CBK SMW 2024 theme discussion...

[mattbacon]

Hi, folks.... it seems to have got to that time of the year again (looking back, previous theme threads begin around Valentine's Day...) Maybe it needs to be this long after Telford and SMW, or maybe it begins just after the "Huddersfield" (Halifax, Leeds....) Show. Whatever, there's been a bit of time to mull, cogitate and inwardly digest. So, we're inviting thoughts, or even vague ideas, for what our theme for SMW and shows beyond should be. James and I have had a couple of long car journeys and some time behind tables to discuss, so we have a couple of starters for 10, but if anyone else wants to throw other alternatives into the bunfight, please feel free, and an open, transparent and democractic process will be followed. The two ideas that we had are:

1) Looking a gift box in the mouth
Builds of the kits you either wanted or got as gifts as a youngling. Was there a Series 8 or 10 Airfix kit that you dropped a load of hints about, whether a 1/72 B-29 or one of the Superkits, or a 1/32 Revell Mosquito or 1/8th Chopper? They could be kits you got, and would like another go at with your current skill set, or kits you didn't get and would like a chance at. They don't have to be big or spectacular -- the story is what matters, so if you want to build the model that your first pocket money from your grandparents bought, or you want to have a go at the model your Uncle who was more interest in railway engines than planes built you anyway as a youngster. All we ask is that you bring a model and a story about why it was or could have been a gift that meant something important to you. If it helps picture it, mine would be one of either the Airfix Hercules with Bulldog Missile that my Uncle built for me when I was 6, with the Herc in sand, brown and black camo with a white cap over the cockpit, or the Airfix Royal Sovereign that my dad bought and we built together when I was 10 or so.... (I fear that the Tamiya Perkasa and Hasegawa Vanguard that we sailed on the rock pools in Bude don't qualify as CBKs....)

2) All the World's CBKs 1974-75
Because one of the things we love about CBKs is the variety of subjects and scales they offer, we've tended to shy away from displays that are too prescriptive on that score. However, it's also pretty evident that 1/72 aircraft are the most common genre to be found around UAMF; many people build only 1/72 planes, and even those of us who mostly build other things knock out the odd 1/72 wingy-thing from time to time. They were the mainstay of most Classic British Kit manufacturers, after all, especially the slightly more obscure ones. This display would be centered on "Janes All the World's Aircraft", either the 1974-5 edition, or 1954-55, 64-64 and 75-75. Anything that's in the Index of the 1975-5 Edition (or all three if we go that route) would be eligible (the reason for this is that the rubric for the book says that it goes in depth into the most important aircraft of that year, but if an aircraft was covered in depth in either of the two previous years that coverage won't be repeated and it will index the coverage in previous volumes). The display would be made up of 1/72 aircraft models from CBK manufacturers of prototypes that were in the Jane's book or index. As a one-off, this doesn't feel too restrictive. I have the Janes' to hand if anyone wants to see the lst. The KIT would not have to be from 1974-5 or earlier, just a CBK, so if you wanted a Panavia MRCA/Tornado or a SEPECAT Jaguar then later classic Airfix/frog or Matchbox kits would be AOK... If it makes a difference I have an killer idea for the display T-Shirt for this one...

Let the discussion commence!

best,
M.

[Gregers]

Both great ideas. Can I add to the mix "80 years since D Day in CBK's"?
I know other displays may feature d-fay themes but may be worth considering?

All the best

Greg.

[JamesPerrin]

After celebrating Local Model Shops a follow-up theme could be based around the model mags of our youth - Airfix, SAM, Scale Models as well as all those "How to Build Models" books by Chris Ellis et al. Pouring over the adverts and mail ordering things sight unseen from model shops and the cottage industry. Models of kit reviews and the plethora of conversion articles when these publications were often the only source of detailed information we had access to.

Of the two Matt and I discussed I'm heavily leaning toward the Gift Kits idea if only because we could decorate the display with wrapped presents and balloons as if it's little Jonny's birthday and/or Christmas.

