Now, when the dust has settled from Euromilitaire 2002 it is finaly time to summarise the event.
Ulf Andersson is giving his view of the event below:
This is a short report from the Plastic Warfare squad’s annual trip to the south shores of England. As for modelling this is like christmas day! The tension was building up right after getting back from Euro in 2001.
There are so many different highlights. The competition and exhibition are both fantastic, but it’s just as fun to meet fellow modellers from around the world, have a beer in the bar and talk models, techniques, painting etc, etc. Going through Pekka Nieminens pictures from the finnish war archives was one of those things that makes it so special to come here. A true goldmine!
The toughest part was without doubt to manage getting the breakfast where we stayed. There was several “Fawlty Towers” deja-vu’s, with confused staff and lack of provisions. Still, it had charm and the main reason for our stay wasn’t to get stuffed…?
Back to business. I took part in the armour competition and therefore have mainly influences from that part. The standard was high, eventhough some modelling icons didn’t participate this year. Loads of fantastic work, but personally I found the following in particular fascinating: Alex Clark’s tiny panzers were amazing. The detail and finish was unreal for that size! Jaris Stug with scratchbuilt interior was another beauty. Douglas Lee’s diorama “Road to Damascus” was packed with exquisite sculpted figures. He must have started working on that diorama in -93?
I’m modelling armour but can’t help beeing really jelous on the technique displayed by the figurepainters. I wish I had only a tiny part of their skill. The vignette “Poltava” was a lesson in how to build up excitement, action and telling a story. Another favourite was the german u-boat commander. How on earth do you manage getting the light as natural as that?!
Ok, these were models I myself in the future will connect to Euro2002. Needless to say a very personal choice. I could go on and on and on…..
Shopping was good, but I couldn’t find the polish book covering the T-34 that I was looking for. A couple of Hornet figures, Revells new 1:72 T-34/85(fantastic detail) and Jaguar’s T-34 engine compartment. That was it, and my girlfriend loved it….
Interesting to see is MIG’s way of getting a new approach to things. His breathtaking and expressionistic painting techniques familiar to us all, but now he’s into business and introduced a new way of boosting sales. We all hope others will follow.
untill next year, Ulf
Some thoughts from Erik Gustavsson:
I didn´t come for the impressive display of the finest models built by the most skillful builders. Nor did I come for the possibility of making interesting purchases of resin or plastic items. I didn´t come for the great opportunity to meet with model builders from all over the world. I did came for the indian buffet at sunday evenings. But all the rest was a very nice bonus.
I made a little photo-tour where I tell more about the show and the expedition. Meet some of the nuttiest model building nuts in the world 
Lookie lookie>>
Contest entry photos
Pictures of some of the contest entries this year. Do not be surprised if we missed something. There were simply too much for us to cover and still being able to catch the rest of the event
All photographs are taken by Erik Gustavsson and Ulf Andesson
