Moments of Zen

[Old Wombat]

A bit more advertising (flyers/posters/etc. placed in shop/cafe/etc. windows), more social media presence &, maybe, see if you can get an interview on local public radio, if you have this.

If you don't already, take stat's of how many people attend & use that when talking to retailers, as a way of showing there is a concentrated market to be taken advantage of, & thus enticing more of them to attend.

If you have some talented members, have them do workshops on things like basic airbrush techniques, painting figures or even something as simple as affixing transfers/decals.

Don't under-estimate the power of competition; have some judged categories, not necessarily everything at once, that can grow over time, but have a prize (even a relatively cheap trophy is enough). The club that hosts the Adelaide model expo has sponsors for the competition categories, it's going to cost me a whopping $35 to sponsor one next year (so someone else can sponsor the "What If" category - I can't sponsor it if I'm going to compete in it, which makes sense).

[zenrat]

A Peoples/Visitors Choice award is IMO a must have.  It gives all the visitors a reason to study all the models more carefully than they might do otherwise and makes them feel that they are more involved than if they were just spectators.
First trophy I won at a show was peoples choice and its probably the one which means most to me.

[DogfighterZen]

Excellent tips, guys, thank you!
Regarding the ads, that was one of the problems but it's on the list of things to be sorted for the next event.
The stats were taken by one of my colleagues cause we have to show the results at the city hall cause this was sponsored by them, they gaves permission to use the facility and even helped us with the army in getting the Willy jeep for the entrance.
The workshops didn't go according to plan cause we had 2 of 3 workshops canceled with the absence of one person.
Still, one of the workshops did go well and to fill in for the canceled ones, one of our club did a quick airbrushing for beginners workshop for all the kids and after that he did a bit of chipping techniques for the more experienced modellers. All workshops were free for all.
The competition side was left out as this was the first event we ever held and we want to do things right. As we don't have much experience and we knew it was going to be difficult to have a good number of modellers participating, we left that out for this one.
We will have to find sponsors, we will probably speak to some of the Portuguese shops for prizes and maybe the city hall to help with trophies.

Fred, that's a very good point, I agree that it would be more interesting for the visitors.
That will be in my list of things to speak about on the next club meeting. 

Last night I still managed to put the 4 winders on the Phantom but I'm still sick and couldn't handle the cold so I hit the sack earlier. I'm at the hospital right now, to see if they can give me some medicine for this crap... I've only been waiting to be seen by the doc for 1 and a half hours... 

[NARSES2]

That's a nice looking venue 

[DogfighterZen]

That's a nice looking venue 

Thanks, Chris!  It is a nice place to hold such an event, we've got plenty of space and good lighting on most of it. We also have a storage room which can be used to store the boxes or whatever one uses to carry the models... bathrooms, a bar... we even have a permanent stage for anyone who wants to play rock'n'roll for the models...
Anyway, it is indeed a nice place to hold a modelling event and we don't have to pay a thing to use it because my friend and co-founder of the club, architect Zé Paulo Brito works at the city hall of the city where we held the show, and the modelling club is part of a state subsidized organization, it's like a local culture house which houses and helps out various different associations. 

So, one of our members took good pics of all the models but he had problems with the files so he's trying to re-edit all of the pics again but he found time to put together a small video with most of the models on the show.

https://youtu.be/Kub65YaVJBk

I'll share the video on the "good links" section so it can be separated from this thread.

So, now i'm back home, sick as can be but with 3 boxes of crap to get rid of the crap in me... I'm taking a few days off work which means i'll have time to get some modelling done so, i'll try to finish the F-4 and -5. They're both at the same stage, only need weapons on the pylons, pitot tube and a couple of sensors on the fuselage, varnish, lights painted and they're done.
Should be able to do it but let's see if the flu will let me...

[Old Wombat]

A lot of excellent models in that video!

Roger Hardy (somehow that doesn't strike me as a very Portugese name ) appears to have been very prolific.

Loved seeing so many racing cars done in-race/post-race, all messed up & dirty, rather than the usual spick-&-span shiny-clean look.

[TheChronicOne]

That was brilliant!! I have to say, I love the "format." Check this out - -- -  ....   I like the vids where people just walk around the show and look at all the wares and stuff, I really do, but this was just a big slide show of all the builds! If you want, you hit pause to take a longer look. What a great way for lazy people like me to go through tons of pictures painlessly!    Pass along my regards.


ANYWAY.

I always love the aircraft so I'll not mention those other than to say I was impressed and I saw your glorious what if wares!  But... hilights for me:  Richard Petty Nascar from the 80's/90's era....     the NdN's!  The Sioux diorama and the other one were really neat. Never seen some Native stuff before so the Okie in me is happy for that. And...... the piggy! 

[zenrat]

Good pics.

Thanks for sharing.

[DogfighterZen]

A lot of excellent models in that video!

Roger Hardy (somehow that doesn't strike me as a very Portugese name ) appears to have been very prolific.

