EXTRA IMAGES INSIDE: Stu Fone reports on 2023’s enjoyable edition of the Universal Scale Model Show.
If the South Cheshire Military Modelling Club’s annual show is to be taken as an indicator for the overall health of the hobby, then it is indeed in rude health! Hosted by the club once more at the Malbank Sixth Form College in Nantwich, the show was bigger than ever, with exhibitors filling the two main halls, concourse and several classrooms, while this year an extra room served as the competition area.
As always, scale and rail modelling, wargaming, Lego, full-size re-enactors (from history and sci-fi), radio-control trucks and tanks and even engineering hobby stands were all present and attracting plenty of attention from the visiting public.
The quality of exhibits was stunning, but for this show the highlight for me was the almost three-year-old girl listening in rapture as she was shown a truck model close up before asking questions galore of the builder. If that doesn’t bring youngsters into the hobby, what will?
The Universal Scale Model Show is one of those rare events that bridges the various aspects of the hobby, possibly best illustrated by the 1/24 and …