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Total Model: On Location Salute Zero Four
By Antar Howarth On Saturday I packed my rucksack and headed south to attend the annual Salute convention in London. This was the second year in succession I had made the trip and I was looking forward to a busy day ahead. The British tabletop wargaming fraternity regard the show as the main event of the year - with good reason. In terms of sheer scale nothing else on the calendar even comes close. It always attracts a huge audience who make the pilgrimage, year after year, secure in the knowledge they are in for a truly grand day out! My own trek began at 9.30am at Northampton railway station. Normally, the journey into London takes just over an hour, followed by a quick trip on the underground. Sadly, on this particular day, part of the District & Circle line had decided to cave in and a series of diversions were in force. In order to continue my journey I was instructed to travel back up the line I had just arrived on. By the time I finally reached my destination I felt like I'd travelled along more subterranean tunnels than the average sewer rat! The first thing you notice about hall No.2 at Olympia is the size of the place. The building is enormous. Strangely, this was at odds with the scene that greeted me on my arrival. It was 11.30am. The doors had been open for well over an hour - and yet there was still a huge queue snaking back out of the door. Perhaps, I thought, they can't fit them all in! With an event of this magnitude I was fully expecting to encounter a ring of burley stewards guarding the entrance. I wasn't disappointed. The show is staged by the South London Warlords wargaming club and some of their members were busy marshalling the queue safely through the doors. They were helped in this task by a character with something of a reputation for crowd control. A very real and very mobile Dalek rattled up and down the pavement threatening onlookers with its fiendish food whisk and sink plunger weapon combo. 30 years ago this thing would have had me cowering behind the sofa with a tea towel over my head. These days, alas, the once feared adversary of Dr Who has lost much of its potency. The fact that this particular Dalek was carrying a carrier bag over one weapon didn't help matters. Davros, I thought, will be spinning in his knobbly wheelchair.  I don't know about you, but whenever I attend a convention I quickly formulate a mental list of all the trade stands I want to visit first. Unfortunately, when I finally made it past the Dalek and into the hall, the one thing standing between me and my first port of call was a crowd of about 4,000 people. Olympia was packed to the rafters. Hall No.2 has floors both above and below the main ground level and each one was alive with people. Standing still wasn't an option. Luckily, it seemed as if most of the trade stands were in the same positions they occupied last year - so I had a pretty good idea where everyone was. With this in mind I made a dash for cover alongside one of the show's most popular traders. Michael Brookes of Ainsty Castings always comes prepared. His tables were laden with 15 large blue bins, brimming with packages of his ever-popular 28mm resin scenery. Whilst I tried to avoid the constant scrum around the tables, Mike told me of his plans to withdraw a number of his older ranges. The Victorian Sewers are scheduled for a face-lift and the Flameblade line may even be consigned to the back burner for good. Mike is keen to develop new ranges. He has a well-earned reputation for innovative ideas which is why Ainsty always seem to make the models that no-one else ever thinks of (I bought a pair of builder's skips!). Even so, Mike is just as keen to engage the public in the design process. Fans of his work often make requests and are then surprised to discover - some months later - that Mike has delivered the very thing they asked for! More about this later.
I was very pleased to spy the i-Kore stand in the corner of the hall. I was even more pleased to see so many people gathered around it. The company - now known as Urban Mammoth - may have been through a difficult time of late but they were certainly putting on a good show. There were a feast of display models to browse through and several participation games in progress. Meanwhile, figure painter Inge Mygind Jensen, who'd made the trip from her native Denmark, was busy running a painting clinic at the back of the stand which was attracting its own share of eager onlookers. Inge wasn't the only painter in the hall. Kevin Dallimore was showcasing his talents at another table not far away. Kevin's work needs no introduction. Suffice to say he is one of the best and most keenly observed figure painters in the country. Over the years he has developed a very individual style that has won him many accolades - perhaps the greatest of which is that so many an aspiring painters have adopted his techniques. It will come as no surprise to learn, therefore, that it was standing room only around Kevin's demonstration.
