Comments on the Exhibition

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

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 OlsenParticipant @johnolsen79199]

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

[BeesaParticipant @beesa]

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?

[pcb1962Participant @pcb1962]

“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 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

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 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

 

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 GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

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…

[pcb1962Participant @pcb1962]

“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 SheppardParticipant @geoffsheppard46476]

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!

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Perhaps that is why they are no longer with us!

[Richard ParsonsParticipant @richardparsons61721]

 

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

[SpurryParticipant @spurry]

Posted by Geoff Sheppard on 23/12/2010 11:46:54:

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!

 

Well,  there’s still at least one exponent of that business technique attending the shows. There is not usually a price list displayed which gives a clue.

 

Pete

[hammerParticipant @hammer]

Posted by hammer on 21/12/2010 23:58:11:

DAVID This is more like what I wanted to say HAMMER

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. (I was referring to some of the comments in this thread. Not the judges) 

Now in the first post on this thread boats where mentioned, I took two boats to the show, got commended OK.( I was happy with this as it was my first entry) 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. (This just an observation)  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. (I know conversation with judges are impossible, but a card of points could be useful in improving entries next time.)  Hammer.P.S. I though the show was very good.

 

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi There

The judges consider everything and points are awarded or not on what they find.

One of the things taken into account is prototypical accuracy.

Perhaps these boats had an oscillating engine or similar and lost points.

All entries are judged fairly.

regards David

 

[StovepipeParticipant @stovepipe]

And I couldn’t attend, because I was required for domestic duties, SWMBO having broken her left wrist (tripped over the rug in the lounge).  So I feel thorougly grumpy because i missed out on it. grump, grump !

 

Dennis

[David PiddingtonParticipant @davidpiddington35663]

The first Model Engineer Exhibition I went to was in 1956 – IN MID-SUMMER – and held at the New Horticultural Halls in (Kensington?? _ I foreget) and in those days if was almost universally model engineering content. Aged 17 I went with my Dad. It was then that I determined that one day I would build a 3.5″ gauge loco. I just might live long enough to do just that. Later when Model Engineer combined under other model magazine publishing houses, the event continued its name as the “attraction” but many other disciplines were included. Over many years this process has continued. There are two other national model engineering exhibitions, those at Harrogate and at Leamington Spa, one in May and the latter in October, and both principally model engineering disciplines. Perhaps THE “ME” should consider a different timing and content for what was once the premier event.

David Piddington

[Brian Everett 1Participant @brianeverett1]

Just a comment on the Plastics controversy.

 

Would a all metal chassis of a model F1 car fitted with a scale carbon fibre body shell (plastics) be eligible, or not ?

 

Plus, what about the adhesives used to anchor wheels to axles on scale locomotives etc,, is that chemical engineering ?  Surely such products are plastics and therefore borderline ?

 

Best regards.

 

Brian. 

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

I don’t think the controversy is about the use of plastic materials. It’s more about injection moulded plastic parts already shaped that just need sticking together, arguably the model discipline furthest from tradional engineering as most people think of it. A genuinely fully scratchbuilt plastic model could just about be argued into the model engineering category but Airfix kits, even with minor mods can’t really be considered engineering. Not saying that plastic kits aren’t a skill in their own class. The standards of construction and painting are high but it’s a completely different skill set which has nothing in common with traditional engineering.

[Author]

Posts