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Comments on the Exhibition

Some thoughts three weeks on

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Ompa Ompa	21/12/2010 11:18:50
43 forum posts 1 photos	Despite the very obvious lack of security at the entrances on both set up and breakdown days I gather nothing was lost or stolen. As a club exhibitor we were advised that passes must be shown at car park entrances and personal badges should be worn at all times, neither aspect seemed to be taken up by the show/Sandown Park team. As far as the exhibition goes it maybe could do with some injection of 'live' models, be them from aeroplanes/helicopters, boats (bearing in mind there was a small pool but outside in the cold). A better organised area for live steam smaller gauge railways would have been a bonus, rather than have them outside almost at the front entrance, with many visitors rushing past them to gain more warmth in the main building. Last year a small team of management and the like visited each group and asked for their opinions on the show (2009) and maybe the way forward, copious notes were taken by many of them at the time. In certain aspects the words were acted upon but in many cases they were not. A dedicated team that remains as one over several years would be a benefit here, not a team that changes so regularly the feel of the show is lost along with many notes and paperwork. One bonus at Sandown Park is the ample car parking another the space in the hall, albeit due to a lack of supporters.
ady	21/12/2010 11:47:37
612 forum posts 50 photos	I would think that all materials have a place in engineering, the only real limit for individuals should be their imagination. I was chatting to a lady the other day whose family business had been connected to a furniture factory somewhere around Nottingham. On Friday they were making tables and sofas, on Monday they were being converted to make the de Havilland Mosquito -------- It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again..." – Hermann Göring, 1943. -------- Many innovative engineering leaps have been made using new materials and experimenting with previously ignored solutions because of "established practices". When officious types take over and start rulemaking you get what I would call the "British Government disease" of lost opportunities and missed innovation. Vive la difference is my 2 cents.
KWIL	21/12/2010 11:58:35
3681 forum posts 70 photos	Harrogate does of course have a very good display [static] of model aircraft.
David Clark 1	21/12/2010 12:32:57
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi There The boat pool has to be outside. The foyer was the bst place for the layouts as the smell of gas/fumes inside would be a nuisance. There is another level under Sandown so we can't have the pool inside because of leaks. We do try to continue with the same organiser. Clare Hiscock was assistant last year and organiser this year. Unfortunatley she fell ill a week before the show so a stand in had to be appointed at the last minute. I have not seen the suggestions collected in 2009. I will see if I can get hold of them. Any suggestions to improve the shaw should be emailed to me direct [email protected] I will see what I can do. regards David
WALLACE	21/12/2010 23:15:53
304 forum posts 17 photos	Gosh - Seymour Hall was in 1970 - that's the one I went to first of all. Appart from the planes wizzing overhead (!), I remember the man drilling holes in files with his carbide drills - I wonder how many he's gone through over the years as he was still at it at Sandown . . ! What I really did like about this years one was that the exhibits weren't 'fenced off' and there was usually someone close by to talk about them. A lot nicer than just being locked away in a glass case with a security alarm wrapped around them - unfortunately probably a sign of the times we live in . . . Here's a thought or two.. My first visit when I was 6 or so I wouldn't have known what a lathe was - but a ride on a steam engine was something to be remembered. Next visit a few years on, I'm probably looking more at the model electric trains wondering if I can get one for Christmas. Push the clock forward a few years and the electric trains don't really do it for me any more - much more interested in the live steam stuff- I wonder how they make them ?? Now I'm in my teens - I know what a lathe is - and what it does - and thinking - 'one day I'll have one of those '. A few years later with somewhere to put it and some money to buy one, I've got a L5 sitting in my Dads garage and I'm going to Olympia with a shopping list for tools and metal and will look at every exhibit wondering if I'll ever get the skill to even get close to what I've seen (like a working V8 aeroplane engine that's smaller than my fist . . ) . But I needed that first trip to get me hooked in the first place - and keep me hooked - which is why I'm convinced a wide ranging exhinition is the way to go. w.
hammer	21/12/2010 23:58:11
5 forum posts 7 photos	Unfortunately there appears to be an elitist attitude by the train fatality. Yes it requires skill to construct an engine, machinist, panel beater, painter and a bit of soldering, and in most cases deep pockets to pay for a boiler. Now in the first post on this thread boats where mentioned, I took two boats to the show, got commended OK. But none of the working boats received much more I feel the judges did not consider the working part sufficiently. If a simple model was in a case highly polished it got a medal. Sour grapes you are thinking, yes maybe but all the skills above are required. I will grant the accuracy is not required. But over 100 metal items required on one scale sail boat. Plus you need to be a seamstress woodworker (not model engineering). It would have been nice to know what the judges didn't like so things could be improved. Hammer.P.S. I though the show was very good.
David Clark 1	22/12/2010 08:53:10
3357 forum posts 112 photos 10 articles	Hi There The boat judges are boat modellers, not train modellers. All exhibits are awarded points for different disciplines. If you get enough points, you get awarded a medal. If you don't, you do not. There is nothing elitist about it. regards david
pcb1962	22/12/2010 11:05:39
