Saturday Film Club: I Tried the Hobby that Took Over Japan in 1999 (Hikaru Dorodango)

Polishing mud is a thing, apparently. Or at least it was 25 years ago. I'll admit the concept is interesting, but I think I can find other fun weekend projects. 

Artisan and Reenactors Market 2024

 

What is it that makes me think a pith helmet with dodos on it would be a great addition to my wardrobe? 

That's what happens when I wander around the reenactors market. Not a hobby I have any desire to get in to, but it's a fascinating event. 

It's also a busy one. I thought I'd leave it until lunchtime on Saturday, half-time as it's a three day show, and people were still queing out of the door, with two ticket desks operating. A third was set up an hour later. 

After a quick lunch, I started to wander. This isn't my first visit to this event. It's only 10 minutes drive away, and at £4.50, entrance is cheap enough for mild curiosity. Picking up unusual Christmas presents for friends and family with an interest in history makes it worth the visit. 

The range of reenactors is much bigger than you might expect. We've all heard of the Sealed Knot, but you can be a Roman soldier, or Edwardian gentleperson, or indulge in some Steampunk. In fact, the Steampunk stuff seemed more popular this year than in the past. 

Part of my reason for visiting was research for a new novel I'm writing with Nolan. One of the character is into cosplay, and while there isn't a handy event for that hobby nearby, there is crossover with this one. You can buy metal weapons to bash each other with, but also foam-based versions, which is what our character is likely to be making. 

By the time I'd left, my rucksack contained a few presents, and also an unexpected tweed jacket for me. Well, as the editor of the UK's Premier garden railway magazine, I need to be suitably atired at all times.

Cake? Delicious Victoria sponge. With hot chocolate, as I was treating myself.

Makers Central 2024

I've heard about "makers" events for years, and always been tempted to go to one, but other things have got in the way. Finally, an event and a spare Sunday appeared at the same time, so I could give it a go. 

I'm not really sure how to describe the show. There was a mix of trade selling tools and equipment, others selling craft products they had produced. Some seemed to just be showing off stuff they had made, and a few stands gave you the change to try your hand at different making techniques. I had a go at pyrography, and made a nice coaster with a picture of an owl on it. 

Helpfully, the design is drawn on for you to burn, I'm not that good an artist, although the face at the bottom is all mine!

The other aspect was a theatre where various YouTubers and other makers were interviewed, or gave talks. Colin Furze is the big star, filling all the seats plus a crowd several deep around the edges. We also had a motorbike that can travel sideways, and a guitar maker who had to learn the value of her craft. She started by charging £6k for a hand-made instrument, and now charges £36k. There waiting list runs to three years!

Overall, even after a couple of weeks cogitation, I don't know what to make of it. I enjoyed myself, but then I always do when looking at people making things. I wish I'd signed up for a couple more hands-on sessions, but they seemed to be making stuff with little actual purpose, unless you want a tile with attractive squiggles on it. Not sure I'll go to another, but I am glad I satisfied my curiosity.

Have a look at some of my photos on Flickr.

Artisan and Reenactors Market

Since lots of people will be at the biggest model railway show in the UK today, let's look at a decidedly non-toy train event. Sacriledge it might be, but I enjoy a trip to see something different occasionally. 

Held at the Warwickshire Events Centre, the show supplies those who like to spend weekends pretending they are living in a different time. A bit like those who write in to my local paper for whom the time is always Georgian, and anything new is BAD. But I digress. 

Like model railways, there are a lot of cottage industries involved, although they seem to manufacturer some impressive clothing and hardware. The helmets above are all hand-made, and the ones I spotted cost less than £200. That seems a bargain for a bespoke item. Costumes will come in at quite a bit more than this if you want something top-end and Elizabethan, but there are cheaper options. Not that this matters, if you take pert on the sort of recreation that involves hitting each other, you'll be buying armour or at least chain-mail, no matter what the cost!

As well as costumes and weapons (three bow and arrow makers in the hall), there are cooking materials, eating and drinking vessels, coins (I bought a replica Roman coin, and a real one, both for the price of a coffee), materials for making costumes, food and drink. After writing this, I'll be supping a session bottle of mead. 

Just like model railways, there's a lot of detail to consider, and I can see the pleasure in getting involved with all this. I still don't fancy going away and role-playing historical people, but as a break from modelmaking, it was well worth the £4.50 to go in. The costumed stallholder and even attendees made it worth that.

