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Announcing The Great Grillust 1/72 Scale Kit Off!

Lets kick off the New Year with a competition concept so breathtakingly original and creative that it is bound to be picked up by a production company, swiftly pitched to BBC2 commissioning editors and be the 'jewel in the crown' of the Autumn TV schedules...

...Ladies and gentlemen we bring you the 'Great Grillust 1/72 Scale (Model) Kit Off' 2016.

Hands up those of you who thought scale models were: deadly boring; just for blokes or only made by 'losers' (essentially something that only appeals to those with an x and y chromosome)?

Who could possibly get excited by this...

...or when glued together this...

...or even when painted (by someone lacking manual skills) this?

No one really, but that's because there's model making and then there's serious model making. Have a close look at this image...

No, this isn't a photograph of a real plane - what you're looking at here is a lovingly crafted 1/72 scale model diorama of a Grumman F6F Hellcat on fire (and no, the fire hasn't been Photoshopped in)!

Look at the care and attention that's gone into this bad boy..

Remember, you're looking at something about 20cm long but notice the detail! The dirt, the scratches, the oil leaks below. This takes obsessive sadness to new glorious heights! In fact it's so good it becomes both tragically sad and fantastically brilliant at exactly the same time (thereby breaking every law of Physics and/or Philosophy).

If you're still a 'doubter', before we announce the details of our fantastic competition please head over to the YouTube channel of the mysterious (and hypnotically mesmerising) 'Plasmo'. NB. if you suffer from insomnia Plasmo's unique narration style should quickly help you fall into the arms of Morpheus.



It's not just not just cockpits, oh no siree! Have a look at this...



Have we piqued your interest? Feeling excited by small things? Good, now you can enter the Great Grillust Kit Off 2016 by following these seven simple rules.

The Rules

1) Buy a 1/72 scale plastic model kit for under £10.00
2) Read the instructions
3) Assemble using glue (not included)
4) Decorate using paint (not included)
5) Apply decals (included)
6) Add your own very special magic!
7) Present the finished model for judging immediately after the Easter break by our panel of impartial scale model experts (NB. these experts are in fact full-size)

Rule six is your opportunity to go all 'Plasmo' on your model and also place it (if you so wish) in a diorama (a small model setting) of your own creation.

'Future' Dave Robert is going to do a Lunar Landing Module which he intends to present on a small lunar landscape (the diorama bit). It will probably look a little like this (only better)...



Jim Millington is going to create a plane he remembers from his youth, The Gloster Gladiator...

Dwayne Bell has chosen the Grumman Wildcat because having only seen this photo he (mistakenly) believes it to have only one wing and therefore be a 'doddle' to build...

Is there anything more beautiful than a De Havilland Mosquito painted with full 'Invasion Stripes'? Tragically, (for him) Tony Peart doesn't think there is...

PS if you think that's a lot of model for under £10 that's because it is. Take a tip from Tony and head over to eBay for scale model bargains!

Rhiannon Robinson is going to recreate the crowd that welcomed her across the finishing line of the 2015 Allendale Harriers (and Country Folk Club) 10k 'fun' run. It looked exactly like this...

We don't know yet, but we are assuming Zoe Garnett-Scott will be scratch-building (that's where you don't even use a kit, you build everything by hand from plastic sheet) a 1/72 scale model of her home 'Garnett-Scott Towers' pictured below:

Although we've shown you lots of aircraft in this post, please remember that any 1/72 scale model is eligible and there is a huge range available (from cars and boats and farm vehicles all the way to Sci-Fi spacecraft)...

Have a good look at the Airfix website to browse the range of subjects covered by the 'world of miniature' (ships, cars, tanks etc.) or for example, those with a green finger could try this.

LADIES please don't mistakenly assume that the world of scale modelling isn't for you. This notion is of course nonsense, by simply Googling the search term '1/72 scale models for ladies' we found the following highly varied and refreshingly feminine range of miniature delights... 

In due course we will reveal our full panel of judges but we are in a position to announce an exciting 'coup'. Already 'on board' is the 'Mary Berry' of the scale model world, Mr. Steve Ogden, Principal Lecturer in Arts & Humanities at The University of Cumbria. 

Steve needs no introduction to model fans. What he doesn't know about about 1/72 German WW1 biplane camouflage schemes isn't worth knowing and he famously created a 1/1 scale model of the University of Cumbria Brampton Road Campus at a secret location 10 miles to the East of the actual Brampton Road campus (it's 'the same but different' he tells us).

Steve "Mary Berry' Ogden putting the finishing touches (a light 'dusting' of icing sugar) to his 1/72 scale T34/76M 1942 Russian Front winter diorama.

So come on Great Britain, let's embrace the 'world of small' and enter the Great Grillust 1/72 Kit Off (2016)!!!