I do not go to exhibit models for competitions; it never especially attracted me. However, since the founding of the Modellers, it is appropriate occasionally to show up here and there, especially with a booth. After a covid break, last year, various events started again with steam. This time, we decided to pick a rather distant event but one with a distinguished reputation: the Dutch SMC.
So far, I have the Polish well-known festivals in Bielsko-Biala, two “Babaryba,” Bytom, and the notorious Moson in Hungary, probably the most prestigious in recognition of the competitors. I must say, however, that SMC made a gigantic, best impression on me. How this event is visually polished is beyond the competition. I didn’t review the judging, as I simply didn’t have time to look at it, as we had a trade booth. I think it’s more of a “like it or not” style of judging, as the judging itself was short-lived. Arguably, a medal from Moson carries more weight than SMC in terms of prestige. As for the experience as a spectator, even Moson is not so impressive.
First of all, the building complex, even the entrance through a spectacularly illuminated pathway, like a red carpet, invites and promises an elegant exhibition. Beautiful and modern halls, excellent traffic organization in the parking lot, everywhere someone to direct you exactly where and what. The show itself in a hall with black walls and ceiling, black tablecloths, and a gray carpet strongly exposes the already standing models arranged on floors. You don’t have to dive forward to see something. Little by little, lamps are set up every few dozen centimeters, illuminating the models with an even white light. This is how it should always and everywhere! Entering the hall, the models play the first and basically only fiddle, and you can see it around. At Scale Model Challange, the bulk of the exhibition is figures, busts, and entire dioramas in figurative themes. At the same time, armored models are a slightly smaller part of the exhibition. For that I have the impression that the level of work was extremely high, there were few weak works.
The Exchange is already a separate event in itself. I have to hit my breasts at this point and do my homework on making a fabulous booth. The beautifully prepared stores clearly overshadowed us, although we could not complain about the lack of customers, we promise to accommodate customers better in the future. However, we are still crawling in exhibitions at exchanges, so everything is ahead of us. On the other hand, if you like shopping, SMC is something for you. The Exchange was huge, with beautiful displays and many niche companies like ours.
At the very end, as the cherry on the cake, it is worth mentioning the city itself. Eindhoven is a pretty charming, intimate town. Clean and quiet, so we spent cool and relaxing afternoons in the local pubs and in the evening also at something the Netherlands is famous for, and we are still far from them in these matters. Great weekend.
