Over the years, this show has been a moveable feast. The first couple of years, it was held in March. We were in the main museum building on one occasion and it was warmer outside than in! Then they moved it to September. But this year, it was held in June.

As ever, the weather was variable - whenever it's held, this show seems to attract a downpour! But this year, it also attracted a number of well-stocked traders and quite a few clubs. The main Robin hangar where they put the clubs was heaving half an hour before opening time!

As with last year, there is no separate competition but instead every model on display is judged. Last year, Joe Bridges was a winner; this year, Andy Keane won 'Best military vehicle' with his Pz.Kfw.38(t). (See the photo in the collection for the Shropshire Scale Models Show at RAF Cosford earlier this year.)

Our regular meeting venue, the Fellowship Hall on South Parade, Sutton Coldfield, has been the subject of a major refurbishment project over the past year. This morning, it was formally re-opened by Councillor Peter Howard (though our own Doug Burchell, as Chairman of the Friends of the Fellowship Hall, has done a lot to drive the project forward but got no recognition for it). (Things were ever thus.)

The ceremony was followed by a display from various users of the Hall, such as ourselves, the Suttton Coldfield Flower Club, The Horticultural Society, The Guild of Artists, the South Staffordshire Bonsai Society, over-60s line dancers and a nice Turkish lady who demonstrated fitness through ethnic dance.

This show gets more and more popular - and more and more difficult to park at if you're at all late getting there. The adjoining Indestructable Sock Factory car park is no longer up to the job!

A crisp, clear Spring morning saw us off to Cosford, and a mega-display by the TSR.2.

To complement the collection showing the year's finalists, here are some pictures from the Awards Night, showing some models not included in the Finals competition (mainly Letter Night competitors). Also seen here are the entrants for the new Ivan Poyner Trophy, awarded for the first time by Dave and Mike Poyner, Ivan's sons. The trophy, in memory of Ivan, is given for the best World War 2 aircraft model.

We had been invited to have a stand at Miniatura, a dolls' house show at the NEC. Never wanting to miss a chance, Roy Poultney, Paul Barand, Peter Mells and I went along, and had a lot of interest.

It was a bit of an experience. The demographic was almost completely inverted from the shows we normally do. Here, at least 60% of the punters and probably 75% of the exhibitors were women; and it was amusing to see the number of husbands being dragged less than willingly around the show. Also, given the propensity of dolls' house collectors to go for the more ornate look, with the Victorian era appearing to be quite popular, it was very easy to get all chintzed out. One guy descended on our stand and the neighbouring Warley Model Railway Club stand with a cry of "At last! A proper Manly corner!".

Dolls' house collectors can spend a lot on accessories - some we saw were very pricy indeed. In particular, anyone wanting the working TV set for their house should probably put their bank manager on danger money. A lot of nice modelling was on display, though. And we made some new friends and contacts, too.

For an article about the Society planned for 'Scale Aviation Modeller International', we held a photo-shoot evening of members' aircraft models on the July competition night. Here is a selection of the pictures that were sent up to the magazine. The article appeared in the October 2005 issue of the magazine.