IPMS Farnborough is a member chapter of IPMS United Kingdom (UK). It is also the club with whom we twinned in 2007. Since then a very close relationship has grown between our two clubs. Here’s a look at what “The Farnboroughites” did in 2018!
Farnborough is a very active organization, visiting several functions held throughout the year. 2018 was no different! Early March saw them visit a new show in Yeovil. Late April saw members at Cosford which featured the theme of “RAF 100,” the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force. To their great surprise, halfway through the afternoon, a member of the Cosford Executive, Gary Stevens, came over to the Farnborough tables and told the Farnborough crew that they’d won the "Best Club Display" Trophy!
The 14th of April saw members visiting the Poole Vikings show on a lovely sunny day. In the show competition, two club members did very well, taking the first and second place medals in the competition. The 28th of April was ThamesCon in Abingdon. This was a TV/comic/media convention which had a small section for modellers which included Models for Heroes and a table full of science fiction models: lots of interest from the public.
The beginning of June saw the usual crew invade the IPMS Salisbury show. July also saw members attend the IPMS Romsey show, a very nice small show just down the road from the Farnborough club’s meeting place. A very good pub lunch and an enjoyable show were enjoyed by all visitors. The Boscombe Down Aviation Collection's annual model show took place on the 12th of August and Farnborough members were there, braving the rain with a bewildering array of models.
July's club meeting was a special event in that Dave Richardson of ACTSMS Canberra in Australia visited Farnborough. (ACTSMS? “Australian Capital Territory Scale Modelers’ Society”) Dave is the liaison with both Farnborough and Ottawa. The club decided to put on an Antipodean model display in his honour.
September's club meeting included the inaugural Canada Trophy competition. The winner of the Canada Trophy was Jim Potts with his model of a Canadian Leopard C-2. Later in September, the annual “Modelfest” took place. In addition to the work of IPMS Farnborough members, Modelfest features the work of IPMS and non-IPMS clubs from a wide area. It exhibits a wide variety of subjects, including Aircraft, Cars and trucks, Ships, Tanks and military vehicles, including real, full-size machines, Sci-fi and figures. Farnborough supports the “Phyllis Tuckman Hospice” in Farnham. This year they were able to present the Hospice with a cheque for £3,500 ($5,931.76 CAD). Well Done to Farnborough!”
November saw a first rate visit and the IPMS UK Nationals at Telford. Bill Eggleton visited the UK in early November and was met by several members of Farnborough. Les Burningham, our Farnborough Liaison member, takes up the story:
“I picked up Bill Eggleton and a few of us entertained him for the day. Apart from a slight glitch in the morning when I picked him up from the London train but there was no train and he arrived on a replacement bus service. A smooth operation though and then it was a drive to the FAST Museum on Farnborough airfield. There we met Pete Readman, Chris McKee, Paul Martin, Eric McLoughlin, Chris Bradley and his partner so a good turnout for Bill. We spent several hours there and I think Bill really enjoyed the experience. After that we retired to have a pub lunch and a beer before I drove him to a railway station to avoid another bus trip!”
The next weekend was the UK Nationals at Telford, and the club did very well. First, they received a special commendation "For outstanding support to the society, SMW and the Scale Modelling Hobby" and then won the Gold Award for the branch display!
All told, Farnborough had a very active and productive year. We wish them the best of good fortune in 2019!
 Prize won at Cosford for “Best Club Display” |
 Cosford Award being presented |
 Winner of the annual “Canada Trophy” was Jim Potts with his model of a Canadian Leopard C-2 Tank |
 Presentation to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice |
 IPMS Farnborough Model of the Year: Awarded to John Leah and his truly superb Imperial Star Destroyer |