Mind you, some of the protective wear could be useful at Warley...

Visiting the South Warwickshire Electric Flyers

A work trip meant I couldn't attend the L&WMRS open day, but my Dad performed his usual "Meet and Greet" duties - which gave him the chance to welcome some people from the flying club on the same farm as us. 

It turned out that they had a family camping weekend, so the next day, we nipped down to see what was happening. 

On arrival, we were greeted and shown around. The members couldn't have been more welcoming and eagerly showed us the aircraft, and fascinating technology inside them It seems that you can have a 'plane that can automatically compensate for wind buffeting, and even fly itself back by GPS if it gets out of range. Amazing stuff. 

In the clubhouse were a huge number of models. Presuamably because there were several tents-worth of families for the weekend. 

The highlight was being able to try some goggles that provided a first person perspective from a 'plane in the air. While one memeber flew, using his goggles, I watched through a second pair. It was absolutely amazing!

Now, I've no desire to have a go at flying (OK, gliders appeal a little) but if it's your bag, I can recomend the South Warwickshire Flyers. A really freindly bunch. More details on this website.

Learning a new skill, with a feltwork chicken

 

I make a lot of stuff. This won't come as a surprise to readers of this blog, but it's important. I love making things, and when I fall out of love with doing so, I know there is a problem. And part of this love is enjoying learning new making skills. 

At this year's Leamington "Art on the Park" festival, I was determined to book onto one of the courses on offer during the day. As it happens, one of the first stalls I found was run by Furzie Felt - and they were offering boiled egg cosie making using felt. The little chickens looked fun, and I've never messed around with felt before. Truth is, I wasn't really sure what it is. I booked on to the first session, while most people are wandering around looking at art to buy, and at 10:30 was one of three having a go. 

The materials are pretty basic - a moulded felt bottom (involving a washing machine, wooden egg and pair of tights apparently) and some small skeins of wool. 

Work starts my making the head. Basically, you roll some wool up and stab it repeatedly with a special  barbed needle. This tangles the wool up, giving it a structure. Eventually, you have a ball, which is them fixed to the bottom with more stabbing and a few more whisps of wool. It's fascinating, no glue or stiching is involved. 

The comb is cut out of sheet felt, but fixed with more stabbing and poking. The beak is rolled from more lose wool, and it's at this point you really realise how effective the stabbing method is in turning loose wool into something more solid. 

The whole process took around an hour and I'm really pleased with the result. OK, I'm a long way from producing the same level of sculpture as our tutor, but then she's been felting for over a decade. What I really enjoyed was learning how the material behaved. Like most making skill, the trick is understanding this, and then you can move on to working out what to do with it. 

So, a fun time and a new skill learned for a measily tenner. Best of all, there's enough material for a second cossie, so I better get stabbing!

Update: Second chicken made. The wite doesn't work quite as well as the brown for the eyes, but it went together well and I'm starting to pick up the techniques. Not sure they will be useful for model railway or boat work though!

Saturday Film Club: Mattel Vertibird Toy Helicopter

The Vertibird helicopter is firmly in the realm of toys I looked at in my mum's mail order catalogue, but knew I'd never actually see. To be honest, I'd still rather have had some Lego or something for the train set at the time, but that didn't stop me wondering. 

This video is fun because it's recorded by someone into RC helicopters who can explain what the controls really do, and also shows us how the toy works, which is very ingenious. If I'd had one, I'd probably have taken it to bits and broken it anyway.

Partwork season is back

  

The schools are heading back, which must mean it's time for all the new partworks to launch. Cluttering up your local newsagents for the next seven weeks are a couple I spotted. 

Build the Fast & Furious Dodge Charger

If you enjoyed the films, then for only £1100, you can build a 1:8 scale Dodge Charger. At 68cm long, it's quite a beast of a toy car. Sadly, it's a bit of a static model although the steering works and you can fit batteries to make the headlights work. 

Assuming this is what it looks to be, a simple screw together kit, then if the Charger is your thing, it's probably as a good a way to spend money as any. The same cash would buy you a 2010 Vauxhall Insignia. 

First issue is 99p, but the bits in it looked a bit useless unless you plan to buy the set, so I didn't bother. 

