobs must be. I had the opportunity to ask Jim, an IPMS judge and
exceptionally talented model of himself, what the judges look for in a
potentially award-winning model? Jim: The general rule is accuracy, alignment, paint finish.
In the case of aircraft: decals without silver edges,
decals that are aligned, decals are the correct size… which is not always a
prerequisite. Trying to apply the same criteria to the very small model as the
larger models is very difficult because on larger models you can of course add far more
detail. In aircraft, armour and vehicles it's always the same. Owen: What do you personally enjoy about judging at Telford? Jim: I enjoy spending time in an
uncrowded environment to be able to take a very close look at my fellow modellers
work. Is it enjoyable..? It can be. At times it is heartbreaking when you have two
models of truly equal status and you have to decide and nitpick and hair pick
between them. Owen: so you guys have a very tough job don't you? Jim: In many ways yes. There are times when there are three equal models and it's very hard to judge and that's when the argy-bargy goes back and forth between the judges until we do
manage to eliminate one. You know there can be only one gold medal winner. Owen: If you'd like to
learn in more detail about the judging process click the link in the video
description or in the cards to watch Jim's full interview.
I was also allowed
to try on the very stylish eyewear that the judges use to get up close and
personal with the models. Back down in the main hall some
fantastic little dioramas caught my eye. They had been built by Gavin, a member of
the Israeli Defense Forces special interest group, asked him why finds
Israeli vehicles so interesting? Gavin: Well because it's really very current, they change all the time. The main thing with Israeli is their take other people's
tanks, vehicles, aircraft and they modify them. They're the ultimate tank tinkerers as it were. This particular Chieftain is one that the Israelis modified highly by just extending the chassis a little bit.
So it makes it very unusual
compared to our Chieftain. Owen: So how did you go about weathering this kit what are
your steps when you think about weathering? What I tend to do is spray them black then
highlight areas like the side panel and skirts with white, then start to add colour on
gradually and let our black and white show through. It's called a black and white
process. It's basically creating – as if you'd photographed the real thing
in black and white and then you look at the highlights and the lowlights and try
and reproduce that on the model in just literally black and white paint. Then
when you put your colour on top, that shading should show through. Then once
that's on I do a gloss coat and then add very light sand and pigments.
Very
simple really. Owen: That's some great advice there from
Gavin. If you'd like to see his full interview click the link in the video
description or up in the cards. While I was looking around it was really
lovely to meet some of you and have a chat. Thank you for coming over to say
hello, it was really great to hear about what you've been up to and in some cases
see a few of your models. While continuing my exploration I
spotted some very realistic-looking figures and busts and went to take a
closer look.
I got a chatting to John, who had
painted them, and as I know nothing about figure painting I asked him: what are the
important things to consider when painting a figure? John: Obviously decide which subject you want to paint – you know if you want to Second
World War, First World War… etcetera… Each era has its own technique and
each difficulty level. Most figure painters do their facial features
first – the eyes, the face – and then do the the tunic or the uniform afterwards.
But I – for some more reason – I'll do the opposite.
I do the uniform, all the detail, and then I do the face. I don't know why but I
find it's easier for me to do that. Owen: would you say there's any specific techniques or processes that you do to make them look that extra bit more realistic? John: Well what I normally try to do is to make it as if the uniform is been, as I say, worn.
It hasn't come out of a tailor shop or anything like that.
So I always try to spray or even add pigments or a wash. Especially with the German tunics. You've got to imagine what they've been through, or
where they are. They've been probably been sitting in a foxhole for months and months and
months. So I always apply some sort of wash – mud or something like that – or obviously a bit of stubble. You've got to visualise where they are, what
they've done, where they've been. Owen: so if you were to give one piece of advice to someone who was just starting out, beginning to paint figures and busts,
what would that be? John: Well if somebody wants like a size
1/10 scale – which are those I've got over there – try to pick something that's basic, like a a British North African Tommy.
Basically you've just got
sandy colours to work with, and Karki. Don't go for something that's too difficult because there's so many variations of German uniforms, SS uniforms… blah blah blah… keep away from that for the moment just think of something that is easy and that is
basic. But I'd recommend that people start doing figure-painting because, it's a shame
because I think it's not that popular – for some people they're afraid to pick
something up and think, "right, I'm going to paint a face." Just have a go and you'll be
surprised what you can actually turn out. Owen: I don't know about you but I'm certainly feeling inspired to give figure painting a go. If you'd like to learn more about
figure painting from John: click the link to his full interview in the description
below or in the cards.
Of course Telford wouldn't be complete without the
international clubs. My eye was caught by a set of beautiful dioramas on the IPMS
Austria stand. I spoke to Raymond, the modeller who built
them, with the help from Reinholt who was translating. I first asked him: where does
he draw his inspiration from? Owen: Do you draw a plan and sketch what you want it to look like? They may be improvised but it's evident that a great amount of care and skill goes into Raymond's dioramas. If you'd like
to hear more from Raymond and also find out about IPMS on Austria's upcoming
show in Vienna: click the link in the video
description or in the cards.
My favourite part of the day was getting to talk
with some of the upcoming talent in the scale modeling world at the Role Model
stand. If you don't already know: Role Models is a Facebook group where young
modellers can share their projects. There's a link in the video description.
