Fantastic Day - Thank you

[Nigel Martin]

Thank you Gill & Mark, that was a really great day out.
Nigel

[Garry Coomber]

Worth every penny of 7 hours on the road. And I got back in plenty of time to take my wife out to a concert, which was rather splendid. And many thanks to the member of museum staff who happened to be working on the tiger and photographed the air intake water tight cover and fittings which I couldn't do from the ground. More detail I can now finish.

[Bob Gould]

Some pics of the talented creations

[David Skeldon]

Hi
brilliant day.still can't believe i got an award for a half built tank.good to see you all.can't wait till next year


David

[simon_manning]

the best selection of vehicles seen so far,
the winners of the catagories were well deserved, robin hinsons kingtiger when seen up close is a superb build, color, zimmerit, not over done, just right! i liked it the first time i saw it,
james tiger another master class in detail, the engine bay is as good as it looks, every aspect of the model thought about,
davids bridglayer is something to behold, hugh and a showstopper it makes all the other models look small,
nigels halftrack and 88 seen together is another eyefull with all the extras fitted.
i enjoyed myself very much and the build standard is going up every year, roll on to the next open day, regards simon manning.

[Sarah Frazer]

Hi Gill and Mark,

Thanks for a lovely day, it was great to see you again, the show was excellent.

It was also really nice to meet and have a chat with a lot of others from the Forum. I am always very impressed with the ingenuity and skill that everyone has. Picked up (stolen) a few good ideas for my Panzer and Tiger as well.

Best wishes,

Sarah and Annabel

[martin pitcairn]

My thoughts on the day.
1) The venue, it was excellent, I drove right up to the main area and unloaded easily, had plenty of parking, it was all under cover so the weather did not effect the day. plenty of space to see and photograph the tanks. food was great, museum staff helpful and interested. Plenty of toilets and lots to see and do.
2) The tour, I loved going into the sheds to see what lurked there, it was amazing ! I had been looking at a PAK43 that morning in one of my books and then found a fully restored (5 years work) one in the workshop. in another shed described as "only has some rubbish in it " lay 10+ tanks including a fantastic Russian t34, t52 or 55 and a huge command APC WOW.
3) The vendors, the normal crew were there with a great range of kit and books, Dave Dibbs parted me with my money as usual.
4) Innovation, some of the vendors and some of the owners were showing the future of modelling with fantastic 3D printed parts, from Dave's helicopter seats to Steve's armoured covers. Sarah shared her 3D knowledge with me amazing what can be done. Simon M showed his fantastic Armortek muzzle brake conversion and is now thinking of setting up a production line now he has done 5.
5) The models, I fell in lust after seeing the fantastic Strumm Tiger and was amazed at the bridge layer tank. There was an amazing panther with full animated crew who opened the rear door and threw out a spent shell casing. the detail on the part built PZIII was excellent, overall the standard of painting on the tanks was higher and higher as well as the quality of the builds. The post war tanks helped to boost allied numbers (6 to 1 German) and they were impressive in terms of size, build quality and smooth running. (well done all)
6) Armortek, Gill and Mark (with support team) did their normal great effort answering every question and helping put people together. their surprise for this show was the launch of a new brand and a new kit in the shape of a beautiful 25lber field gun (I will be ordering 1) next in this range.... no not a Famo (sorry could not help that) I would like a German 150mm or a PAK or a Russian 152mm or a .......... ( insert favourite anti tank or field gun) Thanks for a fantastic day ! the only down side was not seeing Marks workshop.
7)it was great to see our continental modelers making the trip and I hope they enjoyed the day and made a safe return. I hope we can use this venue again as it was 10 out of 10 for me.

My last thought. the image that stuck in my mind and sums up the insanity that this hobby takes you to in terms of what will I do/build/animate/paint/collect etc next, was Dave Dibbs trying to hold up his Scale plans (nearly 8 foot long, 3ft wide and 3ft high) of his 1/6th scale working Vietnam era hovercraft and planning to buy a trailer to move it...

Simply a great day out !!

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi Martin,

It is my sworn goal in life to part you from whatever cash you have left after Mark and Gill have taken their slice

I did actually say I had finally crossed the line into insanity with the hovercraft but challenges are there to be beaten

Although I have already said so earlier it was a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Best regards

Dave

[Bob Gould]

Who won the raffle?

[Steve Stuart]

It was another excellent day! And David, we too can't wait for next year to see your Bridge Layer.
All the best to everyone.
Steve

[Tim Bowman]

Thanks for the photos Bob!!

Good stuff.

Tim

[Steen Vøler]

Hi all

First a BIG THANKS to Gill, Mark & the Armortek representatives for a fantastic event.

I took more than 400 pictures and loads of movies. I will produce a youtube video or 2 and share when its finished this week

However - you shall have some picture appetizers in the mean time

[Paul Morris]

Hi everyone.

Just like to follow up what others have said it was a great day out after a long journey down, it was great to have a chat to far flung friends again and make some new ones.
Congrats to Gill and Mark and team for a very enjoyable day, and of course the new gun from "Compact kits" big surprise hope there will be some nice German ones to follow {Mark} lol and possibly something BIG to pull them.
Anyway thanks to all and finally R.I.P. my white Stug 111 that did not fair so well on the way home due to some moron with a caravan who slammed his brakes on in front of us on the way home, we were all O.K. but the model needs to be re done.
Cheers Paul.

[Steve Norris]

Mark and Gill,
I can only repeat what others have already said, It was a great day and well done to you both and you assistants for all the effort put in organising everything, lets do it again next year.
Regards
Steve

[Steve Norris]

Paul.
Great to meet up again with you and your family again,
I am glad to hear that you are all OK after your motorway incident, At least the only thing that needs fixing is the tank, it could have been much worse.
Regards
Steve