65 forum posts	I too have fond memories of Seymour Hall at the age of eight or nine. I particularly remember being impressed by the boats in the swimming pool, something that today's 'paddling pool' displays can never hope to recreate. For me the balance of the Sandown Park show is about right, but then I fall firmly into the 'live steam - rail, road, or stationary' bracket. I'm quite happy to admire the workmanship in models that don't interest me, boats, clocks, ic engines etc, the only thing I don't really want to see are 'toys', such as the truck display next to the tank area at last year's Ally Pally show. I would not welcome planes, and especially not helicopters, buzzing around overhead, but I don't suppose H&S rules would allow it these days anyway, at Ally Pally the flying displays are very inconspicuous in their corner, and make a great place to dump the children for a while whilst I shop for tools.
WALLACE	22/12/2010 11:46:39
304 forum posts 17 photos	'at Ally Pally the flying displays are very inconspicuous in their corner, and make a great place to dump the children for a while whilst I shop for tools.' That's the point - make it big enough and there's room for everything - and something for everyone ! Think of John Lewis in Oxford Street. Just because there's a floor of womens clothing doesn't mean I won't go there to buy a tv . . .. w.
Cornish Jack	22/12/2010 15:25:22
1228 forum posts 172 photos	Ah, the nostalgia!! Seymour Hall was my first time at the ME also. So much more to see(and buy) than recently. Two items, no longer available or difficult to obtain - 'Clersite' a pink paste sold by a Colonel Sanders lookalike with his boiling kettle steam demo; and plastic devices a bit like tie wraps but much more useful. Haven't seen Clersite in ages and the plastic 'gizmos' are now only available in minimum quantities of 10,000 - used to be two in a packet from the ubiquitous Proops. C'est la vie!!
John Olsen	22/12/2010 18:56:32
1294 forum posts 108 photos 1 articles	Speaking of gas/fumes inside, when I was at Sinsheim back in 2000, not only did they have the ground level layout running inside, they also had a full size traction engine in steam inside. I think it was actually burning wood, they were cutting up firewood with a saw driven from the belt. They are very big halls there, but they must have good ventialtion too. regards John
Beesa	22/12/2010 23:04:05
8 forum posts	A very good show greatly appreciated incuding the pantomime to get in, we arrived at 9.45 on saturday with our resplendant pre-purchased tickets which had forgery proof foil printing and a very nice tear off counterfoil and what happens - we all have to queue up while two boys punch each ticket with an antique hole punch, this left the tickets with an almost invisible triangular flap cut in them and they could have been reused repeatedly, so much for the expensive printing, never mind, it was well worth the wait. Is it my imagination but are the trade stalls gradually changing over to cheap chinese tools?
pcb1962	22/12/2010 23:20:57
65 forum posts	"Is it my imagination but are the trade stalls gradually changing over to cheap chinese tools?" Not your imagination at all, I found the amount of 'toolzone' and similar junk on display quite depressing. The other thing that surprises me about the tool stands is how little companies like Chronos discount their stuff at shows compared to their normal online prices. If they were to knock 20 percent off their normal price I would walk out with a truckload of stuff, as it is I do plenty of looking but not much buying. edit - 'little companies like Chronos' - I don't mean Chronos is a little company! I mean the discounts at shows are small. Edited By pcb1962 on 22/12/2010 23:40:14
duncan webster	22/12/2010 23:30:40
5307 forum posts 83 photos	When the ME exhibition moved to south of London it gave up any claim to be a 'national' exhibition, but never mind, Harrogate and Leamington Spa are pretty good, and we from the frozen north can get there
John Stevenson	22/12/2010 23:49:22
5068 forum posts 3 photos	Posted by pcb1962 on 22/12/2010 23:20:57: The other thing that surprises me about the tool stands is how little companies like Chronos discount their stuff at shows compared to their normal online prices. If they were to knock 20 percent off their normal price I would walk out with a truckload of stuff, as it is I do plenty of looking but not much buying. Why?? If a company has got their pricing correct how can they afford to discount by 20% at a show when it's probably cost them between £3,000 and £7,000 to stand there. Money they would not have had to spend if they had stayed at base. John S.
Steve Garnett	23/12/2010 00:12:52
837 forum posts 27 photos	Posted by John Stevenson on 22/12/2010 23:49:22: If a company has got their pricing correct how can they afford to discount by 20% at a show when it's probably cost them between £3,000 and £7,000 to stand there. Money they would not have had to spend if they had stayed at base. Well John, that's pretty much what Warco were doing just behind you! Shame H&W/SM didn't do the same thing...
pcb1962	23/12/2010 11:37:11
65 forum posts	"If a company has got their pricing correct how can they afford to discount by 20% at a show" It's quite normal at a lot of other shows for trade exhibitors to sell stuff at a significant discount.
Geoff Sheppard	23/12/2010 11:46:54
80 forum posts 1 photos	I recall that one well-known model engineering trade exhibitor (no longer with us) used to put his prices up at exhibitions. His reasoning was that someone had to pay for the stand rental and it wasn't going to be him!
KWIL	23/12/2010 16:35:41
3681 forum posts 70 photos	Perhaps that is why they are no longer with us!
Richard Parsons	23/12/2010 18:20:08
645 forum posts 33 photos	Ady - I will agree with you. I went to see if I wanted to join my local M.E. club. They (wrongly) assumed I wanted to be one of ‘THEM’. They gave me a form to fill in and several weeks later I was summoned before the committee. I was told that my workshop was inadequate (Myford Super 7, pillar drill, a cheap(ish) vertical mill). I was also asked which 5” gauge locomotive, they gave me a choice of three (none of them I liked), I wanted to build (I did not want to build a 5”. I was told that I would be expected to steward Public Running sessions every two weeks for a full season before I could run my own locomotive on the clubs track. I was told that I would be given the privilege of helping to dig the foundations for the club’s extension plans. When I had built my locomotive and done all the earth works etc if my locomotive was up to their standard they would consider giving me the privilege of becoming a full member. I thanked them for their kind invitation said ’Nuts’ and walked out waving two fingers of my right hand as I went. I build what interests me and not what a club committe tells me. Edited By Richard Parsons on 23/12/2010 18:20:48

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