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Sideways-King

Uk Model Expo?

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Does anyone know of any RC Model Exhibitions/Shows in the UK. There was a Modelex a few years back at the NEC which was OK and I've not heard or seen anything since. Is there such a thing anymore?

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I used to go to a big show in London a few years back when I was a kid. It was at Olympia and around christmas time. We're talking 15 odd years ago now though..... God I feel old.

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They've all died a death. Sandown model symposium (at Sandown race course in Surrey) was pretty massive and covered everything - great event. South West Model Expo was pretty big. Even Romsey Model World near me - all gone. There was a big model boat festival in Weymouth a couple of weekends ago which was pretty good.

Probably the biggest down south now are the Southern Model Airshow at the Hop Farm Kent on the weekend of 20th / 21st September and the Eastnor model show on the weekend of 16th/17th August (not really in the south !!).

All the big ones generally used to be air based but used to have bits devoted to boats and cars. I don't think there's a big car only show now (certainly not in the south anyway)

Do Googley type searches on these and it will turn up all the info you need. But things certainly ain't what they used to be model show-wise. Guess we're a minority interest now. Building rc models requires a bit of patience, digital dexterity and perseverence and actually requires that you leave the house once in a while. What chance do we stand in a hi-tech, digital, make believe, virtual world of instant gratification and stardom expected by the majority of today's youth. God I'm such an old fart ;-)

Pete

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Do Googley type searches on these and it will turn up all the info you need. But things certainly ain't what they used to be model show-wise. Guess we're a minority interest now. Building rc models requires a bit of patience, digital dexterity and perseverence and actually requires that you leave the house once in a while. What chance do we stand in a hi-tech, digital, make believe, virtual world of instant gratification and stardom expected by the majority of today's youth. God I'm such an old fart ;-)

Pete

Pete - Its a point well made about not fairing up to the 'youth' of today with gaming and techno gadgetry etc. I took my Kyosho (swearing on here I know...tut!) Nitro to the park the other night with my wife and little boy and immediately the group of 'youths' hanging around on a park bench looking rather intimidating suddenly got aroused and all of a sudden became chatty innocent lads again, took off the 'hoodies' and showed an ounce of interest. Soon as the fuel ran out and the girls came over they went back in to Kevin and Perry mode! LOL. Mind you when your knelt on the floor tugging like the clappers at a pull start to get the thing going the wife soon walks off as well.....very un cool ;)

Anyway digressing slightly - Its a shame about the shows really but you'd think the Magazines would get together and do a show of sorts, or better still what about a Tamiyaclub Show? All members could bring their rides along, a bit like a 1:1 car show and people could put names to faces. I'm sure the size of this club would get manufacturers enthused to set stands up, they'd make 50% of the annual turnover by having us all at the same venue at one time in a day anyway LOL!

RCX in the USA looks pretty good, anyone been? Might look at going next April.

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Its a shame about the shows really but you'd think the Magazines would get together and do a show of sorts, or better still what about a Tamiyaclub Show? All members could bring their rides along, a bit like a 1:1 car show and people could put names to faces. I'm sure the size of this club would get manufacturers enthused to set stands up, they'd make 50% of the annual turnover by having us all at the same venue at one time in a day anyway LOL!

RCX in the USA looks pretty good, anyone been? Might look at going next April.

You're right. It would be good. But I guess these things take a lot of organising. I've started to do a bit of crawling on the side with my - cough - ahem - Gmade Spider - cough and I watched, through the UK Crawling forum, the hassle the guys had getting people to commit to that. I think all went well in the end but it was touch and go for a while whether there'd be enough people to compete. It's funny, I'm a bit of a biker on the side. Just have a little SV650S but on the SV650 forum they set a date and place and 50 or 60 SV's turn up there for a ride out whether it's down south, in Wales or whatever. It just doesn't seem to happen with RC. Shame as the vast majority of people I meet through RC are a great bunch. And we spend a bleedin' fortune on our RC hobby so I'm not sure who'e making the money. It doesn't seem to be the model shops. It's probably down to the importers and distributors to give a bit back and for them to put the effort into organising a show as, at the end of the day, it's in their interests rather than ours.

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I used to go to a big show in London a few years back when I was a kid. It was at Olympia and around christmas time. We're talking 15 odd years ago now though..... God I feel old.
Im sure there was a show in the late 80's @ Crystal Palace, but i may have dreamt it :D

That was the Model Engineering Exhibition and it's still there, it just concentrates on model engineering now rather than having all those extra hobbies (such as an r/c car racing meeting) distracting from the core interest.

Instead the BRCA runs a demonstration track and display at the Autosport International Show each year.

Modelex disappeared purely because the promoters were losing money on it.

All the big ones generally used to be air based but used to have bits devoted to boats and cars. I don't think there's a big car only show now (certainly not in the south anyway)
Model plane and boat enthusiasts are more interested in shows, both as visitors and in putting on proper demonstrations. The majority of car enthusiasts are mainly bashers and have no interest in going to shows, nor do we seem to be able to get people to properly demonstrate them. Most r/c car 'displays' consist of a club running a meeting at the event which isn't particularly interesting to spectators compared with an acrobatic plane demonstration.
Its a shame about the shows really but you'd think the Magazines would get together and do a show of sorts,
The magazines in the UK can just about afford to employ what few staff they have, they certainly can't afford to organise a show. For example just relatively small the area donated to the BRCA for a track at the Autosport show is worth 30,000 if it was rented to an exhibitor. A big show would be a great idea if you can find someone to come up with the vast sums of money needed to put it on, then encourage enough people to turn up so they get their money back from the visitors.
or better still what about a Tamiyaclub Show? All members could bring their rides along, a bit like a 1:1 car show and people could put names to faces. I'm sure the size of this club would get manufacturers enthused to set stands up, they'd make 50% of the annual turnover by having us all at the same venue at one time in a day anyway LOL!
That's the Tamiyaclub Spring Drive, an annual meeting for all TC members in the UK at a central track. Search the showrooms for K2K5, K2K6 and K2K7. Attracts about 100 members.

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That's the Tamiyaclub Spring Drive, an annual meeting for all TC members at a central track. Search the showrooms for K2K5, K2K6 and K2K7. Attracts about 100 members.

"Annual"?

Mud.

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There is the Unity Hobbies Festival from september 6th to september 13th!!!!!!!! A full week of radio controlled cars, boats, planes & helicopters plus alot more!!!!!!! AND the Tamiyaclub off road championship on sunday the 7th September!!!!!!!! :)

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That was the Model Engineering Exhibition and it's still there, it just concentrates on model engineering now rather than having all those extra hobbies (such as an r/c car racing meeting) distracting from the core interest.

The Model engineering show I remember going to a couple of times in the mid '80s was held at Wembley.

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