Warhammer 40,000 Imperium 

This is more like it. £2.99 buys you a couple of plastic figure kits, half-a-dozen good quality dice and some stuff to play a game on including a clear plastic ruler thing. 

The figures are designed to push together without glue. That makes sense as paints don't arrive until later in the series and you are going to have to take these things apart for painting. However the two characters can be used for a game. In theory at least as I looked at the rules and was thoroughly confused. A step-by-step guide is included and I think it will make sense if you concentrate. 

A bigger problem is that one of the figures didn't want to stay together without glue, and even with, putting the final bits on defeated me, so it went in the bin. More dedicated, or less ham-fisted modellers will be fine I suspect. At 5cm tall, these are quite impressive and I will slap some paint on mine one day. 

Interestingly, there is a premium option for £10.99 per issue (£2 more than the standard issues) which give you extra figures and paint - but this involves four issues a month which sounds like a lot of money and an awful lot of painting. 

One thing that does fascinate me is the imagination that goes into all this. Whole universes have been created with epic back stories to give these character life. It's a bit of a pity that all that effort has gone into creating a world of continuous war, but then I guess they know their market.

Art in the Park

A proper event - with other people!

Leamington's annual Art in the Park event didn't happen last year for obvious reasons, but in 2021, it's back with a vengeance. Now filling both sides of Jephson Gardens with stands of artists showing the fruit of their labours plus music and interesting food. 

To be honest, it's a bit of a middle-class fete, but none the worse for it. Entry is free and you'd like to think that perhaps a few youngsters who wouldn't otherwise see this stuff will take a look and be inspired. There's a difference between having to make art at school and seeing that people can make an income from something they are passionate about. 

Simple being around people (outdoors with a breeze) was a joy and something I've not experienced for many months. There were chance encounters with friends too - at one point I was sheltering from the drizzle in a decorative blacksmith's stand and found myself next to one of my old bosses. We are now looking at doing the sample metalbashing course at some point!

There was cake, but more interestingly, fish taco and a single halloumi chip (only one, I nicked it from a friend) both of which were new to me and delicious. 

Just like a model railway show, I couldn't leave without buying something. My greetings card stocks are replenished with the sort of things you don't find on the high street, and after a good look around, the item that stuck in my mind, and was within reach of my pocket, was from a ceramic artist stand. I bought a Christmas tree! Maybe not the most avant garde thing I could own, but it's hand made and I chatted to the person who produced it, and that makes a big difference to me.

Fantastic day. Looking forward to next year. 

More on the Art in the Park website.

Model Truck World

It's a brave company that launches a new paper magazine these days, but that's what Guideline Publications have done - twice. 

Home to a number of modelling mags already, plus Railway Bylines and British Railway Illustrated, they obviously see a future for paper, as not only has Model Truck World appeared on the news stands, but it's sister magazine for countryside diecast fans - Model Farmer. 

So, what's it like? 

Starting with the basics, the mag is full colour, A4 size and printed on very heavy paper so the photos reproduce really well. 

If you've ever looked at a military modellers magazine, much inside will be familiar to you, just with less (i.e. no) tanks. 

This is high-end model making, not just sticking plastic kit together. The materials and techniques are the same you'll see in military modelling, except for the forklift truck, which covers radio control installation as well. 

Scales are generally much larger than those railway modellers will be familiar with - 1/48 being the smallest found in there. As such, many of the methods won't be directly applicable, but there is much to inspire. 

If I have a complaint, it's that the issue could do with one or two less articles to allow more space for the photos. They are all sharp and clear, but often reproduced in 5x4cm boxes with massive chunks of text alongside them, dominating the page. A few had me wanting to see more. 

That said, the editorial to advertising content is high - you get a lot for your £4.95. While I can't claim I'll be subscribing, I will be flicking through and picking up the odd issue as the civilian subjects given the full-fat modelling treatment suits me more than the guns'n'glory of the military magazines. If you see a copy on the shelf, I suggest you'll enjoy it too. 

Full details over on the Model Truck World website. 

 (Note: I bought this issue with my own cash - I'm a sucker for the first issue of model mags)

Saturday Film Club: Build a Fairy house from cardboard

A really impressive build - creating a fairy house out of cardboard and lashings of hot glue. 

Recording this video must have taken some effort, and the model itself benefits from the builder's artistic skills.

