9th Annual Scale A.C.T Model Competition :
Over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of May 2009, the ACT Scale Modellers Society held its annual Model Expo and Competition at the Harmonie German Club in the Canberra suburb of Narrabundah. Having not been to Australia's Capital city since I was in my early teens, I though it would be a great opportunity to take my wife up for a holiday whilst also taking a few of my builds to contribute to the Model Competition.
It took about 8 and a bit hours to drive from little ol' Ballarat to the Nation's Capital. We left a little after 4am on the Thursday and arrived at our motel room a little before 1pm (after a couple of stops a long the way). Surviving the long drive were eleven of my models (I could have taken more but decided not to), those of which are pictured below :
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ScaleACT was awesome. There was quite a large number of models on display ranging from Armour, Aircraft and the like right to the other end of the spectrum with Sci Fi and other 'different' builds. Everything I saw, was of an extraordinary high quality - modellers in the Australian Capital Territory are certainly top notch!
There were also a large number of vendors attending including Mouse House Enterprises, Hawkeye Models, Platypus Publications, Empire Hobbies, High Planes Models, SANDLE Hobbies, The Modeller’s Choice, Runway 13, Red Roo Models, Ronnel’s Hobbies, Kerroby Models, Firestorm Models, ModelArt Australia, Creative Models Australia and Gosford Hobbies.
I entered my builds on the Saturday morning and then went off to do some sight seeing. When I returned at lunch time on the Sunday, I was pleasantly suprised to see that I managed to snare 4 place getters. I took out all top 3 places in the 'Prehistoric' Category (which was the 'Other' category when I first arrived on the Saturday - I believe that it was changed to 'Prehistoric' as there wasn't anything else but Prehistoric kits in the 'Other' Category!) with the Dilophosaurus (1st), Edmontosaurus (2nd), and the Velociraptor (3rd). I also managed to take out 3rd place in the 'Science Fiction' Category with my Anti MS Squad scene, 'Target Secure!'. Each winning entry recieved a Certificate as acknowledgement for the win and each entry into the competition that wasn't a place getter recieved a Certificate of Appreciation. Here is what I came away with on the day :
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All in all, ScaleACT was a great show to attend. It was well laid out (bar the lighting issues which the venue and organisers are working to improve for next years show) and extremely well supported by sponsors, vendors, volunteers and the general community that filed in through the doors. By all means, if you get a chance in future years, drop in to ScaleACT - you wont be disappointed!
The ACTSMS has a great website too that contains tons of info for members and non-members to view and can be found at : http://www.actsms.asn.au/.
Also, if you displayed your models at the show and I have a picture of it in the Gallery below, if you are after the photo, please contact me and I'll be happy to email it out to you.
For the entire gallery of pictures that I took at ScaleACT, click the banner below :
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