Salute 2012, My Thoughts - part one

I'm sure others will write the same; a long and arduous journey down to Salute 2012, a late finish arriving home shattered and ready for bed after an exhausting day. But that six hours spent at Excel was just a blur, passing as if just a few minutes and I am so glad I took the camera to record what was just a fantastic day out, really top-notch entertainment and as this first brief post details, inspirational terrain and terrain modelling.

Although not attempting to score the displays, or place them in any order - these three gaming boards/displays were worth the diesel and entry price alone.

Photos One and Two - Show the beautifully modelled Salute Samurai Gaming Board, full details can be found here. I picked this as my first post showing the games on display at Salute because it was just beautiful, a clean, well modelled display board that just screamed quality and attention to detail. No gimmicks, 'over-the-top' modelling or excessive highlighting - just a display board to be proud of. 

The lesson I learnt from this table is that clean and crisp terrain properly executed can add so much to our hobby.

Photos Three and Four - The TV7 Mountain Lair. If the fist terrain board is simple then this piece of engineering is the exact opposite - the build diary has been detailed here and I recommend that you settle down with a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit and read how this inspirational model was built, detailed and displayed.

The attention to (every) detail was just fantastic - once again top notch and as sections were removed to show the similarly detailed interiors - I was just full of admiration for the modellers who helped with this huge undertaking.

The lesson I take away from this build - is detail, detail and then even more detail. You can never have too much.

Photos Five to Eight - Show yet another aspect to our hobby - 'true artistry in terrain building'. The Vitrix Battle for La Vejol. A 54mm display game that for me ticked all the boxes, a breathtaking piece of terrain, beautiful miniatures and that added little extra, perfection. Yes perfection. These buildings, both sculpting and painting were some of the very best I have ever seen and really captured the sun-bleached villages of The Spanish Peninsular with pantile roofs, parched and scattered ground covering and decaying plaster - I really was 'blown-away' by this board.

I take away from this superb modelling an aim that my terrain building will improve and one day equal these examples. I also hope that I will be able to replicate the subtle colours in my next Spanish-inspired building.

There you have it - my first impressions of salute 2012 - a show that I have not attended for over twenty years. There will be more to follow, but rather than loads of images - I thought this more structured and themed post would be of interest.

Tony