Warley 2014

Warley = Work

For the last few years, the national show at the NEC has involved me sitting behind a demonstration table chatting to people. This time it was my first stint standing behind a table on the British Railway Modelling stand, chatting to people.

In front of me I had Owen's Bridge, my recent WW1 project now half way through its serialisation in print. There was also the layout on a tray and beer festival diorama. Sunday saw some table space open up as Andy York was sat at home processing photos, so I added my campsite and painted people scenes.

What this meant was I spent virtually all day chatting and hardly any wandering around looking at things. Trips to the Subway stand at the back of the hall via a circuitous route were my best hope of spotting anything while the event was open. That's not a complaint, I love chatting to people more than anything else, but if anyone is expecting a full show rundown, you're going to be disappointed.

What I did spot was St Ives, a fantastic gauge 3 layout with scenery. I've not seen this before and probably won't again. The model is due for only one more trip out and it takes a show held in a hall the size of the NEC to accommodate it. Well, that and the 5 inch gauge shunting plank layout behind it - both were very popular with the crowds.

Apart from this, I nipped out to look at some new products. Peco's laser-cut station building looks very nice and of course I was stupidly excited about Accucraft's "Sealion". The Dapol O gauge Terrier looked very pretty too in it's yellow livery although I'm told that's it's a dreadful model that brings shame upon the hobby or summat. I liked it though so perhaps I'm dreadful too.

No, the weekend belongs to chatting. Lots of people wanted to know how to model a canal. Quite a few were very interested in electrostatic grass and my techniques for enhancing it. We also discussed how green a WW1 Simplex should be although I'm still not convinced on this point.

At the end of Sunday, I wheeled out my stand on a trolley and was on my way off the site by 6pm. Not bad at all.

If you dropped in to say hello, thanks for stopping by. If I was already chatting to others then I'm sorry - this is one show I wish was a day longer so I could speak to more people. Mind you, then my feet would hurt even more...

A few photos on Flickr.