Loved seeing so many racing cars done in-race/post-race, all messed up & dirty, rather than the usual spick-&-span shiny-clean look.

There were very good models indeed, especially the 1/32 ones, some like the Corsair I and II are from a photographer/spotter called Fernando Sousa. Besides the great airliner and military plane photos he snaps, he's quite a talented modeller too... and above that, he's a very nice guy.

Roger Hardy, i met him at the show, he's one of our most recent members and he's been modelling for a long time. He had a ton of 1/72(most of the RAF stuff), some 1/48 and a few 1/32 models. He's been living in Portugal for quite a few years now. He's had a few models on display at the our LHS for a long time, i remember seeing them at the shop, but i never got to meet him there. Still, another good person i met. He gave out some of his 1/32 models at the end of the show, said he doesn't have room for all of them.
And yesterday, we added another Brit to the club's ranks, he's moving to the Algarve and Roger told him about the club.

Most of the racing cars are from a modeller from Lisbon who came down south to meet us and help out, same as with the guy who made the big yellow... Lotus? I don't know if that's the brand but reminds me of those cars... Anyway, he's the founder and head of the AMBA association, which is a regional modelling club with the HQ at the local high-school in Beja.
He's the one i spoke to when i was at my first modelling show, a couple of years ago. He got me pumped on the idea of setting up a modelling club in the Algarve so, he's the one to whom we southern modellers owe our gratitude. I don't think i would've been that motivated if i hadn't spoken to him back then. 
Oh, and he brought quite a few models from his club's younger members, who show great talent for their age.

That was brilliant!! I have to say, I love the "format." Check this out - -- -  ....   I like the vids where people just walk around the show and look at all the wares and stuff, I really do, but this was just a big slide show of all the builds! If you want, you hit pause to take a longer look. What a great way for lazy people like me to go through tons of pictures painlessly!    Pass along my regards.


ANYWAY.

I always love the aircraft so I'll not mention those other than to say I was impressed and I saw your glorious what if wares!  But... hilights for me:  Richard Petty Nascar from the 80's/90's era....     the NdN's!  The Sioux diorama and the other one were really neat. Never seen some Native stuff before so the Okie in me is happy for that. And...... the piggy! 

Good pics.

Thanks for sharing.

I thank you, brothas! I'll tell Vasco you guys enjoyed it like that. I also do, it's just like Brad said, press pause for a better look. 
Could use some music but it was just a quick edit so everyone could see the pics, which is what matters the most.
Those dios were very amusing to look at, but the one that got my (and everyone else's) attention, mainly because of it's size but also because of it's quality, was the train layout... wow... that's a big dio. And the trains running...  threw me back to my 5 or 6 years of age, maybe even younger, when my dad bought me a train set... which i quickly and utterly destroyed...

So, Today i'm home, trying to get rid of this damned flu, which means, bench time!!

[NARSES2]

Good pics.

Thanks for sharing.

Very much so, well done 

[DogfighterZen]

It's the least i can do, you guys deserve to know how things are going here cause you've all helped, your words are always motivating and besides that, you've been my modelling family since i joined this forum so my family has to know what's up.

Well, didn't do much besides posting on foruns the whole afternoon, just stuff i'd left behind like the Gazelle... a year has passed and i haven't finished anything else since then... not good, i have to get working.
That said, i did finish painting the aim-120 missiles for the Phantom so i'll gloss them now and get the decals on them tonight. Thinking of adding a c
The F-5... a bit of work still has to be done on the Maverick missiles, seams are showing and there are a couple of panel lines that need some attention.
Also have to paint the GBU-12 bombs which are a bit more complicated than the Mavericks... maybe with some luck i can get them painted tonight.

[DogfighterZen]

Well, i've finally finished the F-5F! And the F-4F!! 
Got them over to a mate's house for him to take the models to the Beja model show 2019, the first show i ever visited 2 years ago... 
These two and a 1/72 F-16AM of the PoAF are the models i took to participate so, i'll only have them back home by next Sunday night. I'll try to post up a backstory and beauty pics for each of them during next week.

Turning back to the bench, the Monogram 1/48 Spitfire IX is next in line but it's a RW RAF build. There's also a pair of Revell F-16 kits already started, an AM and BM variants of the PoAF's 201st FS "Falcões".
I've also decided to get the Airfix 1/72 F2H-2 Banshee back out of the box to get it finished, even with a dented canopy.

[Old Wombat]

I've also decided to get the Airfix 1/72 F2H-2 Banshee back out of the box to get it finished, even with a dented canopy.

Bird strike!

[DogfighterZen]

I've also decided to get the Airfix 1/72 F2H-2 Banshee back out of the box to get it finished, even with a dented canopy.

Bird strike!

yeah, could very well pass as such...
https://i.imgur.com/QqMbQI4.jpg

[TheChronicOne]

Make a mod!! Stick a box up there with an antenna coming out the top. Or something. I've seen canopies before with junk on them.    Too bad it's not on the side, then it could be made into an access hole a la the F-84.