Got me Thinking

[DEL]

OK the title is not something that I often get associated with but Brians post searching for Stormtroopers Dacian bust did just that.
In the days, not so long ago, before 3D printing, when everything was hand sculpted, how lucky were we to have genuine hand crafted art works available.
I'm thinking particularly of the collaboration between Stu at Stormtroopers and Carl Reid.
Between them they produced true works designed and sculpted by an artist and not an engineer or technician.
Realism ruled over symmetry. Over the years I've painted a fair number of Carl and Stu's busts, amongst others the Border Reiver 3 times and the Dacian twice and every one had loads of character that to an extent I, and this is a personal view, feel has become a bit lost as the hobby has moved forward.
Another honourable mention has to go to Sergey Savenkov of Tartar who like Carl produces pieces with personality, warts and all.
Just wallowing in a bit of nostalgia realising that Euro will never be the same and HvB has gone for good
D

 

[kagemusha]

Have to agree with your sentiments Del.
I have always enjoyed Carl's pieces...and also those of Moz (Maurice Cory)...both of whom I enjoyed drinks with at Euro on several occasions
Stu and Graham (CGS) shared many great pieces with us...from both Carl and Moz over the years that I think of as the peak of modern 'sculpting'...times...I for one...will always remember fondly.
Ron

 

[DEL]

Always enjoyed over indulging with those two along with Pete Morton in the Southcliffe. We must have crossed paths without knowing it.
As for Graham, on a few occasions we along with his old man were the last men standing on the Saturday night
Fondly remember the occasion when having paid for his room Graham couldn't get up from his seat and just crashed in the Lounge for the night.
Mind you I once spent the Saturday night sleeping on an ancient gravestone in the Bayle cemetery
Happy days

 

[kagemusha]

Yep...Graham and Bob (his dad) were great company...both at the main hall and later at the bar/hotel
He did mention that night of lounge crashing on a number of occasions...and remember hearing about your sojourn in the graveyard
Many fond memories...especially the time I lost my girlfriend for a while...but Moz kindly returned her...although she was having trouble walking and speaking coherently
Great times that likely are gone for good

 

[kevininpdx]

As someone who started modeling miniatures through gaming figures I can say 3D sculpture has revolutionized that hobby. For large scale historical display figures however that’s not the case. There is no comparison to a hand sculpted model. Something about the 3D sculpts just seems off.
Anyway. Is Carl Reid not sculpting busts anymore? I just recently started buying some of the older ones.

 

[Forté]

I managed to completely miss out on the whole Euro thing. Had already lost its shine before I heard about it. Them it changed hands.

 

[Banjer]

I went to the first four or five and found it very cliquey with a lot of inflated egos. The trade stands were great though which is why I went.

Bill

 

[Martin64]

I went to the first four or five and found it very cliquey with a lot of inflated egos. The trade stands were great though which is why I went.

Bill

Agree to that but will add that most of the pieces on display were breathtaking and worth the visit. It was next to impossible to take a good look at every piece that was entered in competition and deserved to be admired. All in all happy to be there when the show had it`s best days but the cliquey thing and the egos keep me from getting too emotional about it`s demise.
The same goes about releases of some sculptors already mentioned - amazing when looking at the sheer number of pieces - not always that great when it came to single releases and details and anatomy. Therefore new sculptors and new tools of the trade are welcome IMHO. Todays digital sculpts of Palacios and Latorre are a good example that it is the man and not the tool that makes the "all time classic"-piece in my eyes.

 

[Airkid]

Del, you must have been at World Expo in Glasgow in 2000. All the "names" including a large contingent from the 'States. Excellent weekend all round. Only thing I won was a bottle of 10YO malt in the raffle. Still got it unopened - can't bring myself to crack it. I did Euro for many years but I agree, too cliquey.

Phil

 

[DEL]

I'd say it wasn't so much cliquey as more an Old Pals act. We've all got memories of golds being awarded to painters whose skills were at best dated and as a rule significantly diminished.
Still it didn't detract from the weekend in any way. We (the scots) had a well rehearsed routine that has been detailed here in the past. The shortened Friday version being arrive in Folkestone 15.30 tie up with the usual suspects, Carl, Moz, Smudger, Lester and so on. Have a few drinks and then to keep Ron T happy, along to the Scuba gay bar .
Evening head en masse to the Gurkha buffet to watch Brian complain about there only being 1 tea bag in the pot you really needed to be there.
Up to the British Lion for some excellent beer, particularly good when it coincided with 'talk like a pirate day' then back to the Southcliffe. From this point on it's pretty much a blur.
Never felt excluded from any group I felt was worth being part of, just needs a brass neck.
Remember years ago along with Brian crashing a private free bar hosted I think by Nexus Publishing for the great and the good in the Clifton. Knowing we'd eventually be spotted I lost count of the drinks we shifted before being huckled. Then we all drifted along to the hotel where Pegaso were staying to sample some rather nice Grappa .....
Those were the days.

 

[DEL]

Del, you must have been at World Expo in Glasgow in 2000. All the "names" including a large contingent from the 'States. Excellent weekend all round. Only thing I won was a bottle of 10YO malt in the raffle. Still got it unopened - can't bring myself to crack it. I did Euro for many years but I agree, too cliquey.

Phil

I was. Drink the whisky Phil. Remember it's always a 10 year old. Whisky only ages in the barrel..... it's you who's 21 years older not the malt
Derek

 

[Forté]

. Todays digital sculpts of Palacios and Latorre are a good example that it is the man and not the tool that makes the "all time classic"-piece in my eyes.

Both of those are top class digital sculptors but I'd still say their traditional sculpts still have that edge currently. Though both constantly improve the digital side of things.

