Euro Militaire 2007

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All the photographs of this year's Euro Militaire can be found HERE.

Folkestone in England becomes the centre of the World for armour and figure modellers twice a year. Once in February for Trucks'n'Tracks, and then again in September for the big one....Euro Militaire!

The show is owned and sponsored by Military Modelling Magazine, and in turn by their publishers, Magicalia.

This was to be only my second time at Euro Militaire, and the first time as an 'insider' or employee of Magicalia, and I wasn't sure what to really expect. The only thing I was expecting, was that it would probably be a lot easier to get decent pictures!

I arrived at the venue early Friday afternoon, in time to see some of the traders arriving and watch setting up in the various halls. It's surprising just how big the main hall is when it's empty....and it also amazing just how the traders manage to get their wares in there considering the access difficulties! They had to be patient and wait in their place in the queue, or simply park up top and carry boxes and boxes of merchandise down all the stairs!

Once into the event I was quickly introduced to Charles Davis, organiser of the event, and press-ganged into distributing the Euro Militaire pin badge to traders.....for a small fee of course, which reminds me, I still have a bag full of them that I'll have to return!

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Starting early on the Friday before the show opened to the public, at least allowed me to catch up with some people, and introduce myself and the website to some of the traders at the event, but I was careful not to interrupt their setting up!

It's surprises me at events of this nature, that some people have little appreciation of the effect that the Internet can have on their business. It's influence still hasn't reached it's full potential, and it's always an uphill struggle to convince some of this. Setting up on the balcony in the main hall was Ian Hanratty of Friendship Models, a business that has embraced the Internet and all it has to offer, including website advertising and Ebay, and also Robin Carpenter of Cammett's Ltd, both of these businesses experiencing recent expansion, in which I'm sure Internet awareness has played a large part!

One end of the large main hall was taken up almost completely by Accurate Armour who always put on a stunning display of their most recent releases, including the brand new Humber 1 ton GS truck, but also sell many other useful products such as Karaya tow cables and metal replacement tracks.

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With most of the traders set up, but still a few to come early on the Saturday, it was time to close up for the evening and enjoy the 'social' side of Euro Militaire, at the Southcliffe Hotel, where most of the traders stay during their visit. You can find a full list of the traders that attended the event here: Euro Militaire 2007 Details.

Eight o' clock on the Saturday morning, and the doors were opened to traders and club members to finish anything that needed it in preparation for the public beginning at 10 a.m. Sadly, each year there are always a few traders who, for personal reasons, can't make the show at the last minute, and Ken Jones the Magazine Editor and Charles Davis the show organiser, were busy making last minute adjustments to traders spaces, taking up the slack, and organising the many helpers that volunteer to help from the clubs attending the event. So a big Thank you must go to James Hodgkinson, Graham Brown, John Clifton and Chris Grove, who turn out each year. Chief Steward this year was Ian Parsons. Graham Brown and Malcolm Cuming gave a big hand when it came to putting the tables up, and then taking them down afterwards of course! Also Adrian Hopwood and Mike Harbour who were ably assisted by six Royal Gurkha Regiment soldiers this year. In fact the Gurkhas carried most of the tables upstairs to the balconies!

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Meanwhile the queue forming outside the Leas was beginning to lengthen, and it wasn't until the show was under way that it was realised there was a problem with the way people were being asked to queue. Many who had bought advance tickets were unhappy at being asked to queue again. I mentioned this later to the Events Co-ordinator for Magicalia, Jez Walters and it is definitely something that is going to be looked at closely for next year, as we're aware of the problem and sure we can find a solution that visitors to the show are happy with.

The contest area filled up quickly on the Saturday, and it seemed that once again, the numbers of figures being entered were down on last year, but the number of armour models, and especially dioramas were well up on last year. The room outside the contest area has a bar and is close to an area where really, really amazing sandwiches can be bought. At least I think they were amazing? They must have been for what they were charging? Anyhow, this small area is where a lot of the visitors to the show like to meet, have a sit down and catch up with guys they might not have seen since their last show, once their precious models have been entered into the contest and are safely placed onto the competition tables.

