The last time I wrote on one of these blogs I thought that if I
was supposed to be producing them on a regular basis I should start taking the
writer’s equivalent of Ex-Lax. After realising how long it is since my last
blog I really should be adding prune juice and gunpowder to that. Perhaps I
should just console myself that between making models and trying to get on with
life in general there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do
everything that I want to. We have all heard the saying that time goes quicker
the older you get and it is very true: I find myself two-thirds of the way
through the year feeling that it has gone quicker than a rainy Sunday afternoon
as a teenager.
Life is a truly wonderful thing and sometimes I stop and
marvel at some amazing events that have happened to me. Case in point being
that three years ago when I bought a kit from the United States (which, in
itself, is a miracle I would never have dreamed possible when I was younger and
thanks due to the introduction of the internet) who would have thought that I
would be selling the build up of said kit and posting it back to sunny
California (cue Al Jolson song at this stage of the proceedings). Sometimes,
despite the merry go round of day to day life, you have to stop and carry out a
review and I realised that I was quickly running out of space at home to store
my build ups. I decided that the best way to rectify this was to try and sell
off my collection and hence the sale of my Batman: Scars diorama that some of
you may recall from a chapter in my How to Build Better Dioramas book. I have
started this not-closing-down sale in a low key manner and some of you may have
seen my posts on various modelling forums. My gallery of models and dioramas
can be seen here. If you would like any further details or prices of models
you can contact me.
Another thing that I never expected to happen to me was to
see my work in a museum. Well, not exactly in
a museum, but featured on its website anyway. I recently discovered the
Mechanical Art and Design Museum in Stratford upon
Avon http://themadmuseum.co.uk/
which is full of amazing mechanical devices and a section devoted to Steampunk.
I am very pleased to say that the dioramas I made for the two Steampunk
Modeller Specials can be found in their work for sale section.
On the morning of Saturday 21st
July Andy Pearson and I arrived at the Manchester Central Exhibition Hall
to set up a stall with the aim of exhibiting and, hopefully, selling some of my
model collection. The MCM Expo didn’t open until 9:30am so Andy and I were
quite surprised to see that people were already queuing up at the door to get
in at 8 o’clock. Once we had found our stall it didn’t take too long to set up
and then it was time to wait for the announcement to cry havoc and let slip the
dogs of war, so to speak.
The number of people that had
come to the exhibition was phenomenal: with people queuing round the building
and waiting over an hour to get in. And all shape, size and colour of humanity
came through those doors – many in costume. Many were in superhero costumes,
with the recent Avengers movie being an obvious big influence and there were a
lot of Steampunkers there, but Manga and Anime subjects (of which I know
nothing) seemed to be the primary focus of the dressing up. Sadly there was a
lack of any vintage items on display and only myself with anything Anderson
My stand received a lot of
positive interest, particularly when I told people that each model was a one of
kind, hand built item, as most of the attendees were only familiar with factory
produced pre-built collector’s models. Unfortunately, the predominance of
interest in Manga and Anime meant that a lot of the audience were in the
mid-teen to mid-twenties age bracket and had come for more of a fun day out
rather doing any serious spending, so whilst I didn’t finish the day with
pockets full of cash I didn’t take back home as many models as I had come to
the show with.
Having said that the day was full
of potential with a lot of people taking my details and looking to give me
future commission work, and two young ladies asked me if I’d be willing to give
them one to one tuition: I obviously directed them towards my book as a
starting point! What was also interesting was that a dealer selling art prints
from down south said that if I took a stall at a London convention my models
would fly out the door and he was interested in buying a number of models
himself for re-selling. So you may well see me making an exhibition of myself
in the big smoke one of these days.
Five o’clock rolled round and it
was time to pack up. Andy and I headed home tired but having had a thoroughly
enjoyable day out. A day that I would classify as highly successful as it
confirmed to me that I have a good product and there is a market for it, all I
have to do is find the right audience and away I go!
I look forward to seeing you all
at the third UK Garage Kit show on 29th September, where my first
kit will be unveiled: my interpretation of Mike Trim’s War of the Worlds
Tripod, but done in a Steampunk style.
Happy Birthday Moonbase Central!
Barry
Barry
Respect Barry. What a fabulous modeller!
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