Ebroin actually does both still so is one to watch.

 

[Martin64]

Latorre sculpts - traditional and digital...all have the edge IMHO although I personally prefer historical themes

 

[Forté]

Latorre sculpts - traditional and digital...all have the edge IMHO although I personally prefer historical themes

His traditional sculpts still just have the edge over his digital though I find. He's nearly close but they just had a little roughness that gave them a little more life. Digital is often that bit too clean.

I lean more towards fantasy/ sci-fi but do appreciate the quality of sculpting present in many historical works too.

 

[Babelfish]

Great thread with some entertaining memories of Euro which I've enjoyed reading, despite never being part of the "Southcliffe Gang" (always stayed at the Clifton, and mainly drank in there). Those of us who were regulars over the years all have tales to tell, just a shame the whole thing kind of petered out and in its latter years it became a shadow of its former self. By the time of my last visit (2017 I think), the days were long gone of queuing for ages to get in on the Saturday morning, having to fight your way through crowds to get from one end of the main hall to the other, the re-enactors, the WW2 armoured vehicles parked up outside, the overflow marquee outside because L.C.H. was too small for all the traders, etc. etc.

It was always a great social event though .... for me and I know for other guys as well having chatted to them about it, it eventually became as much about the craic and the socialising as about the show itself, maybe more so. And I always made a point of saying hello to Diego Ruina & Pietro Balloni and shaking their hands .... hoping that some of the magic dust would rub off .

- Steve

 

[Babelfish]

I'd say it wasn't so much cliquey as more an Old Pals act. We've all got memories of golds being awarded to painters whose skills were at best dated and as a rule significantly diminished.

Definitely that. I won't name any names, but every year the work of one of Euro's prominent "movers & shakers" was displayed in the non-competition cabinet in the comp room downstairs. And at best, his stuff was what I'd call local club painter standard. Or - being generous - "very good for the 1980s". Put it on the comp stands with no name attached and it wouldn't have got a second glance from the average punter, never mind the judges. And yet, there it was ....

- Steve

 

[DEL]

(always stayed at the Clifton, and mainly drank in there).

- Steve

You Toff . We always made a point of grabbing a few in the Clifton as one of our group always stayed there but over the years it became a bit flat and had an air of the Miss Havesham about it. With the Southcliffe what you saw was what you got.
When he wasn't busy Pietro was great company and indeed all the Pegaso lads were very sociable as was Mike Blank, Carl, the Maltese contingent, the Finnish armour guys..... the list goes on.
Perhaps some sense of cliques came about simply because we Brits are a bit too reserved at times and in many cases absolute crap at learning other languages.

Definitely that. I won't name any names, but every year the work of one of Euro's prominent "movers & shakers" was displayed in the non-competition cabinet in the comp room downstairs. And at best, his stuff was what I'd call local club painter standard. Or - being generous - "very good for the 1980s". Put it on the comp stands with no name attached and it wouldn't have got a second glance from the average punter, never mind the judges. And yet, there it was ....

- Steve

Spot on, although I suppose there should always be a place to acknowledge the legacy of many of the veteran and vintage painters and sculptors.

Derek

 

[Babelfish]

You Toff . We always made a point of grabbing a few in the Clifton as one of our group always stayed there but over the years it became a bit flat and had an air of the Miss Havesham about it. With the Southcliffe what you saw was what you got.
When he wasn't busy Pietro was great company and indeed all the Pegaso lads were very sociable as was Mike Blank, Carl, the Maltese contingent, the Finnish armour guys..... the list goes on.
Perhaps some sense of cliques came about simply because we Brits are a bit too reserved at times and in many cases absolute crap at learning other languages.

I think the Clifton was a microcosm of Folkestone as a whole: very faded, and living off past glories. A once posh hotel that isn't any more, but still thinks that it is! Always enjoyed it there though, the rooms were clean, the staff were very friendly and they served a decent breakfast. I only stayed at the Southcliffe once, in 1999 I think it was. The Clifton was full but the Southcliffe managed to squeeze me in.

Those were the days when I used to just drive over from Germany (where I lived for 23 years) without bothering to book anywhere in advance because my then-wife was never interested in tagging along so I wasn't too concerned about where I ended up laying my head. One year I slept in the car the first night, but I was younger then, and more foolish. As you say - what you saw at the Southcliffe was what you got . I did have a quick drink in there on a couple of occasions, and when you walked past there was always a good vibe going on.

As for Pegaso, I didn't go to the last couple of pre-pandemic Euros and I heard that they didn't either. That must have made a massive difference to the entire show because they were always a huge "presence" there, with their big stand right at the bottom of the stairs as you went down into the hall.

- Steve

 

[Airkid]

Oooh! Stop that lamp swinging.. it's making me seasick. I generally used to make a week of it for Euro, and me and the mem' sahib would rent a cottage and make a mini-holiday of it. Early on, we did stay in one or two hotels, but never managed to get in the Southcliffe. We did have a bevy or two in there on occasion though. As for the show, I used to run a display for a figure group so we missed the queuing although Nexus would only issue passes on the Friday evening, so it was always an arse-ache chasing Colin around the place to get hold of them. Heady days, good friends (some of them sadly gone), great atmosphere, some excellent work in the comps. I guess I miss it

Phil

 

[Chris Oldfield]

My old man used to guard the Leas Cliff Hall (it was a dance hall then) as an infantryman in 2/5th Sherwood Foresters in 1941/42, when the invasion threat was still quite real, although when Hitler marched east the threat began to recede. I would have loved to have taken him there on my visits to Euro between 1995 & 2004, but after several years of ill-health he was never fit enough to make the trip.