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Inside the competition area the tables are set up so that there are two tiers that the models can be placed on, which makes the best use of the available space. In charge of the competition again this year was Geoff Illsley, and I have to say all kudos to Geoff for a superb job of organization! If you visit the show you'll hear all sorts of weird and wonderful 'legends' about where not to place your model, such as not on the top tier, because that's where the judges place the ones they're not giving medals to, etc. All of which are hilarious, and totally untrue! All the models entered into the competitions are given due consideration. You can find a full list of the classes in the competition at the end of this article: Euro Militaire 2007 Details.

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The competition room is closed to visitors at 3 p.m. when the business of judging begins. This may seem early, but it's not a quick process judging all those models, and doing it at this time means that visitors then have all day Sunday to view the models and be aware of what level of award each has been awarded. It's an open system at Euro Militaire, in that there is no first, second and third place in each class, but instead if a particular model fulfils certain criteria then either a Gold, Silver or Bronze can be awarded, or a Highly Commended or Commended, and there is no limit on how many from each class can be awarded. Each class is given over to a judging team, who then examine each of the models, in previous years these have been drawn from the ranks of previous Gold Medal winners. At the end of judging, all the Gold Medal winners from each of the classes are brought together and long discussions take place in order to determine which of these should be awarded 'Best in Show'. As many of you will be aware by now, 'Best in Show' was awarded this year to 'Storm Child' by Roy Hunt, a popular piece and certainly a stunning and thought-provoking piece, congratulations Roy!

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On the Sunday morning, after another evening of 'socialising' at the Southcliffe, the show was off to a brisk start, visitors streaming in quickly, and speaking to the traders during the day, most of them were having a good weekend, with a few being more than happy! I had the opportunity to speak at length to Pete Morton of Jakrei Miniatures and Maurice Corry, who unfortunately had forgotten their banner for their stand, and that coupled with the fact that a lot of people were going to Friendship Models who are the main dealer for Jakrei meant that they were having a less than 100% successful show. I've a lot of reviews coming up on Jakrei figures thanks to Pete, and it's a shame he didn't have a great show, because his figures such as the Policeman and kid set are some of the most original and best sculpted out there!

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The Dragon stand, positioned where it was at the last show, on the stage in the main hall, was again the centre of attraction for many visitors, this year offering a special edition StuG III, as crewed by Georg Bose, a StuG Platoon Leader with Sturmgeschutze-Abteilung 177 on the Eastern front in 1944, who was at the show and was kept busy signing the kits! Herr Bose was awarded the Knights Cross after an action in Radziwillowka on 28-28th July in 1944. He was held by the Russians until 1948, after which he studied architecture and retired in 1987. It certainly brings home to you, a little of what these people experienced, no matter what side they fought on, when you meet them face to face, an experience to be remembered.

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Up on the balcony, side by side with Cammett's Ltd., Alex Medwell of the The Airbrush Company was on hand to introduce Rob Hendon who was able to demonstrate Iawata airbrushes and their full range of products.

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All too soon things seemed to be winding down, and the end of the weekend was approaching. All that was left were the awards waiting to be presented on stage, a full list of which is being collated as you read this, and will be appended to this article as soon as they're available. So until next year....

Class 1 - Painted Single Foot Figures (Up to65mm)

Class 2 Painted Single Foot Figures (Over 65mm)

Class 3 - Painted Single Mounted Figures (All scales)

Class 4 Converted/Scratch Built Single Foot Figures - (Up to 65mm)

Class 5 - Converted/Scratch Built Single Foot Figures (Over 65mm)

Class 6 - Converted/Scratch Built Single Mounted Figures (up to 65mm)

Class 7 - Converted/Scratch Built Single Mounted Figures (Over 65mm)

Class 8 - Vignettes

Class 9 - Dioramas

Class 10 - Boxed Dioramas

Class 11 - Painted Military Busts (Up to 1:4 scale)

Class 12 - Miscellaneous Military Figures

Class 13 - Single Military Vehicle Kits

Class 14 - Converted/Scratch Built Military Vehicles

Class 15 - Military Vehicle Dioramas

Class 16 - Military Vehicle ‘Vignettes’

Class 17 - Painted Single Flat Figures

Class 18 - Painted Flat Figure Groups

Class 19 - Flat Figure Dioramas

Class 20 - Painted Single Civilian

Class 21 - Converted/Scratch Built Single Civilian

Class 22 - Miscellaneous Civilian

Class 23 - FANTASY

Class 24 - Junior Display Models

Best In Show