There are no Stupid Questions
If you have a question about the club before you come along to a meeting, then this is where you might find an answer. Trust us, you won’t find the answers you’re looking for via Google, Alexa or even the allegedly all powerful Siri. We’ve tried to include what we think are the most likely questions, or more accurately, the questions we’ve been asked most often. It’s been claimed by many that there are no stupid questions, but just in case you’re too embarrassed to ask, scroll through the list below to see if your question is there.
On top of that, if you pop along to a club meeting, we’ll give you a Welcome Pack containing all the information for your future reference.
Our frequently asked questions
We meet at Guisborough Cricket Club at 7:30-9:30p PM on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month. This is generally followed by a visit to the adjoining bar for a drink, alcoholic or not, but this certainly isn’t compulsory.
No we are the original Cleveland. The land of hills and dales from the River Tees to the Vale of Pickering. We are cliff men.
Current membership fee £25 per year, usually paid in January. £15 for concessions, retired etc.
The fee goes towards our meeting room, insurances, anything the club needs to “put on a display”, our website and any sundries that might appear along the way.
At meetings most people bring along either their latest work in progress/completed models or recent purchases. These can be displayed and discussed by anyone and everyone. The meetings are very informal with no set format. It’s a couple of hours discussing modelling or indeed “whatever” with a group of like-minded individuals. Usually at the end of a meeting any club business is discussed which includes details about upcoming shows etc. Members can use this time to bring up anything they would like to highlight or share.
If you haven’t already been to one, we display at a good number of shows throughout the year. Some are smaller than others and some further away than others. We aim to support any local show and we always aim to put on a good display as a club. These shows are generally a good mix of clubs and traders. There is typically a show on most months. There is no pressure to attend shows at all and you can choose which ones you wish to attend. Most shows have competitions which you can enter. We often share transport and costs but always aim to have a good day out above all else.
Plus the member who attends most shows gets an amazon voucher to spend on anything you desire
This is our yearly mega show. It’s held in Telford International Centre on the second weekend in November. We travel down, many of us as a group on Friday to set up and stay nearby. The show itself is simply enormous. Clubs, SiGs and traders from all over the country and many Europeans also display, share, sell, buy and generally have a great time. As an IPMS member you will get in free and can display with the club or any SiG displays if you should choose to. A visit to the show even outside the club is highly recommended for all model makers regardless of interest or ability. Genuinely an event not to be missed. In the competition hall you will see the cream of model making from many parts of Europe. The show is so big you will struggle to see all of it.
These are small groups within IPMS that anyone, anywhere can contribute to. They are specialist groups that focus on a particular subject, scale, genre or aspect. These groups usually display at SMW Telford along side the branch clubs. They are extremely mixed and give members an oppotunity to display models they might not have room for on their club tables. It’s where you might find very specialist advice about a particular subject and modelling within it. Usually they are run by one person but to contribute you merely have to be interested and happy to contribute a model to display. We have several SiGs within our club and they draw significant interest at shows. A complete list is available on the IPMS Website. There are many!
In our Club we run the following SiGs, details about them all can be found on Our SiGs Page.
Israeli Defence Forces SiG– Anything regarding the military of the Modern IDF
UKCAF SiG– Dedicated to any military aspect of the UK and its commonwealth since its 1949 formation
Star Wars SiG– Anything regarding the movies, spin offs, TV etc
Panavia Tornado SiG– Displays a wide range of model and schemes of the Tornado MRCA
Leopard MBT SiG– Anything regarding any version of the Leopard Main Battle Tank
Gerry Anderson SiG– All things from Anderson TV, Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlett, Joe 90, Space 1999 etc
F-14 Tomcat SiG– Celebrating Grumman’s Big Cat and all things Top Gun
Steam SiG– Ships, trains, engines, anything that is powered by steam
We are closely affiliated and displayed along-side the Luftwaffe SiG, and the BAC Lightning Si
These are simply a group of modellers, usually within the club, who get together and decide to do a similar build or theme at the same time. We often run successful group builds in our club and via WhatsApp groups. They are often simply 2 or more people who happen to want to build the same thing. But they often inspire someone to build something they might not usually build. Advice and knowledge are exchanged and shared as the build continues. There are few rules. Usually a start date, rarely an end date, and a brief outline of the subject the group agrees to build. Most see them as a way of joining in, inspiration to build something and compare results. Totally optional and if you do partake no pressure to finish or complete at all.
