South West Model Show at the
Bovington Tank Museum Spring 2025

Once again we were able to display an excellent range of models on 5 tables at the South West Model show at the Bovington Tank Museum. The Saturday was very busy until late afternoon when the footfall became less. The weather was cold and damp and probably helped to increase the numbers of people wanting to be indoors, although the main hall was quite cold and needed warm clothing.

The members attending together with display models were;

David McNair Taylor with his Fleet Air Arm collection comprising Hurricane, Swordfish, Skua, Wyvern, Buccaneer, Gannet AEW, Phantom, Harrier, Lynx, F35, Sea King and Spitfire. The Aircraft Carriers on display were Ark Royal (2 versions), Illustrious and Queen Elizabeth II. These ships spanned over 70 years of service. On Saturday only the Bismarck was also on show.

Tony Ansell showed a display stand with a Vulcan, Victor and Valiant. A novel display showed a Horsa Glider being towed by a Halifax. The Leopold Rail Gun was difficult to miss and attracted much interest. He had 4 dioramas on show, the first featuring the Handley Page Heracles, the second showing a Tiger Moth and a Bulldog while the third showing a sports car in a garage setting. The fourth was a sand setting for the Blenheim. The final frontier was represented by an illuminated model of the Enterprise from Star Trek.

Graham and Penny Coombs displayed two radio controlled lorries, the first a Tipper truck and second was a huge articulated tanker.

On the Saturday only were John Wills with his 350th scale RM Roma while Dave and Andrea Reith had the F1 John Player Special, a Bentley 4.5 Litre and two aircraft, the FW 190 and the Airfix Gannnet.

On the Sunday only John Edwards showed his Tribal Class Destroyer HMS Eskimo and two Black Swan Class ships, Amethyst and Whimbrel.

Our thanks go to the Museum staff for organising an excellent show and for their help and assistance.