It's our 100th project post on FaTedev! So lets make it a bit special.
Today me and a fellow pilot travelled some hours to Dortmund in Germany to visit the annual Intermodellbau 2013 model fair which is massive. The event is split into multiple halls, each hall in it's own right is gigantic. If it's RC or hobby based then your bound to find it at this fair, things like RC: cars, boats, quad-copters, giant scale helicopters, parasailing, trains, nitro, parts and accessories /hop-ups and loads more.
Of course its hard to go to one of these places and not be tempted into buying something, these people rely on impulse buying like any fair event. If your really thinking ahead of items you need then make a list before you go broke buying things you don't really need and will regret later.
Me and the man I was with both seen a new range of LRP model planes called the "Speedbirds". There are 4 model types in total
www.lrp.cc/en/products/rc-airplanes/electric/produkt/lrp-f-665-spitfire-speedbird-arf/details/ I choose this Spitfire in the classic 1944 black :D What makes these models quite special is not that there almost ready to fly (ATF) having the brushless LRP 1950KV motor pre-installed with a LRP 20A ESC AND all servos fitted... it's the fact these crazy sized 60-65CM span models can reach 100MPH! and cruise apparently around 60MPH. I'll be writing a proper review for it though.
Entry for Intermodellbau for adults is 14 Euro, check the web-site (linked above) for most current prices. Waiting to get tickets for entry also didn't take so long. However some of the halls smelt a bit funky lol, no idea what was happening in the "RC truck" hall where they also had a massive demonstration area, I think they might of used real compost for realism maybe
If your into RC and can travel go check it out, below are some photos I took with what I can remember from taking it. By the end of the day I was exhausted so some of it is a blur by now.
There are only PDF formats of the map available so I've crated a JPG one
As you first walk through into the fair the first thing you see on the left photo is a pretty big indoor track demonstration area. It was pretty busy but I don't think there was any "pros" there when we passed it, just people trying it out mostly.
On the right we see some of the first models we came across from Conrad.nl with their massive nitro range of REALLY cheap cars. Talk about instant drool to get going :)
The very first hall is RC "driving/flying" overall so trucks to buggys and free flight to giant scale rotary engines. One of the first things that catches your eye are the giant gliders mounted on stands some of them many many meters long and hard not to admire even though if you bought them all you'd need a new house to store them in also.
Some of the exhibitions are placed next to super bright lighting which makes taking pictures difficult, especially this Red Bull electric sexy model, ignore my hand blocking the light to actually get a photo!
On the right is a German hobby place that deals in ALL kinds of kite, fittings, carbon and such which given how hard it is too find decent custom parts online for this stuff I figured I would get a picture of the stand and his URL.
Dennis the pilot I went with owns a BNF (Bind 'N Fly) small version of The Beast seen here. We know there are even bigger versions but boy does this look nice.
The glider on the right is full composite but quite light, there were many models like this to pass by and view.
If your into giant scale then you won't be disappointed with the range of static model displays they have. Look at the range of military and more planes.
In the foreground are some larger scale helicopters with the flight demo area in the background. Around it you can see loads of people with all the stands based around this area.
There are some truly amazingly detailed models on display and as you can see some people put props with them, pretty cool.
Look at the price of the Audi on the right, 80 Euros with motor/ESC/Servos.. 80 Euros!
1/5th scale off road madness and as you can see chained down lol.
Many of our club members love the A-10 like me and this was an excellent scale model, if only I could of walked off with it... hehe.
More traditional style gliders, T tail this time and a custom model by one of the stand owners. On the right is a nice MB 339 Royal NZA which weighs in at 15 KG!
The attention to detail is really fun to see. You can only imagine how much brush time went into getting these models as sharp and true to original as they look now.
A well known classic wartime hero the Corsair F4U with it's folding wings are part of many pilots collections. This one weighs in at 4.7KG with an OS Max 90 motor.
The selection of old school gliders on display was super nice to see having built a few in my teenage years, full balsa construction, tissue paper, dope harder and lacquer finished on some of them. You can't really get more "Back to basics" than this and not just "Here is a EPO injection moulded model".
When you look at photos like this and imagine these models out on a tarmac runway with a low down angle like this, they look like the real deal!
More gliders and a Wilga PZL different but nice.
Inside other halls where smaller demo tracks for cars, trucks, boats and even outdoor nitro displays. Eflite offer a massive range of BNF models and this UMX ASK-21 is SUPER nice for the size. Although Eflite where not selling them at the show.. Go figure.
This Traxxas Drag racer on display really caught a lot of peoples attention, its very bold looking but I always think you'd get bored after 1 day of using it.
I had to grab a photo of this vintage glider with it's inverted tail fin and side profile files. Looks super nice and I'm even tempted to clone the design.
When I said ALL kinds of flying models I really meant it, check out this cool hot air ballon basket full scaled with working burners and of course a toy bear inside to catch kids attentions (why you think we seen it?!) :p
I have to say the scale of composite gliders getting smaller is really good too see, better performance, stronger and faster I can't wait for more to hit the market as more normal prices.
I don't have to say how nice this model is, just look at it! I want one, two no wait.. 6!
There a few pilots in our club who adore the Kyosho Calmato so I thought I grab a photo of dealer models :)
To get an idea of the scale of this event this picture is just 1 hall out of many, you also obviously can't see more to the right where the REST of this hall is lol.
I'm not so much into trains, I think there cool to look at on really nice setup displays but the rest of the time where do you put it?! lol.
Outside the car people like Traxxas, HPI, Carson etc where doing demo's of new models but there "play area" was pretty small so it was limited to small bursts of fast driving, jumps and general doughnut driving.
I was trying to get a photo of the truck in the display but the store owner didn't seem to happy, most of these people are very friendly but occasionally you run across one like this - TOO BAD.
In the truck hall there was a great display everywhere, this one featured a building ground with a rotating elevator displaying new models in the middle. Very unique and eye catching tricks.
Again many displays featured props to build up a scene and show the models origins of use/style.
This model train display was quite amazing with an obvious huge amount of work and time gone into it. The display keeps going around a corner and in total is about 15 meters long, impressive.
Looks like a nice building display right? Nothing special really except lots of time? Nope, look closer, this entire model is built from match sticks! It's truly amazing both the model and the patience of the person who built it, serious Kudos.
More plane models? Yes there old but even though you can tell, these are PAPER! When I looked twice which I had to after reading about them I was taken back by how real they look for something that originally was flat and came out of a printer!
Some are more obvious than others that there built of paper but still cool to see.
I had to get a photo of the old Dutch style Porche police cars! with a guy waving out the back to "Pull over!" haha can you imagine a police car in todays world doing that, a cop with his body hanging out of the sun roof waving you over ha.
These > working < fair ground displays are also quite a feat of engineering with all models functional AND they pack up for transport Exactly like the real fair ground rides do on to flat bed trailers. Not my kind of thing to build or keep but really cool too see.
Although by now I feel like I ran 2 marathons in a row the day out was really cool and worth the travel time. This is a yearly event with the halls in use generally the same so even if you miss 2013 you know what to expect and more next year :)