First I spoke to Thomas who showed me is fantastic King Tiger. Thomas: This is the King Tiger tank. I built this only a few weeks ago while I was on holiday. It was a bit annoying to build this – in my head I did a lot of cursing – but generally I think it looks brilliant. Owen: How did you paint it is that airbrushed? Thomas: Yes it is airbrushed. So what I did was I poked holes in a piece of card and then I spray painted it over here and then it
created a random pattern. It ended up looking really good. Owen: Thomas's techniques of definitely got him some great results and he should certainly be very proud of that model.
Morrigan was
displaying her awesome Stug diorama. I asked her how she got such a good finish
to the model. Morrigna: I use an airbrush that I borrow from my dad and I just did it free hand – which I have not done before. I put this mucky wash – which I
mixed from a light and a dark one too this grey-ish colour – so I mixed that and I
just, kind of like, lightly washed it everywhere and made it go in all the cracks
and it looks quite dirty.
Owen: The Stug certainly looks like it's been through a lot Next I met Nathan who had built some
stunning aircraft. I asked him to tell me a bit about his favorite one. Nathan: My favourite is this TBM Avenger. Owen: How did you go about building and painting this then? Nathan: I use an airbrush so I
did a pre-shading technique going along the panel lines with black at first, and
then going in thin layers over.
Owen: What did you use to make this little wire? Nathan: This is actually just – it's called invisible thread. It's something for sewing.
You can get it from Poundland. Owen: I don't know about you but I'll definitely be picking up some invisible thread from Poundland. There was also a collection of excellent
car models. I spoke to Jesse, the modeller responsible, and asked him what he loves
about car models. Jesse: It's probably just the fact that I'm a car enthusiast. I like knowing all
about cars and then building those cars so just it just feels… weird.. to
learn about a car and then find a model of it and then build it. Owen: Thank You Jesse for sharing your models and enthusiasm! Finally I spoke to Alexa who
told me a bit about her award-winning models. Alexa: This is an ARP plane which was the first plane to fly nonstop from Senegal to
Brazil, This is a Renault from 1905 and I entered this into the competition last year.
Owen: did you win? Alexa: I got silver. Owen: Ooo! Do you have any tips for brush painting then? Alexa: I'd say that it's important to have a good brush because that gives you a good finish, and
also if you make a mistake then you should try and get rid of it
using thinners as soon as possible. Owen: Some solid advice there from Alexa. If you'd like to hear more great advice from this bunch of very talented modellers: be sure
to click the link in the description or in the cards. If you're interested in
joining Role Models yourself I've also put a link to their Facebook page the
description.
My travels then took me to the small
warship special interest group where I met Les who gave me some much-needed
advice on how to approach building model ships. Les: The first thing always is to
actually have a very good look at the instructions. You don't always
necessarily follow the series there but it's always a good idea to go through it
first and have a look at it. Lots of people will start either from
the back or from the front and work all the way through that way, that's what a lot of people tend to do because otherwise it's so easy to damage
things if you're not careful. Whereas if you start from one end and work towards the
other with the small details you lower the risk of actually causing damage whilst you're assembling it. When it comes to painting them… in most cases it's a case of
painting the bits before you actually assemble them onto the hull.
Some people
will actually assemble it and then paint it afterwards, but the majority of people will
actually do the the individual painting first and then the assemble it
afterwards. Because with super-glue in particularly – you only need a few spots of super-glue to fix it down – so it's not going to ooze out and get on top of the paint
afterwards. Owen: If you want to hear more advice from Les there's a link in the
video description and in the cards to its full interview. I was feeling
inspired to learn more about building and painting model ships so I went over
to talk to Don. He builds tiny, yet very detailed ships entirely from scratch. I
asked him how he goes about doing this. Don: So I start with a plan – a printed out plan.
I print a number of copies of it so that I can then cut the various parts out and
stick them onto styrene sheet. I then cut the waterline out from a sheet.
I then cut the profile from the plans on some styrene sheet — stick the two
together and then build ribs in between to give the line of the deck. Another one
is stuck on to make the outline of the deck and then fill the in-between bits
with acrylic putty.
Finally I coat the whole thing with very thin styrene sheet and then
that's the hull basically done. Owen: How long does it take you to build something like
this? Don: One like this… probably about a month, but that's not working continuously you know. There are days I don't do anything there are some days I
do more than others. Owen: So if you were to give one piece of advice to someone who
wanted to get into it or just beginning building ships like this what would that
be? Don: If it was scratch building I'd say build a paper model.
There are printed
paper models and I basically cribbed the technique from them. There you've got everything with instructions on how to do it. If you can
do it with a paper model then basically it's transferring that technique to
styrene and then you're away! Owen: That's some great
advice there from Don. If you want to hear in more detail about how he makes
his superb ships click the link in the description or in the cards. Unfortunately my time at Telford had now
run out. The day had flown by so quickly and there was so much stuff that I still
hadn't seen! If you haven't been before I definitely recommend that you check it
out and perhaps stay for the full two days if you can.
I'd like to give a big
thank you to all of the lovely people I met for sharing such great tips and
advice. I know that I've learnt a lot and I hope that you have too. If you enjoyed
this please give this video a like and consider supporting my channel on
Patreon so I can keep creating awesome content. Thank you very much for watching
and I'll see you next time..