Diamond Dotz - or 16mm scale rivets?

For Christmas, mum received a "Diamond Dotz" kit to produce a picture of a gecko. She sat for hours, happily picking up little hemispheres, and sticking them to the self-adhesive background. Following the instructions, she's produced a very attractive picture, and thoroughly enjoyed herself doing it. 

Included in the kit is a plastic funnel-tray that looks a lot like those used for pills. This allows you to pour some dotz (Yes, I know. It's Amercian. Nuff said.) back into their little packets once you've finished dotting. 

To apply the plastic pieces, there is a tool with a hollow end. This is poked into some wax supplied for the purpose. It grabs the dot, assuming it's the right way up, but lets go once the dot is on the sticky picture surface. 

This is all very neat, but there a lot of dotz left over, and I'm wondering how useful they would be as fake 16mm scale rivets? I've seen people use tiny "jewels" for this job. The dotz are 3mm in diameter and 1.3mm tall. They aren't hemispheres, but slightly faceted. Not enough to show under a coat of paint I suspect. 

I might get the chance to try this theory out as it looks like there will be more of these kits arriving in the future, and that means more leftover dotz!

Saturday Film Club: Car racing in trunking

When I was in Hong Kong a few years ago,I found loads of model shops and the big thing they sold were battery-powered cars with wheels on each corner so they could be raced in walled tracks.

As well as the cars, all sort of tune-up parts were on sale and judging by the crowds of youths digging through them, popular.

Anyway, while digging through YouTube recently, I found a video showing one of these races. Normally they are too fast to see much, but this one is in slo-mo. It's quite a battle.

Cosford Large Aircraft 2019 - Rain stops plane

The weather forecast promised cloudy skies. The previous weekends and even days running up to the event predicted sunshine and sun-hats. 

As it was, by lunchtime, the rain was coming down and sensibly, the aircraft were covered up.  

The only silver lining was that the outside swapmeet stand was also a see of tarpaulins, preventing me being tempted by the rare and well-priced model boat kit if it hadn't sold as we headed back to the car. 

Before this though, there had been some superb flying with amazing aerobatics and aircraft you simply can't see full-size anymore. 

Check out my gallery on Flickr.

Finding a railway at the slot car show

I've been trying to include more non-train events in my life recently. You can get rather too deep into the hobby, especially when it's your job as well and I've been feeling like I need a break over the last few weeks.

Sometimes though, you can't avoid the things. There I am at a slot car show (I go because my Dad is interested...) and what do I find? A G gauge railway!

Impressively, this is all Playmobil stuff, the sort of thing I would have dreamed of as a kid playing with my Playpeople. Sadly, they don't make the railway range any more and being based on LGB mechanics, it's popular with large scale modellers.

The track was interlinked with a slot car system. In theory, the trains and cars can't crash...

Elsewhere there were more tracks to try than ever before and a good time was being had by all. It still impresses me just how much younger the audience is at this show compared to any of the other I attend. Maybe it's all about reaction time?

One pleasant surprise was bumping into Kit "Mr Tilt" Spakman. He turns up everywhere including railway shows! This time he had a 1/32nd drag racing Hilman Imp in his pocket, a model of a real car he'd owned years ago with a friend. It just shows, some people are interested in all sorts of things.

National Vintage Communications Fair 2019

Ten pounds to go into the antique fair? Makes toy train show look like a bargain...

Still, I like to go to non-train events and I was sure I could extract a tenners worth of entertainment from the day. It's not that much dearer then seeing a bad film at the cinema, for example, quite a lot cheaper if you buy popcorn.

Don't get me wrong, this is a proper nerdy event. The place is full of people fascinated and knowledgable about vintage radios and telephones. If you want valves or the bits to restore a bakelite handset, this is the place.

I've no desire to collect wooden cabinet radiograms and didn't find it hard to resist interesting plastic novelty radios. OK, the original, boxed Sinclair X-10 radio was a bit tempting, but not at 60 quid. I was a Sinclair child at school, knowing full well that my home computer was superior to a Commodore 64.

Serious enthusiasts or traders can get in early for £25 and when I arrived, they were carrying out bits of stack stereo system, some of which look a lot like my venerable stereo, bought from Richer Sounds many years ago. Have I bought a classic?

