Tuesday 31 October 2017

The Shuttleworth Collection

The wife and I went away for the weekend for a friends wedding and on the way home we decided to visit the Shuttleworth Collection. I have been meaning to visit this museum for a long time and now that I have been I realise that I am going to have to come back to again. This aeronautical and automotive museum is renowned for its prestigious collection of very old and well-preserved aircraft, many of which still fly. In fact the reason I'm going to have to revisit the museum again is they hold a monthly air display - although sadly their season has now ended. Something to pencil into next years calendar!

A replica 1916 Sopwith Triplane

1920 Sopwith Dove (Replica)

SE5A

Model of a Fokker Triplane, the German 'copy'of the Sopwith Triplan.

Bristol Scout Type C - This replica was built in the 80's and still flies regularly

1918 Avro 504K

Replica of a 1918 Sopwith Camel

1916 Sopwith Pup


Bristol F.2b Fighter

20lb Cooper Bombs in their rack

1941 Hawker Sea Hurricane IB

Hawker Hurricane Mk 1

Part of a 1944 Messerschmitt ME 163B-1a Komet - The Komet used fuel that was so toxic and corrosive that flight and ground crew had to wear special protective clothing.

1938 Westland Lysander

Aircraft workshop

1934 DH88 Comet

Hawker Cygnet

The oldest flying aircraft in the collection- a 1909 Bleriot Type XI

The museum also has a nice collection of vehicles and motorcycles

1938 Hillman Minx Staff Car

1945 DH89a Dragon Rapide

Wallis Autogyro WA-116 "Little Nellie" as seen in the James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice"

The aircraft pictured here represent only a tiny portion of the collection so there is much much more to see in person. The bulk of the aircraft are displayed in six adjacent hangers allowing visitors to view the displays regardless of the weather. There is also a very nice cafe on site and an excellently stocked shop so you'll be hard pressed to go home empty handed. Well worth a visit and definitely worth a journey for an airshow day next year! 

Sunday 22 October 2017

SELWG 2017

Its not secret that SELWG is one of my favourite wargame shows. Its just the right size for me;  always has some great games on display; is close enough to my home that I can drive it in under an hour; usually the weather isn't too bad for standing in the queue before the doors open; and most importantly this is where I had a fateful meeting with those most rejected members of The Rejects, Ray and Fran (of Don't throw a One and The Angry Lurker fame). I have been going to this event for years and I have a lot of good memories so its not surprising that I have been looking forward to this years SELWG with growing anticipation.

The Traders seemed very busy and the quality of the participation & demo games was very high.

SELWG 2017

Traders on the Mezzanine

The Bring and Buy

Tunbridge Wellls -Sand and Salami - 15mm WWII

Tunbridge Wellls -Sand and Salami - 15mm WWII
Shepway Wargamers -Brittania 417AD

Shepway Wargamers -Brittania 417AD
Shepway Wargamers -Brittania 417AD
Streatham & Tooting Wargamers 

Streatham & Tooting Wargamers 

Streatham & Tooting Wargamers 

Newbury & Reading Wargames Society- Stoke Field 1487

Newbury & Reading Wargames Society- Stoke Field 1487

Society of Ancients - Sentinum 295BC

GLC Games - Red Badge of Courage - ACW Participation Game

GLC Games - Red Badge of Courage - ACW Participation Game

Gravesend Gaers Guild - Panzer Vor

South London Warlords - Darleks Invasion Earth 

South London Warlords - Darleks Invasion Earth 

Rosebyrne Demo Table

Peter Pig - Spanish Civil War 

Peter Pig - Spanish Civil War 
Peter Pig - Spanish Civil War 
Friday Night Fire Fight Club
No table signs means I don't know which club put this game on or what battle they are playing...All I can say for certain is its ACW!

ACW

Rejects on tour - Postie, Ray and Tamsin
Simon Miller - Battle of Ruspina - To the Strongest 

Simon Miller - Battle of Ruspina - To the Strongest 

Simon Miller - Battle of Ruspina - To the Strongest 

Maidstone Wargames - Fenris Decending 

Midstone Wargames - Fenris Decending 

Deal Wargames - Stopping the Traffic - Prudka River Sep 1939 -15mm WWII

Deal Wargames - Stopping the Traffic - Prudka River Sep 1939 -15mm WWII

Deal Wargames - Stopping the Traffic - Prudka River Sep 1939 -15mm WWII

Deal Wargames - Stopping the Traffic - Prudka River Sep 1939 -15mm WWII
Gravesend Wargames Club - Taking the Pissoir! - WWII 

Gravesend Wargames Club - Taking the Pissoir! - WWII 

Gravesend Wargames Club - Taking the Pissoir! - WWII 

Gravesend Wargames Club - Taking the Pissoir! - WWII 
Anti-Alchemists - Texas War of Independence 1835

Anti-Alchemists - Texas War of Independence 1835
Essex Warriors - Siege of Maldon 917AD

Essex Warriors - Siege of Maldon 917AD

Friday Night in Crawley - Landskncht! 

Friday Night in Crawley - Landskncht! 

Friday Night in Crawley - Landskncht! 
Loughton Strike Force - General de Armee 

Loughton Strike Force - General de Armee 

Loughton Strike Force - General de Armee 

SELWG Loot! A metric ton of MDF bases; two Blandford uniform guides; A Samurai figure; A Saga model of Alfred the Great; an Age of Adventure set of Livingstone and Stanley; A colonial adventurer figure; Alexander the Great by Warlord Games; a pack of celebrating vikings; and an Imperial Roman command set. The models are all destined to be painted as display figures rather than as part of any army I am building. 

That wraps up the games on display and all in all a pretty good selection of really good games. As usual I spent almost as much time chatting to friends as I did taking pictures. However the big thing today was that I restocked my lead mountain and managed to buy approximately a tree's worth of MDF bases! I was also very fortunate to find some very cheap uniform books on the Bring and Buy so all in all a pretty successful day out.