2011 Scale Models Expo and
IPMS New Zealand Nationals

by Brett Green

Horticultural Hall, Lower Hutt, location of the 2011 Scale Models Expo and IPMS New Zealand Nationals

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron

This weekend, we are attending the 2011 Scale Models Expo and IPMS New Zealand Nationals at Lower Hutt, just north of Wellington on the North Island.

2,000 people are expected to walk through the doors of the Horticultural Centre by the time the time the show closes this afternoon. The show features a real family atmosphere. In fact, Scale Models Wellington has organised a dedicated Junior Modellers Club, and some of the members were in attendance displaying their completed projects and building new models while the show went on around them.

The club also ran a "make and take" where kids could build and paint their own 1/72 scale Airfix Spitfire.

The hall is actually host to two model competitions, as the name of the event implies. In addition to the competition entries, there were some impressive displays on hand featuring not only models, but also uniforms, flags and patches.

A large scale model railroad layout was also set up, much to the delight of the kids. A number of monitors were displaying various angles of the layout, including a camera mounted on top of one of the moving trains.

Traders were doing brisk business too. New Zealand's most famous plastic export, Wingnut Wings, was the the highest profile of these.

Last week, Wingnut Wings announced that there would be a special limited new release available at the show.

This turned out to be a 1/32 scale Pfalz D.XII, which may be built as either the early version with the squared off tail surfaces, or the later version with the rounded rudder. Richard Alexander and Dave Johnson each built one of the new models for display this weekend (Richard finished his at 3:00 am on the morning of the show!) and both were kept busy with enquiries and sales of the new and existing kits.

One of the welcome new features of this kit is fitted five colour lozenge decals. You won't need to slice and dice sections of lozenge decals on this model.

Wingnut Wings' 1/32 scale Pfalz D.XII will be available on their website by early October.

We will have a fully detailed review of this kit early next week, along with video footage of the show.

In the meantime, here are some photos of a selection of the models and displays at the 2011 Scale Models Expo and IPMS New Zealand Nationals.

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Text & Images Copyright © 2011 by Brett Green
Page Created 21 August, 2011
Last Updated 21 August, 2011

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