Xmas party and news of an interesting new model

The Xmas night was well-attended with a great many snacks and treats to eat. Thanks to all who have supported the Club throughout 2007. It has been a year of many changes, and we are in a great position to make 2008 a vintage year. The programme of events for the New Year kicks off on Jan 9th with our Film Theme Night, so take some time over the holidays to seek out your movie-related models and bring them along to show and discuss.

Article and Pictures

A new article by Bob Humpage about these superbly detailed 1:72 diecasts is available in the 'Articles & Diaries' section. A gallery of images is included in the article.

Model Roundup

This week we had a number of unmade models to talk about - some of which we will hopefully see completed soon.

Paul had an unsual kit for a Messerschmitt KR200 'Bubble Car' and a BMW Isetta 300. These come with rubber parts for an authentic vinyl roof assembly.

Bob brought along a new Wallace and Gromit motorbike and sidecar, part of a growing collection of Wallace and Gromit kits. Over the last twelve months the W&G Anti-Pesto van kit has proven the most popular kit in the club. We've had a number of versions - Jon did it by the book, Cris did an amazing airbrush job on it (and scratch-built the hood ornament), Dave converted his kit into a window cleaner and Bob is in the process of filling and sanding all the moulded dents in order to turn it into a pristine A35 van. A good example of the many different approaches you can take with a simple kit.

Cris came armed with a couple of TV-themed kits for those nostalgic about the 1980s. The AMT kits for the Duke's of Hazard General Lee and Knight Rider KITT are not the most detailed, but are intended for Cris's son (he says).

Jon showed a couple of unmade vinyl figures from the movie Gremlins, the cute Gizmo and evil Stripe. This will be Jon's first foray into airbrushing (hence the cheap vinyl kits) and he'll be on the lookout for help and advice!

Clive came with a small converted van, which he pocketed before a picture could be taken.
We were also joined by new recruit Payat who brought two excellent examples of his jet planes. Click a thumbnail below to view a bigger pic, or click 'hi-res' for a very large image.

(hi-res)	(hi-res)	(hi-res)

Programme for 2008
A new programme of talks and demos for next year has been agreed. Details are available on the Club Nights page.

George Robbins Trophy
A reminder was given about the George Robbins Trophy competition which will take place on the 9th April 2008. The judging category this year is 'Best Paint Job'.

Xmas Party
Our next meeting on 12th December will be our last before Xmas so we'll be having a small Xmas Party. Please bring some food or drink to share.

Show and tell for modellers.

All members were asked to bring along models we could talk about - either built, bought or to be built . I took along my Wallace and Gromit A35, still unfinished.

I also took along a trio of 1/76 scale diecasts including a couple of 60s classics from the ever growing Oxford range. These models are full of detail and are being built to compliment model railway layouts, but could be collected by those with an interest in classic vehicles but with limited space.

One of our newer members Steve Baldock had a small steam engine with him that he rescued from a Kettering sale for £20 in a rusty and dismantled state. Now running well after been rebuilt, parts replaced and manufactured over a period of time.

Our chairman has actually wavered from his military ground warfare and is going into the air with a couple of aircraft models:, a Corsair in 1/48 and a 1/72 Mosiquito.

Ray had a small bust of an unusual nature, Dustin Hoffman in full make up as the man in his hundreds who killed General Custer at the Big Horn from the film Little Big Man.

Rob had a chopped mini and Dave Baish bought along a 1/25th trailer he intends to build to go with his other trucks.

Show Report now online

A report from the RHTS show by Cris Simmons is now online.

Clive's rather cool Ducati 999, which he brought along to the last club meeting. More please!
(click pics for larger version)

Committe Update
Wasting no time at all, the new NMM Committee has met for the first time and put together a programme of talks and activities for club meetings over the coming months. There are a few dates to confirm, after which it will be published on the website.

2008 Shows
We also discussed attending more shows as a club next year, including MODELKRAFT 08 at Milton Keynes in February. A calendar of events will be drawn up so that we can decide which shows we want to attend as exhibitors and which ones we'd just like to visit as spectators.

