Back to Zeiskam.
Two years ago, I took part in the PMC Südpfalz modeling show in Zeiskam in the south western corner of Germany.
Since the show so well organized and its atmosphere so friendly, it was clearly time to go there again.
It's not a big show, but the light is excellent and being so well run, it has many visitors, both on Saturday and on Sunday.
Head of the organizing team is Bernd Villhauer, who is also an excellent ship modeler, as evidenced by his model of the IJN Ise.
His son Daniel isn't bad either as you can see from his model of the SMS Baden. Check out the seagulls at the stern.
Since several members of Modellmarine, a network of german speaking ship modelers, were present, there were lots of excellent ship models to be seen.
Traditional ship modeling was represented by Peter Rommel and his SMS Großer Kurfürst in 1:100
Peter main focus though, is building models of Bugatti cars from copper and brass. Check out the wooden molds he uses to form the plates. Great traditional metalwork.
Some great RC ships were exhibited too, for example this model of the post war german destroyer Rommel.
Cardboard models has a wide following in Germany and it's amazing what can be done with that material, for example this floating dock diorama.
Perhaps the oddest ship models of the show were the match stick models built by Dieter Gärtner.
I asked him why he had chosen such an odd material for his model:
He used to be a seaman in the german merchant fleet and one night during the dog watch (midnight to 0400) he stood on the bridge, smoking and trying to stay awake. He looked at the ashtray and all the matches there and thought: ”Maybe I can do something with them”.
He collected the matches, sought out the plans of the ship and started to build a model of it.
Later, some german naval officers asked him why he didn't build models of warships.
”I don't have any plans”, he said.
”We'll get them for you”, they said and a few weeks later there was a package with copies of the original plans in his mail.
Dieter has long since quit smoking, but he continues to build his match stick models of the German Navy.
Just like last time I was there, Auguste Kleinpeter and his friends of the modeling club in nearby Strasbourg, France came up.
http://imodeler.com/2017/06/models-in-mundolsheim/
Auguste hadn't exactly been lazy since then and exhibited some more of his wonderfully well painted and weathered airplanes in 1:32.
One modeler had specialized in models of odd and experimental German aircraft of WW2.
Civilian vehicles were represented, among others, by these great trucks.
Some great and odd armor models were exhibited too, as well as quite a few original dioramas
Finally, to add some more variation to the show, there were some wonderful architectural models from cardboard and wood.
Ulf, that is a Very Very high standards model show, some extraordinary work and some even more out of the ordinary subjects I’ve seen. Thanks for sharing this with us here!
Excellent work on display - thanks for sharing!
Outstanding craftsmanship/workmanship abounds there, Ulf...I don't know where to begin with all the accolades. Thanks for sharing your photos with us.
Fantastic models. I wish there was a mainstream 1/350 SMS Baden.
Very good selection, particularly the ships. The stick modelling is becoming more widely practiced. You can in fact buy big plastic bags of these just for modelling purposes.
Thank You for the great pictures!
Inspirational and thanks for sharing!
Ulf, thanks for sharing these with us. Marvelous and inspirational work by all hands.
Wow! really nice.
Great modeling, Ulf. I like that PBY and the Ju-52.
It looks like a great show to see ! Thanks for sharing these great photos of so many wonderful entries !
Amazing show, stunning models...congrats Ulf.
greetings.
It looks like a very nice friendly show with some very high quality models on display. I like the way you've photographed some the modellers with their exhibits.