History in scale

Aircraft enthusiasts could feast their eyes on scale models at an exhibition held over the weekend, featuring medal-winning works and a high level of craftsmanship.

The 30th-anniversary commemorative scale model exhibition by the Society of Scale Modellers, held in the Malta Maritime Museum at the Vittoriosa Waterfront, included highly detailed scale models of aircraft, armoured vehicles, ships, figurines and dioramas, with each model requiring months of re­search, construction and finishing touches.

Some of the models of the society’s members have even won international competitions.

The Libyan crisis also featured in the exhibition, with a photographic section of aircraft and vessels that were involved in the recent evacuations of Maltese and foreigners from the beleaguered North African country.

History in Scale was supported by Bank of Valletta, which said it combined art, culture and history – three of the main pillars of the bank’s community programme. The initiative showcased the talent of numerous Maltese artists, it said.

Established in January 1981, the society’s primary objective was to raise the level of scale modelling to the highest possible standard and to change public perception that it was a mere hobby for dilettantes to an appreciated art form that involved research, painstaking construction and painting. It said its objective was reached and surpassed through the years.