Show us your kits!
It was also suggested that all members should bring along an item (model related) to each club meeting that anyone can chat about during the club meetings. It can be a finished project, work in progress or something for the future.

The EGM meeting took place on Wednesday October the 24th where voting took place for the vacant Chair and Secretary positions. We're pleased to announce the following appointments to the NMM Committee

Chair: Cris Simmons
Secretary: Bob Humpage
Open Seat: Paul Goldfarb

They will join Paul Gyngell and Jon Gyngell to make up a full committee of five members. Thanks to all members who attended the AGM to vote.

Mike and his excellent
presentation

Galleries of images from the recent demonstrations given by John Picton (Building a Scale Model House) and Mike Baish (Photographing Models) are now available.

A large gallery of images from the Earls Barton show is also available here.

Our new meeting venue (actually we'll be meeting in one of the carriages on the platform, but I don't have a picture of that yet...)

NMM are pleased to announce a new, regular meeting venue has been confirmed. Rushden Station, home of Rushden Historical Transport Society, will be the venue for all club meetings on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. Meetings will take place in the buffet carriages.

Our first meeting at Rushden Station will take place on Wednesday 10 October at 7.30pm.

RHTS: Our new best friends

It is with great pleasure that we announce that NMM are linking up with RHTS to form what we hope will be a long-term relationship. All members of NMM will join RHTS, allowing the club to use facilities at Rushden Station for club meetings.

For further information about Club membership and fees, please see the Club Nights page.

Who lives in a house like this?

John Picton presented a great talk on the process of scratch-building his scale model houses, based on real buildings in Great Houghton, Northants. Gallery to follow.

Preparations were finalised for the Earls Barton Steam Rally, where NMM will be exhibiting in the Craft and Model Marquee. A Gallery of photos from the show will be up soon.

The club stand attracting much attention at Hollowell.

Six intrepid Modellers set up the club stand inside the Model marquee. We had very good weather both days considering what it had been like the few days before the show.

The show attracted more than 3000 visitors over the weekend. Not everyone visited the Model Marquee, but quite a few hundred came through each day which was very rewarding.

The stand display looked very good - not too cluttered, with a good, diverse selection of models. This approach was borne out when we received the first prize within the Marquee for best model display. Our prize was a
bottle of Brandy, which we will auction off at the next club meeting, the money raised going to the club funds.

My thanks to Ray, Mike B, Mike W, Jack and Cris for exhibiting. A gallery of images from the show is now online.

Preaching to the Converted: Cris Simmons's display of plastic and resin conversion materials.

Many thanks to Cris Simmons who gave a fantastic talk and demonstration on Figure Conversions. There's a small gallery of photographs of some of the materials Cris had on display.

Also worth a note is the fact that we won First Prize for best display in the Model Marquee at Hollowell Steam & Heavy Horse Show on July 7-8. Congratulations and thanks to the club members who were in attendance!

OK; so I forgot to take any pictures of the meeting. Someone remind me next time..! Meanwhile, here's a nice pic of one of the 'Gigantics' kits I brought along...

The first club meeting for the new committee covered a range of subjects and there were some important decisions regarding club meetings going forward. It's worth highlighting a few points here:

• Club meetings will now take place on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. This means that the next club meeting will now be on July 11th

• The 2nd Wednesday of each month will be a club event, talk or demonstration, whilst the 4th Wednesday of each month will be a formal meeting followed by a social evening

"Here's one I made during the AGM." Proof, if it were needed, that there are more interesting ways to spend an AGM meeting..!

'All Change' was at the heart of this year's AGM with a new committee, an updated constitution and a new meeting place all confirmed in a busy meeting.

With Bob Humpage standing down and receiving an award for his service and dedication to the club over the last four years, Janet Picton became the new Club Chair. Paul Gyngell stays on as Treasurer whilst John Picton is our new Secretary, a role which includes responsibility for co-ordinating the club's attendance at shows and events.

Two new committee posts were also created, with Jon Gyngell (your humble reporter) becoming Publicity Officer, and Chris Simmons winning the vote for the Open Seat position.

It will be business as usual for the next meeting, with the new committee starting the process of planning club nights and other activities for the next 12 months.

Whose round is it anyway..?