Well another year goes by and another excellent show in Aylesbury. Scaleforum 2016 celebrated 40 years of finescale modelling and certainly did it in style. On show was a wide selection of models from the very beginning of the society to some of the most recent innovations. These exhibits were supported by a good selection of traders who, over the years, have helped the society bring P4 format to a wider audience. 40 years ago I could not see myself having the ability to build a P4 layout. I now count myself lucky to have come back to the hobby, with all that the society and trade now offer, and be able to possibly achieve something that might pass muster as an acceptable P4 layout... Many thanks must go to the dedicated band of modellers that 40 years ago decided P4 was an achievable discipline and have driven the format forward.
So on to some of the layouts that were at the show...
Being a relative newcomer to P4 there were a number of layouts that I was able to view for the first time: Shelvington, Sidmouth, Ferring, Pwllheli and Cirencester.
Cirencester
Pwllheli
Ferring
Sidmouth
Shelvington
Best at show...? Well I could not really decide as I felt all layouts on display showed P4 at its best and were an inspiration. Shelvington, however, opened my eyes to different lighting techniques along with computer control, so as far as the most technically advanced Shelvington should get my vote. But... all in all being able to watch and admire all layouts along with the ability to make a few purchases for my test plank made the 6 hour round trip well worth it.