One thing this show is really good for is collecting parts for steampunk projects. I've got one in mind and some knobs and screw terminals were acquired for no money. There's also a voltmeter, but I'll come back to that in a later post.

Making apples

How to make 1:12th scale apples, according to the workshop I attended. 

Take 2 parts yellow-green, one part orange and 1/2 part dark green Fimo clay and mix until there is only one shade. 

Roll into a sausage and chop up into little lumps (there was a bit of wood as a gauge, but I can't remember how big it was)

Roll these into balls. 

Poke a dimple in the top. 

Dimp a length of green stuff in glue, push this into the dimple and cut to length. 

Dab red dust from an artists pastel on the apple with a paintbrush. 

Fire for 45 minutes in an oven. 

It was all good fun. I was a bit quicker than most of the others around the table, partly because I have some practise at this modelmaking lark, but mostly because my hands were warm enough to quickly mix the colours. Some found the clay crumbled at first!

I also asked why they use the clay that has to be fired. Apparenlty, unlike the air-dry version, it doesn't shrink when dry. You can also leave and return to a piece as you like without worrying about it setting. 

Good fun for 20 minutes - I recomend having a go if you get the chance. 

Miniatura 2019

Miniatura is one of those shows I've always been tempted to visit, but not quite got around to it. For those who don't know, it's a dolls house show - a lot like model railway shows but with fewer exhibits and more emphasis on trade. Think along the lines of the GOG events with a couple of little layouts and 94 people flogging stuff. If you need supplies, then you need to be there.

One shock was that the ticket desk didn't take cards, and the cashpoints weren't working. Fortunately, those trading in the hall did take cards, so this wasn't quite the disaster it might have been.

I wasn't expecting to buy much really, but can't resist supplies of cheap lengths of stripwood or other modelling materials.

At least I wasn't tempted by any of the kits, although there were loads from complete houses and castles down to the smallest implements. For the large scale modeller, this place is brilliant. 1:12th is a common scale for boat modellers and fitting out the cabins with little details would be fun - if pricey. All those packets and bottles look cheap at a quid each, but you can soon fill a tiny bag with them and the total bill will be scary. A bit like the day I was looking for Beetle bits and left a stand with a bag of rubber seals and screws costing the thick end of 40 quid!

Prices varied a lot from basic furniture kits for a few quid right up to really fine furnishings that would grace any house for sums not that different from the full-sized piece. 

A material I'm not familiar with is Fimo clay, but there were all sorts of things made with it, from cakes to dragons. I managed to sit in on a workshop, which I'll talk about on Thursday.

Temptation mainly can in the form of large scale building materials. I was oddly keen to buy a pack of brick faces and some mortar just for the fun of it, or perhaps some paving stones to make a diorama base. Being made from the right materials, the results looked great and felt right. 

An interesting event. If you need a model railway connection, both Petite Properties and Severn Models had stands, but if I'm honest, it's just fun to see a different branch of the model making hobby.  

More photos on Flickr.

Saturday Film Club: Building a Flying Fortress

THIS sort of thing is why I think I'm a rubbish modeller. Tom Grigat not only makes a superb job of building an Airfix kit, and produces a superb and compelling film showing the process. A joy to watch with some interesting techniques shown along the way. I wish I had those skills!

IPMS 2018

Travelling to Telford can be interesting. Or more accurately, frustrating. A couple of years ago, I arrived at Birmingham New Street to find all the trains to the town cancelled. On that occasion, I turned around and went to the NEC classic car show instead. 

This might have been my plan this year as well, but I'd visited the cars the day before, and enjoyable as it was, didn't want a second dose. 

So, after consulting the staff, I pressed on with a change at Wolverhampton. This would add over half an hour to the trip, time I knew I'd miss trying to get around a big show. Still, I carried on and an hour later than I had planned to be at the event, thanks to more train pain at Wolverhampton, I arrived somewhat grumpy. 

Grumpiness was dispelled almost immediately when I saw the fantastic boat in the bath model above. It made me smile and the rest of the show was brilliant. I still haven't seen the modelling competition, but then I did leave about 10 minutes before the end, tired and with a bag full of kits I don't really need...

IPMS show 2018 on Flickr

Note: If you are wondering why I don't drive instead, it's:

A) A rubbish long jouney

B) You need to be there well over an hour before opening to get a space in the car park. Either that or park somewhere in Wales.