If you are attracted to beautiful things then you would do well to take a closer look at Excalibur Miniaturen. Mic Schroeder and his young team had travelled from Germany with an impressive display stand which featured many and wondrous examples of their work. Mic produces a huge array of fantasy figures for the popular Fearless game system - which apparently has a bigger following in Germany than even Games Workshop. He now intends to capitalise on this success by opening a series of dedicated shops. Mic has also developed an interesting line of erotic figures which are available in a range of shapes, sizes and positions! Many of them can be bought pre-painted - in various shades of flesh. Around the corner I met up with young Mr Steve Barber and his eclectic display of figures and scenery. Steve designs everything from 15mm Roman gladiators up to huge 42mm Samurai miniatures - and all the trappings that go with them. What's perhaps more amazing is the fact that he creates all of the models himself. Recent additions include his Napoleonic naval characters plus a brand new range 42mm Musketeers. So far only a small handful of figures are available - including heroes Athos, d'Artagnan, Portos and Aramis - but others will be available soon. Watch this space! I decided it was time to take a trip downstairs to see what was happening on the floor below. To my surprise it was just as busy. A host of demonstration games were in progress most of which were swamped with onlookers, both eager to watch and participate. This was also where I found the infamous Salute Bring & Buy table. It occupied the entire length of one wall and, like some immense conveyor belt, was piled high with all manner goodies - old and new. A constant swell of excited gamers poured over the items as if digging for buried treasure - and in many ways that's exactly what they were doing. This level of the building also played host to a number of Trade Stands. Pete Brown's The Assault Group was one of the more interesting set-ups. The fact that it was draped in a large desert camouflage net certainly drew the attention of many a passer-by which - if you think about it - is not exactly how these things are supposed to work! The TAG range of modern image 28mm figures has rightly been the focus of much attention since it first appeared on the scene a little over 18 months ago. Pete has since introduced a new range of Samurai figures, which have proved just as popular. He also used the show to launch his new WWII US marines. A range of Aztecs is also on the way later this year. Not far away I met-up with Julian Blakney-Edwards from Chiltern Miniatures. Julian is the sole European distributor of GHQ's incredibly detailed 6mm Microarmour range. Unfortunately, this knowledge sometimes overshadows the fact that he also produces his own wonderful line-up of 28mm miniatures and resin accessories. Many of his latest "greens" were on display alongside a cabinet full of painted examples from his current catalogue. Julian is also building a new Chiltern website. Once complete I recommend you give it and this range a closer look.
My wanderings eventually led me up the escalator to the top floor of Hall No.2. Here I ran into Pete Berry of Baccus 6mm fame. As well as showcasing his huge array of truly mini minis, Pete had set-up a monster ECW battlefield that was over 30 feet long. The demonstration featured no less than 20,000 individual figures - which is just a tad more than your average skirmish game! At the end of the day, Pete's demonstration won the 'Most Impressive Armies' award. Alternative Armies were another company keen to demonstrate their product range in action. Several members of staff were engrossed in a game of Maelstrome, between opposing armies of Elves and the mighty Dracci. Alternative's big, chunky figures always look great and to see so many of them engaged in battle was quite a spectacle. The team from Girvan in Scotland also used Salute to introduce fans to their latest game system. Typhon is the all-new skirmish rule-set based on Greek myths and legends. The game will be built around a range of hefty 54mm scale figures, some of which are available already. The massive 7-headed Hydra was particularly impressive.
According to the promotional literature, there were over 100 trade stands and 80 games present at Salute 04 spread over the 3 floors of the hall. Yet by 4pm I reckoned I'd only seen about half of them! My final hour at the show was taken at something of a gallop! There was just enough time to grab a few words with the Crocodile Games team - who had travelled all the way from America - and pick up a bit of shopping. By 5.20pm, with most of the traders busy dismantling their stands, it was time to call it a day. Salute is a tremendous spectacle for a variety of reasons. Whilst magazines and websites do there best to promote wargaming models and miniatures, there's nothing quite like seeing them for real. Salute gives traders the perfect stage on which to parade their products on a truly grand scale. The wealth of participation games also encourages fans to get involved in a very "hands-on" fashion. Together, this generates a bubbling, enthusiastic atmosphere quite unlike any other show I've ever visited.
On a more personal note, Salute gave me the opportunity to meet up with some of the people I've met through my involvement with Total Model like Ian Newbold from Newbold World, Claudio Berni from Baueda Wargames and The Figure Trader Steve Eserin. It was also great to see companies such as Fieldworks and TimeCast who were making their first appearance at the show. There was even a chance to take a closer look at the glorious talents of TM Terrain and Realistic Modelling Services - whose scenic craftsmanship can only be appreciated at first hand.
If you are in any way interested in wagaming or miniatures, Salute is the one show on the calendar that you must visit. The South London Warlords are to be congratulated for putting together such a great spectacle, which was expertly planned and well-ordered in equal measure. Even considering the sheer number of traders and visitors on site, they still appear to pull the whole thing off with consummate ease. As a punter, I really couldn't ask for more. Many thanks to Declan Canning and John Treadaway for providing me with my tickets and Mr ToXin for providing me with some company. Roll on Salute 2005! Antar For more information, visit the Salute website. NB: Please use the red links to view additional pages of information and the thumbnail pictures to see larger examples of the images.
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