Two days before the competition at the studios of ITE Cental
Me and Sim brought the models over to ITE Central as Sim was travelling and could not be on time. I was on my way to Beijing too and Grand Master Ee Keok Lye helped us to submit the models to the show two days later.
This is the new beautiful campus built in the Prime Minister's ward Ang Mo Kio complete with NTUC Supermarket and restaurants with free parking to serve the community. Along with full Olympic pools and running tracks which the residents can use for exercising in the evenings after school hours. Amphitheaters and aerospace display areas are hot areas too for students to gather and chit chat. I was told that there are 3 canteens, and I went to the basement one with air-conditioning. Its better built that NUS I must say.
This is Ee Keok Lye's Grand Master Champion entry with two "bikini" boys in boots.
This Helix by Ee also took home a commendation medal. It was summarily sold too.
This sundowner F4B from Ee also took home the commendation medal.
There were some creative entries like this torpedo hitting the waters being released from the Fairley Swordfish is one example. There was also a Space Shuttle with LED lights in the plumes which was awarded the Best Creative Award.
Beautiful F5E aggressor from Sim, an SIA Aerospace tech for 20 years. The rendering of the paintwork is superb, however, one of the judges, Mr. Leslie was not impressed and penalised him. He believed that aircraft should be like those in the RSAF, clean as a whistle. Problem is, RSAF trained for show, others trained for war. We used the F5 twice as long as the Americans. Sigh....its harder to paint a weathered look and prizes went to the amateurs instead of the more proficient ones. If this is the trend then modelling standards in Singapore will fall behind the world scene due to competition judging bias. Modelling is an art form, it should pay dividends to those who developed better techniques and paint them well instead of just gluing the parts together. I hope we have a change in judges soon to match up with the global standards and trends in artistic interpretation of modelling, otherwise, the hobby is dead.
Other views of the F5E with superbly detailed AIM9 Sidewinders. Kudos to the efforts. Unfortunately, he won nothing.
This Kamov is my favourite entry in the competition as it was well rendered and the details of assembly is very crisp. Paint rendering rivals those in Spain, Italy and Scandinavians. Super steady hands in the panelling and light weathering. Unfortunately, its also penalised and won nothing by the infamous Leslie whose models are 20 years behind time. If Leslie were to bring his best and put it next to this in Euromilitaire or IPMS, this chopper would have chopped him to bits. This is worthy of a gold medal in Europe, and Leslie can keep is not mentioned category. I have made this clear to Hobby Bounties after the meet. If we are not aligned to the world standards, then, there is no improvements over the Lindberg and Frog model days where they were packed in a plastic bag. It becomes boring and no efforts are made to make the models stand out and differentiate from each other. If there are 20 Javelins, all painted with one grey and one green, then the whole show is crap.
Captain SK did this F5E aggressor. SK have a superb neat work and the camo looks like a pain to do. Light touch of weathering makes this a very neat model. Won the commendation medal. Congrats brother.
The one that got away. Sim's F16D in USA. I have told him earlier that he can tone up and bring the shades up a notch to make it lighter as the weathering normally brings the whole thing a few notches darker. Unfortunately, its too late, he already had the decals on and cannot paint it further. Otherwise, it would have won something. This case, I would have agreed with Peter, the organiser and judge that its a little too worn out. Had it been in Hellenic Air Force colours, it would have been a better representation. Sigh, lesson learnt.
48th Academy F4C from Viet Name. Quite a nicely done entry. Like the light touch of weathering.
Chop shop diorama of a nice Corsair. work was done also with resin parts to depict the chopped areas. Interesting twist of view. Liked the grass backgrounds.
Swordfish sorry for the bad picture taken with my mobile phone.
Mr. Sprucutters with a nice commendation Model and a good Lancaster kit.
Wide smiles for almost everyone due to Peter Chiang's great generosity.
Sim won two commendation medals. Including a 24th scale Harrier Jump Jet.
A happy SK with his favourite subject, a Focke Wulf 190 or a ME109, which ever, he is a happy lad.
The prizes by Peter is really generous and it makes it worth the effort to do a good job every middle of the year, now being the 9th time its been held. Well done Peter and we thank you for supporting the hobby. I hope the tweaks on the judges will be better off to improve the look and feel of the show. I hope that next year, there will be more dioramas on show to make it more interesting. Being an aeronautical competition, dioramas will increase the overall spread of skill sets in modelling, including figures, land vehicles and buildings. This will make the show a lot more interesting.
My haul of the day, including buying Ee Keok Lyes 24th scale new Airfix Hawker Typhoon for S$150. The 72nd Mirage is a superb kit complete with resin cockpit and landing wells. I was so happy with the haul I have forgotten to take a picture of my entry! Crap!