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Total Model: Reader's Writes Greatness In Our Back Yard
By Kelly Zak I
first heard the name Bil Attridge back in about 1999, when I happened to
walk into a relatively new, but small automotive memorabilia store in Victoria.
The owner had tons of kits for sale, and other collectibles. In the front
window, I noticed something that would greatly change the way I build models.
It was a 1/24 Mercedes CLK GTR, used in the 24 Hours of Lemans, on display.
I couldn't take my eyes off of it, I was fascinated at the amazing amount
of detail in this superb kit build. I got to talking with the owner of the
store, and inquired as to who built it. Instantly the owner stated "Why,
that's Bil Attridges' car!", like I was supposed to know who this person
was. He explained to me that Bil was pretty famous in the car modelling
world, and he showed me a picture of Model Car Magazine, of which the car
was on the cover. I promptly bought the same kit of the Mercedes right then
and there.I finally got to meet Bil at the 2000 VSM (Victoria Scale Modellers) Island Open Contest, and the amount of quality cars he had was outstanding. Flawless paint jobs, almost like glass. I introduced myself, and mentioned to him that his Mercedes had inspired me do a version of my own. He came down to look at it, and he said it was very well done. Coming from Bil, I considered it a great compliment. Bil took away most of the trophies that day, and rightly so. I met him again the following year's contest, and by this time, my modelling skills had improve ten-fold, and Bil and some of the other guys in the club had started noticing my stuff, but I was still way out of their league. I got to talking with people and finding out techniques on how to get great finishes, and tips. Again, Bil walked away with another armload of trophies that year. Bil continues to inspire me to go that extra mile and attempt to truly create to the best of my abilities. Pictures of his work do not do them justice. You need to see his work up close and personal to truly appreciate what he's capable of. Bil belongs to two clubs that I know of, VSM, and SPAM (Scale Plastic Automotive Modellers), another local group of guys dedicated to model cars. The gang in SPAM are supreme modellers as well; they continue to blow me away with what they come up with! He couldn't make the 2002 Island Open, he was at sea, so everyone kind of breathed a sigh of relief and we all thought we had a chance that year! Just kidding of course, we all missed having him and his latest creations there. But he would make up for it later in 2003. At sea, he managed to pack his model toolbox, and build a 1/43 detailed F-1 car, which is no small feat. He has a great passion for what he does, and in April of this year, it all finally paid off, and in spades. On a last minute decision, he and fellow SPAM devotee, Phil Dauphinee went down to California to Tamiya Con 2003. Carrying with him was a car that was soon destined to be king. That car is Tamiya's 1/12 scale 1991 McLaren MP4/6. A phenomenal and absolutely stunning model, it has almost every conceivable amount of detail.  Taking about two years to complete, it sat on the table with other great models from around North America and abroad. Mr. Tamiya, and his associates judged competition for the Master Modeller. When the winners were announced, the 2003 Tamiya Master Modeller was won by Bil. This is truly a great honour to be judged best of the best. In addition, to go with the victory, was a trip to Japan, to the Shizuoka Hobby Show, and a trip to Tamiya headquarters. I would give anything just to go see the Tamiya building and the museum they have there. Traditionally, the winner of Tamiya Con usually donates the winning model to Mr. Tamiya for his collection. But Bil could just not part with the car, and managed to come to an arrangement with Mr. Tamiya. He will be building just for Mr Tamiya the new 1/20 Williams F-1 car.  The modelling community in Victoria is extremely proud of Bil and his terrific win. He even made our local TV news! One note, now that Bil has won Tamiya Con, the rules state that he is never allowed entering the contest again; he can only display his kits. I think it is a pretty good trade, just for the experience of going to Japan and to the main plant of probably the world's best model companies. I've kept this part of the article short on purpose, because the following articles are done by Bil himself, to save me from typing out some very long text! One is a very detailed description of what went into the winning car, and another article on his trip over to Japan, which is an excellent read! I would just like to say thanks to Bil, a great guy, and that it's awesome to have him in our neck of the woods. There will be a article in a future issue of Tamiya Model Magazine on Bil's car, so be on the watch out for that! Kelly Zak To view more pictures of Bil's car, click on the thumbnails below.
For more details of the Victoria Scale Modellers, please visit the VSM website.
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