[PaulBradley]

Some interesting ideas already. I need to get my thinking cap on!

[beany]

Like the first idea, not so much the second (too many other tables with just aircraft on them). I've always just love the variety of subjects that CBK offers, from aircraft (incl. airships & airliners etc.) to trains, hovercraft, ships, boats, figures, engines, vehicles (2 wheeled and upwards), all manner of AFVs, buildings and dinosaurs to name a few and I think the years we have had those sort of displays have gotten so of the best feedback.
Hence another suggestion (to encompass the above and has not been done since 2012) - Classic British Box Art #3.

[PaulBradley]

Well, there are also Jane's All the World's Fighting Vehicles, Jane's Fighting Warships and Jane's All the World's Dinosaurs.....

I like James' idea of the mags of our youth. Could also include Military Modelling, of course, but perhaps also the older RAF Flying Review/Air International, for example, which had a good modelling column. We could make it a single year - 1975, perhaps - or extend that to the Seventies in general. Then we could narrow the kit selection to that decade when The Big Three were all operating for a good chink of the period.

[mattbacon]

Keep ‘em coming! Personally, not super keen on D-Day: there’ll be plenty of others, and they won’t be restricted to the relatively limited array of relevant CBKs. And while I’m a big fan of the Classic Box Art theme, the challenge has always been to get enough people to give it a go and get their finished product to Telford…. The model mags is an interesting thought, but perhaps a bit too close to the last one , and I think to do it properly we’d have to be prepared to do some old school kitbashes, balsa conversions and scratch building, which featured a lot more heavily in the 70s mags I have than they do today. Doing EVERYTHING that appeared in the 1974 Airfix Magazine Annual between us might make for an interesting challenge, though!
Best,
M.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Doing EVERYTHING that appeared in the 1974 Airfix Magazine Annual between us might make for an interesting challenge, though!
Best,
M.

Just for clarity, do you mean the Airfix Magazine Annual 4, copyright 1974?

[Ratch]

Why restrict the 74-5 CBKs to aircraft? And why to only those in Janes? Who will decide which aircraft qualify?
Why not any kit that was issued 1974-5?

[mattbacon]

Another thought, building somewhat on James's idea:

CBK in Profile
Those little booklets that were an inspiration for many of us (and for kit manufacturers, especially for marking schemes). Models made from CBKs of subjects covered in a Profile publication. It's not as restrictive as it might at first sound. There are 262 aircraft types in the aircraft range (with many colour schemes in each one), but there are also 90 AFVs and tanks, 22 "Small arms" which would allow the building of figures and dioramas from the Wild West to the Iranian Embassy siege (and the Beretta if anyone wants to do James Bond and Oddjob...), 40 warships that read like a catalogue of Airfix's 1/600 and 1/72 ranges, and 96 cars, many of which have been covered in 1/32 or 1/24 by CBK manufactures. The consistent format of Profile Publications would lend itself to display design and labelling, and if someone was feeling really brave, they could make a set of "half-kits" mounted on a backboard showcasing the full set of markings in the colour pages of a specific profile... I have a handy DVD with all except the cars on, and the cars in a separate folder on my PC, so full listings are easily available...

best,
M.

[PaulBradley]

Oooh, now that's a promising idea, Matt. I have quite a few paper copies of single profiles (Mostly aircraft), many bound copies and a full set of aircraft profiles on CD. The aircraft and armour ones in particular have quite a few colour profiles in each, giving plenty of scope for alternative markings. The base of the display could be based on the different colours used on the covers of each series.

[DavidWomby]

You can find most of them (and other good stuff) online here: https://boxartden.com/reference/gallery/index.php

David

[PaulBradley]

Bookmarked! What a useful resource! Cheers, David!

[chrism]

How about every model has got to have an accompanying beer wine or drink bottle to accompany it
so Wadsworth brewery do a Swordfish ale, shepherd and Neame do Spitfire you can also get tiger beer and centurion cider and others ... you get the gist

[PaulBradley]

Strongbow - the Airfix Robin Hood kit.....