-
-
Andrew......In answer to your question. The Shuttleworth Museum themselves have been running the model show for the last few years in February each year.
Last time I went about 4 years ago it was really freezing cold in the hangar. Not pleasant at all.
A number of years ago when I organised the Chiltern Scale Model Show there, it was held annually in the first week of October each year.
As I said, they suddenly refused to let us run the show each year and no reason was given.
It was a number of years after the last Chiltern Scale Model Show was held there that they started to run one themselves.Comment
-
Latest on the Shuttleworth Collection and the adjacent Swiss Gardens. There used to be separate reasonable charges to go either into the museum or the Swiss Gardens. Now they have hiked up the price so that you have to pay for both and made it very expensive. The other thing is that they have a childrens playground that parents could drive to in the grounds and use free of charge. Invariably they picked up a lot of cafe and snack trade from the parents using this facility. Now there is a ticket booth long before you get to the playground so parents just wanting their kids to use the playground will get stung with a full entry fee to pay. Most will just turn around at the ticket booth now, so the Shuttleworth have lost the catering business generated by the playground parent visitors.
The trust needs to have a drastic rethink about entry fees becoming too expensive and loss of extra catering trade.Comment
-
Join the SVAS Noel, you can get in free then. £30 per year, which goes towards the maintenance of the collection and the garden.
PeteComment
-
Pete, I think you need to read my post again. I was not referring to just me.
For a family being made to pay for both museum and gardens when only wanting to visit just one out of the two attractions is making visiting prohibitively expensive. As grandparents to three children, and wanting to take my son in with them just made admission unaffordable, let alone on top of that we would want a snack of some sort and possibly something each for the grandkids from the shop.
The Shuttleworth might be shooting themselves in the foot long term.Comment
-
Well, children enter free Noel. I can't remember the historic pricing, but my impression is that effectively you can now visit both the gardens and the Collection for the same price as visiting one or the other. I could be wrong about that though. The admission has increased, but hasn't everything? It's a lot cheaper than Duxford! Daily tickets are now valid for 30 days, you can use them as often as you like within that period.
There is a family membership of the SVAS (Shuttleworth Veteran Aircraft Society) available but that only covers two adults at the same address (plus their children, who go free anyway) which might not suit your family arrangements.
I believe that the free access to the children's playground cost the trust a significant amount of resource in maintenance, cleaning, litter picking etc, so paying visitors were subsidising the use of the playground. There was also a problem with a few families letting dogs run loose on the grounds, with obvious risks.
PeteComment
-
I can see where you are coming from Pete, and I appreciate the points you made.
Every now and again we would take the grandkids just to the play area in the Shuttleworth and have lunch in their cafe and visit the shop on site. Pity we cannot do this any more. Wherever you go there will always be an irresponsible element re litter and dogs allowed to run loose etc.
Not having been to Duxford for a few years you are more up to date then I am re pricing.
I would expect Duxford to be more pricey just due to the scale of that operation compared to the Shuttleworth though.
I am surmising that you live fairly locally to the Shuttleworth like myself by your responses.
Kind regards NoelComment
-
The cafe has, in my opinion, gone downhill since the lockdown and reopening.
Duxford tickets are £27.50 for one pre-booked day only. Yes, it's a much bigger operation though. Shuttleworth is £19.50 (valid for multiple days) or £15 for old wrinklies like me, although I save even more by being an SVAS member. You can also get free entry to Duxford and IWM London by joining - see https://www.iwm.org.uk/membership for prices. I'm too far away to vist regularly, but I'm occasionally invited to trade shows at Duxford, when I usually have a quick visit to the show than spend the rest of the day around the museum.
Another difference is that most of the exhibits at Duxford are static, but every vehicle and aircraft at Shuttleworth is capable of being flown or driven.
No, I live 60 miles away, and only get there 2 or 3 times a year. It's a nice run in my TR4A!
What's your interest in Bugattis? Do you visit Prescott?
PeteComment
-
Pete. Have you made a model of your TR4 from the Airfix kit? It is one of those sports cars that I have always liked the look of. Not aware of it being done in 1/24 by anyone though.
Re Bugattis. I simply like the marque as a modelling subject. Would love to do the big Pocher T50, but the cost of one is horrendous. Well for me anyway! Looking forward to the new Italeri T35 in 1/12th scale being released. A bit more affordable than the MFH one. As far as Prescott goes, I have yet to make a trip to the trust museum. Went to a few BOC events at Prescott, but many years ago before the museum was built.
All the best NoelComment
-
It's a TR4A Noel! Independent rear suspension, rather tha n the TR4's live axle with cart springs, plus a number of minor differences.
I've had a couple of tries at the Airfix kit, once in the 60s and once quite recently, but failed to finish it both times. IIRC the gearbox cover is too long to fit in the cockpit and the interior door cards don't fit properly. Just found the later one in a box of old bits, and the rear seat fouls the rear suspension bridge so the body won't fit on the chassis. Strange, because the earlier on went together fairly well.
I'll have another go at it one day. Ironic really since the 1:1 was totally rebuilt (all by myself, in a single garage) over 6 years. About the only units I didn't dismantle/restore/replace were the gearbox and overdrive, which now need a rebuild, so the car is going away to a specialist for that.
I'm not aware of any other kits of the TR4 or 4A, but there are a few kits of the earlier sidescreen models: https://www.scalemates.com/search.ph...l&q=Triumph+TR
Now, Bugattis; I used to visit Prescott regularly in the 1960s, stopped going for a while, but my brother marshals there a lot and often has complimentary tickets, so I get to visit free sometimes. I've never been in the Bugatti museum though - there's always enough to drool over in the paddock! I have a couple of unfinished models, again from the 60s:
The Atalante really deserves finishing off properly. The blue one (a Type 35?) is possibly another Pyro kit but there is no ID on any of the parts. I've no idea what happened to the LH side of the chassis. Wouldn't be impossible to make a replacement I suppose, in the unlikely event that I felt the need.
Cheers
PeteComment
-
The fit issues with the TR4 kit may be because the moulds are probably getting clapped out after many years use. Never bought the kit myself, but it is a nice looking car and I might get one to build despite the issues you mention.
The Bugatti kits you have. The Atalante Coupe was a lovely looking car and Pyro (now long gone) was the only kit that I know of in plastic of it. The other kit in the photo may be one of two kits of the Type 59. Pyro did one back in the 60's, and Matchbox in the 70's. They were all in 1/32nd scale as I remember. The Matchbox car kit moulds went to Revell who have re released odd kits from the range from time to time. If the T59 that you have has plated parts of will be the Matchbox one. Airfix did a very nice little Type 35 back in the 70's, again in 1/32nd scale. The weird thing about it was that the kit has no engine included, but a detailed firewall. It was as though they intended to put an engine in the kit and changed their mind to save costs. Out of all four 1/32nd scale Bugattis, the Airfix one was the only one to have a driver figure. Looking at your photo, I think it might be the Pyro T59 that you have.
All the best NoelComment
Comment