We have several WhatsApp groups which you can be signed up to as a club member. These are the main way we keep in regular contact. No obligation to subscribe, reply to or even read but they are a great way of staying in touch with club members outside the formality of a meeting. An unbelievable amount has been learnt, shared and giggled at in our time in the WhatsApp world. We run our group builds within a separate WhatsApp group, we can share info, progress photos, advice and indeed ask questions. Again though…optional! No obligation to join in.
The main WhatsApp groups are:
Club News– This is the most important WhatsApp group so that you can keep up with the latest club information and join in the obligatory birthday messages throughout the year.
Modelling Chat– Plenty of photos shared in this chat of new purchases, works in progress, completed builds and ideas. Send questions and receive advice here.
Wants/Needs/Bargains– A way of asking for something you may need, want to sell or news of any bargains you may have spotted.
Cuppa with Cleveland– Easy going chat, general banner and a “morning all”
Again though, not everyone’s thing. Optional, no obligation to join in. If you do join them our recommendation is switching phones to silent mode…or one of our helpful youths will mute WhatsApp for you!
We have a rather excellent and rapidly expanding website for the club. It has details about us, shows, next meeting, a line up of members. There is also a gallery of many of our builds. We regularly have photography sessions to add new models to the gallery if you want your builds to be immortalised on the web. More developments are bringing extra features, better quality and interactivity.
Currently its in 5th and final iteration which will be here for many years to follow.
A couple of members have trade accounts with a great online shop at Creative Models. Occasionally they have a sale with big reductions on 100s of items in store. We then get another 25% off this sale price as long as there is an order big enough to make it worthwhile. No postage to pay. The savings can often be massive and model makers love a bargain. We can still get the 25% off anything not in the sale too, does not have to be on the sale items list.
This is a great and very wide ranging website directed solely at the model making world. It’s quite an amazing resource to explore. It works on PC or Smart phone. It has an exhaustive and searchable list of close to every kit there is, its history, derivatives, boxings which can be updated and corrected should you feel the need. The details on this site is incredible. You can also display your projects, finished work, link friends, follow modellers and their builds, keep an inventory of your stash, wants, for sales…It goes on and on, highly recommended for modellers of every kind. Think of it as Wikipedia for modelmakers.
Click here to check out Scalemates.
We have an active Facebook presence where we post photos from shows and club nights. This means that if you miss a show or meeting, you’ll be able to catch up with what models you may have missed.
Being a member of IPMS is optional for members but is highly recommended. For starters you avoid paying to get into SMW Telford which almost saves the membership fee on its own! There are 6 very high quality magazines a year. Look at the IPMS website for full details including discounts with many dealers around the country and online. Membership is now well in excess of 4000 in the UK alone. Current membership cost is £28 per year for one adult. Benefits are many and include:
– Technical Advisory Service
– Armour Technical Advisory Service
– Instruction Leaflet Library
– Decal Bank
We publish a list of everyone who is in the club amongst ourselves. This is very useful for contact regarding transport sharing and such. Please let us know if do not want to share contact details amongst other members.
Within our club we have a wide and varied knowledge base. Please feel free to ask any question however daft it may seem. Someone will point you to the relevant source of an answer if they can’t offer help themselves.
As a new member we welcome you into our club and the world of model making. As a rapidly growing club we are proud of what we have achieved and represent and will continue to do so with yourself as one of the group. There are no pressures, obligations, timeline, standards or demands that we set. All we ask is you enjoy the hobby, the friendship and being part of a surprisingly big, varied and open community.