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The annual highlight of most UK modellers and many from all over Europe and further afield, the 2010 IPMS UK National show- now known as SCALEWORLD. (or to those 'in-the-know’.... simply as TELFORD..!!) was  again held in three very large halls at the Telford International Centre  in the county of Shropshire in the United Kingdom
Within the first hall a large, spacious food court served hot meals, hot /cold snacks along with beverages of all kinds; amply furnished with tables and chairs. As well as a genuine 1:1 Spitfire fighter aircraft and a separate cockpit simulator it gave many modellers the opportunity to meet friend over food and coffee and take a rest;  busy shoppers to inspect their latest purchases whilst still being  part of the hurly-burly that is 'Telford'.
The weather was not untypical for mid- November in the UK, drizzle and sun mixed during the day;.... this was not of much interest  to the many thousands of modelmakers who attended this years show to look, meet old friends and buy, buy, buy.... the Traders I spoke to reported a successful show despite the current wobbly economic climate.
Modelers from as far afield as the USA, Canada, Japan, Portugal, Malta, Italy Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, South Africa ,Austria, Greece, France ,Holland, Germany and many more  made for a truly international show;..... along with the UK visitors!!

Remembrance Sunday fell on this Telford  weekend, the RAF bugler playing a moving  rendition of ‘The last Post’ at 11.00 am  , followed by the 2 minutes silence being observed impeccably, followed by the uplifting ‘Reveille’
There were a vast variety of models shown both in type and quality.
Aircraft of all shapes and sizes dominated much of the exhibition space;  however this year the  IPMS  nautical  SIGs ( Special Interest Groups) namely Battleships SIG, Carrier SIG, Cruiser SIG, Small warships SIG, David Griffith’s 'My little Navy' and FineWaterLine.com had a huge long table collectively  66 feet long , crammed with ship models of all kinds and scales,  making a most impressive and  easily identifiable  landmark  that quickly became known as 'Ship row'. This plethora of ships tables was enhanced by the ‘German Gamblers’ having their ship stand opposite; which was also awarded the best stand display trophy! Each year the  FWL SIG has a themed display; this year being  Dunkirk1940 , many fine and innovative small displays were presented.
The sheer amount of model ships on display was quite overwhelming-especially considering that many were small ships in 1/700. As ever the quality and quantity of ship subjects in the competition continues to increase.
New products could be seen on the stands of White Ensign Models, L’Arsenal , YS Matsrepieces , Wespe Models, Cammet, Masterbarrels  and  new exhibitor to Telford,  JB Models Euro.
I am grateful for the generosity of Rui Matos and Fillipe Ramires for  their kind contribution of photos to make up for my shortfall in taking images of  the many fine models on the stands of  David Griffith  and  the Fine Waterline.com SIG  stands
 
The (volunteer!) staff of IPMS UK have also  to be congratulated on once again hosting another fine Scaleworld event  in such  professional manner .
See you all next year!
Jim Baumann