Sunny Days, Sunny Faces & Only One Tiny Cloud

 Well, it was a beautiful morning as we made our way to Newark for our first show in over 18 months yesterday, and the crowds were out in force.

The footfall was as impressive as ever, the mood bouyant and from what I saw, trade brisk.

As usual, the standard of display games was quite high, with a definite trend towards WW2 and later 19th Century topics.

I kept my wallet on a chain, for the most part, spending a total of £80 including entrance and drinks, coming away with some nice stuff:

The Memsahib, spent £95 (after her 'charm discount'):

All in all a great day, with a good chat with Shaun McCloughlin and David H, a brief chat with Tim Gow, marred only by curmudgeonly grumbling and 'mucky looks' by someone I have always respected. But hey, into every sunny convention hall a little grey cloud of misery must pass and my sparkling company was given over to others, so no harm was done.

All in all it was a great return to shows and so refreshing to chat with friends, face to face again. That Robbie Baker fellah continues to be such a handsome bastard, that he has to have a portrait in the attic , taking the hits for him.

Now, I take a great deal of care in selecting my materials for 'the day job', and of late securing my varnish of choice, the Winsor & Newton Professional Matt spray. As you may know I swear by this product, but I have had to do some heavy research to find an alternative. And I did...

I can report that AK Matt Varnish is awesome.

 

I purchased a can and decided that to put my money where my mouth is, would be the best test, if I could try it out on something important in my own collection:

 

 

 

This was a rather valuable high gloss (Joe Dever's estate), figure and 30 seconds later it was matt, without damaging the model or even dulling the metal.

 

This is to be my new 'go to' varnish.

 

Well, I see that I am 6 minutes late for the start of my new working week, so I will bid you a good day and good health!

 

TTFN