Sad News

[NARSES2]

I've just received some very sad news and that is that Mike McEvoy one of the founding fathers of the UK What If SIG has passed away. He died whilst undergoing surgery. I knew he was going into hospital for what he called a "minor stent op" but at 85 it's always going to be fraught with danger. Just very glad that I'd got to see him one last time at Telford and have a long chat with him.

I could write a lot more, but in all honesty now is not the right time and I'm not in the mood if I'm honest. Plus there will be many more much better obituaries published in the modelling press over the next month or so. I'll just say that not only was Mike a nice bloke, but a true gentleman as well and I'm glad that I was able to consider him a friend.

Here's to the memories Mike 

[Old Wombat]

Sorry to hear that, Chris.

Obviously, I never met or knew Mike but, given the positivity from those of you who had, he must have been one of the really good ones.

My condolences to his family & to those of you who knew him.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Very sad news. I always liked reading his stuff. 

[kitnut617]

Sad news indeed ---

[NARSES2]

Very sad news. I always liked reading his stuff.

Indeed, always brought a smile to my face. The December Tailpiece in SAM was intended as his last so at least he got to say what he wanted to say.

[Gondor]

That is sad new. I only met him once at Telford but did manage to chat with him. A prodigious modeller as well as an excellent writer about models and modelling.

Clear Skies Mike

Gondor

[Martin H]

Mike was a stalwart of both the What if? SIG and the IPMS in general for decades. Having served in a number of exsec roles including a stint as the societies president.
Mike had been a great supporter of this hobby since his days as an RAF trainee fighter pilot while doing his fast jet training on RCAF Silverstar's a type he loved almost as much as his beloved Hunters. After the RAF he moved in to Air Traffic Control, becoming involved in training new controllers. Including I'm told, our very own Jaybee and Kitbasher.
He later found his way into writing for model magazines, namely SAM via his activities as a committee member in the IPMS(UK).
And it was while he was manning the SAM sales stand at an early 2000's Hendon show that he first met this 30 something newly minted IPMS member........Me! I had been reading his tail piece column for a number of years and was glad to find that the guy I was talking to fitted the image his articles left in my mind. Our friendship slowly grew from there.
He was also one of the first people in the UK to actively get going with the idea of building for the question, What if? when he got to know a certain Kit Spackman............And the two of them realised that they wernt alone......

When he "retired" from SAM Mike approached me to "ask permission" to base himself on the SIG stand from there on in, there was no way I was going to say no.
I took it as a great honor both as the SIG leader and personally that he choose us to be his new home in the modelling world. And although I never counted my self as being in his inner circle of friends I felt privileged to be in there someware.
Mike also got to know my dad, they met a few years ago at the Peterborough show when my old man came along for a day out and spent a good part of the day with Mike behind the sig stand talking about modelling and setting the world to rights. Mike always made a point when ever we met since that day asking after my dad, and they occasionally would bump into each other either at the Milton keynes show or at sywell, my local airfield, a place Mike was a frequent visitor of.

I last saw Mike as we where about to brake down the SIG stand at this years Scale model World. A show he was determined to be at as he was expecting the call from the hospital at any day to have a stent fitted.
In the run up to Telford he was terrified the NHS would call him in on the show weekend. He was very relieved to find out just days before the show that his surgery date was to be the end of the month.
I'm glad I got to spend a little time with him one more time, and watch the the joy on his face as he revelled in what was realy his element, being amoung fellow modellers..........

Rest well old friend. You have earned it!

[Nick]

Having met Mike on numerous occasions I can truly say he always made people smile. At Telford this year he was going around the show holding conversations with the badger on his hand!

He knew his modelling stuff far better than any of us and was always good to talk about the latest releases and what ever he had planned.

He will be much missed by us modellers, but most of all by his family.

[kitbasher]

Mike McEvoy, a proper gent.  Paths first crossed in the mid-80s at the London Air Traffic Control Centre, where he was well-known amongst the LATCC modellers.  I'm sure his being there had nothing to do with The Aviation Hobby Shop just 10 minutes walk away!
More recently my acquaintance was through the What If? SIG, most recently at SMW 2021.
And it was there that he paid me a tremendous compliment - he thought my whif Percival Puffin was a real Percival Petrel. 

RIP Mike, I think a tribute build is in order.

[Freightdog862]

So sad to hear the news of Mike's passing, I am very glad to have been his friend and greatly enjoyed his enthusiasm for modelling and aviation in general. I know he was hugely looking forward to make SMW, its a shame I didn't get a chance to meet him at this years show. Mike was the inspiration for many of my resin sets, which I always tried to get him advance copies.

This is a great loss for his family, friends and modelling in general, an ambassador for the What-If SIG that can never be replaced. A do hope a fitting tribute can be displayed for Mike at Telford next year. I agree a Tribute build is very much needed.

Colin

 

[Gondor]

As a few have been suggesting a tribute build to honor Mike for next years Telford, may I suggest that it has to be Hunter based.

Gondor

[Geoff]

So sad RIP my friend

[Rheged]

I only knew Mike by his writing, and his advice to me in an exchange of letters many years ago  but  like every other whiffer  feel the loss of a friend .

[Steel Penguin]

Having met Mike at several shows, I can only echo the sentiments above.
A true gent, with an engaging personality, who will be sadly missed.

[The Wooksta!]

I can't add much other to say that I'm devastated by the news. I've known Mike on and off for about quarter of a century now. I'm going to miss his presence at Telford.

Whifdom wouldn't be what it is without his early championship and we are all diminished by his loss.

R.I.P.