Hurst, Berkshire and we were
treated to Concorde on full-burn
fl ying over and nearly shaking
all the paint-fl aking windows
out of their frames. When we
moved to West Country later
that same year I didn’t realise
we were moving to the home
of Concorde, at least this side
of the channel, and so not only
did we get to see it regularly as
it fl ew in and out of the Rolls
Royce plant at Filton (home of
Concorde’s engines), but also
the prototype at Yeovilton. On
the day of G-BOAF’s fi nal fl ight in
November 2003 I’d picked a spot
under Brunel’s Clifton Suspension
Bridge in the hope of seeing
two icons of Bristol together in
a one-off moment never to be
seen again. A few people milled
and started doing that terribly un-
British thing of talking to strangers
and sharing Concorde stories.
The next time I looked behind me
there were people everywhere,
lining the swing bridge, the roads,
any spot where they could catch
a glimpse and say goodbye. And
when the moment arrived and the
graceful lines of Concorde slowly
banked overhead, as if the air
was parting to make way for such
aerodynamic perfection, there
were a few tears from people
for whom aircraft were probably
not their thing – but they loved
Concorde.
Standing under either 002 or
G-BOAF, I never fail to feel the
hairs stand up, it’s not only the
sweeping shape – as if someone
threw wet clay into a wind tunneland the air did the rest – but the
fact that I can still smell the oil,
grease and that taint of metal.
Real becomes more real.
Being at the Tank Museum the
other week gave me the chance
to not only photograph some
vehicles for upcoming projects but
appreciate their construction and
how agricultural – for want of a
better word – they sometimes are.
It’s a fascinating mix of the brutal
and delicate. Seeing how thick
armoured plate is lends a sense
of weight and mass to a vehicle,
but that’s then counterbalanced
by how fi ne and easily damaged
things like mudguards, dust skirts,
fenders and exhaust manifolds
are, all important things when it
comes to detailing and improving
a model. You can get a sense
of these features in photos but
being up close to the real thing
fi lls in the all the blanks. I came
away from Bovington not only with
around a thousand photos taken
that day – and at this stage the
era of digital photography cannot
be appreciated enough! – but also
plenty of ideas and inspiration, not
mention a few books and a bar of
their Tiger tank chocolate...
Which brings me to the other
wondrous thing about museums- the gift shops. My love of these
places goes back to school trips
and fi nding the cheapest thing to
bring back as a momento, usually
a pen or pencil with the museum
name printed on it or some such.
Truth is I’m still a sucker for these
things now, but in recent times gift
shops have become more savvy
and often some in museums are
as well – if not better – stocked
than model shops. I’ve lost count
how often I’ve walked away with
some book bargains at Cosford’s
superb gift shop. Bovington
is almost a one-stop-shop for
anything armour related, in fact I
realised from my recent trip that
I’d already spent half-an-hour
browsing the shelves before even
entering the museum proper!
But the value of museum of
fi eld trips to see the real thing,
and their infl uence therein, was
amplifi ed by my visits to the
WSR. Now I’m not a railway
modeller, my interest in it as
a hobby faded before I hit my
teens mostly because of the
expense in a cash-strapped
house where even a Series 1
Airfi x kit was a luxury that often
couldn’t be afforded. But as static
modelling subject it never quite
went away and the recent advent
of 1:72 and 1:35 WW2 German
locos and rolling stock by the
likes of Trumpeter, Hobbyboss
and Dragon piqued my interest.
Being on the WSR rekindled
my interest in things like Great
Western Railway architecture, the
colour schemes and the general
paraphernalia of stations. Yes,
the trains are cool, but travelling
through tiny little rural stations
and seeing the signal boxes, work
huts, level crossings, all started
pinging ideas for doing some
kind of railway related project,
something out of my comfort
zone. This was further cemented
when, for the fi rst time in over 40years, I bought a copy of Railway
Modeller at Minehead - this was a
revelation in many ways. Not only
did it remind me of all the great
little kits, accessories, scenic
materials and mouldings that are
out there, but it served as a real
eye-opener in terms of prices.
Aircraft and tank modellers may
grumble at the costs of a new
1:48 Tomcat or 1:35 Hummel,
but that’s nothing compared to
the money railways modellers
spend on their hobby for ready
to run locos – plus we at least
get the added bonus of making
our models, thus prolonging the
enjoyment and value for money!
I’m actually blessed to have a
really good model railway shop -
Model Railways Direct – about a
ten minute walk from my house
and I do try and use it as often
as I can, it certainly has been
terrifi c for diorama materials,
glues, plastic sheet etc... And
one of the takeaways from those
WSR trips and reading Railway
Modeller was a photo of wharfside
layout that suddenly fi red my
own imagination for a little static
diorama of, say, a little Pug or
diesel shunter parked up on a
cobbled corner of a wharf with
a suggestion of some bricked
warehouse walls adorned with
weathered advertising posters, oil
drums and little piles of rubbish...
I have most of the materials, I
may even have some of the kits
and accessories, and I certainly
have the inspiration to, in the
works of Captain Jean Luc Picard
himself, “make it so...”Issue 169 - http://www.modelairplaneinternational.com 7COMMENT 169.indd 3 08/07/2019 14: