The Really Wild SIG was founded in 2021 when SIG Leader, Gem Atherton, met with close friend and Deputy Leader Martin Deakins one evening in the local pub. Conversation inevitably turned to the subject of modelling, and Gem commented on the lack of a Special Interest Group for animals and wildlife in modelling – Martin naturally told her to found one, so she did, and roped him into the process along the way! After a few emails to the wonderful and extraordinarily helpful John White, the SIG was set up in very short order and attended its first Scale ModelWorld that same year, returning in 2023 to bring a touch of the wild side of modelling to the international show.
The SIG draws its name from one of Gem’s favourite television shows from childhood – The Really Wild Show. Who doesn’t remember the antics of the likes of Chis Packham and Michaela Strachan, amongst others, and the myriad of amazing creatures they showcased each episode? This no doubt contributed to a fascination with all sorts of different critters; Gem now works full time as a falconer at The Falconry Centre, Hagley, so has a long-standing passion for all things animal and nature related. Her first forays into model-building and painting involved Warhammer and fantasy wargaming miniatures, so there are usually plenty of dragons and other cryptids/mythological beasts on display.
We focus on all things related to wildlife, such as figures, kits and dioramas focussing on animals (both real, historical and fantastical), beasts, and the natural environment. Relevant kits may be plastic, resin, 3D printed or white metal – in line with IPMS general policy, we make allowances for the use of metal in many wargaming miniatures, and although this is becoming less common we do still have a few old metal miniatures knocking around.
Acceptable subjects include:
- Animal figures, both real (such as birds, horses, dogs, snakes and spiders), historical (e.g. dinosaurs), and mythical (e.g. dragons, unicorns and griffons);
- Figures that include an animal as a major component,(e.g a cavalryman mounted on a horse, a falconer with a bird, a witch with their animal familiar);
- Anthropomorphic beasts and human/animal hybrids, such as a centaur, a mermaid, a werewolf or a cat-person;
- Non-humans, such as angels and demons, fairies, nymphs and dryads;
- Dioramas of any subject, as long as nature/wildlife is the main theme, e.g. an overgrown crashed aircraft, a tank being taken over by a swamp, a person fishing in a lake, etc.;
We do not accept:
- Subjects that only have an animal in their name, such as a “tiger tank” or a “hawker” – there are plenty of other SIGs dedicated to aircraft, tanks and suchlike, please support one of those accordingly!
- Similar to the above, anything that only has animal markings, images or logos on it. Tiger stripes on an aircraft are cool, but not relevant to this group.
- Figures who are only dressed as animals, or have animals in their names, rather than actually being animals. Batman, Catwoman, The Crow and Wolverine are all very cool, but they don’t belong here – however, a man-bat, an actual feline-woman, a feathered type of crow or a literal wolverine are most welcome!
The main feedback we had at Scale ModelWorld 2023 was an overwhelming sense of how “different” we are to all of the other displays. The Really Wild SIG exists to celebrate animals, nature and wildlife, both real and imagined, and indulges an often overlooked and highly fantastical element of our wonderful hobby.
We seem to appeal particularly to children, and not just because we were giving away free “Animal Bar” chocolate bars at Scale ModelWorld, which a fair few adults appreciated as well! Many younger visitors were coming up to the table with wide eyes and pointing excitedly at some of the kits on display, particularly Martin’s section on dinosaurs (several children successfully named all of the dinos but the Tyrannosaurus Rex was by far the most popular!) but we also had a 3D printed “Iago” figure (the evil parrot from Disney’s Aladdin film) and an Owlbear (a monster from Dungeons & Dragons) that drew a lot of attention. Other recognisable characters included a Balrog from Lord of the Rings and a green-skinned, snake-haired Medusa bust. It was fabulous to see so much interest in modelling from a younger generation, there were certainly a few parents/grandparents walking away from the table muttering about buying dinosaur model kits for Christmas presents!
Adult visitors to the table were especially drawn to a couple of scratch-built horse and carriage dioramas by Bill Mohan, and Dean Whiston’s Airfix Bullfinches were one of the highlights as far as many people were concerned. One of our very first members, Tamara Astley, blew everyone away with the wild paint schemes and superb details of her Warhammer monsters, and we were thrilled to have a selection of Lydia Newton’s beautiful beasties, her three-headed Corgi Cerberus was especially popular with visitors to the display!
Inspiration for models to feature can come from anywhere. We have already mentioned a prevalence of Warhammer and wargaming miniatures on our display, but dinosaurs have been a popular subject of modelling for many years and there are a number of kits for these prehistoric behemoths out there in a wide variety of sizes and quality! Other real world examples are the old Airfix bird series (we really wish they would re-release this series!) and a high number of cavalry horsemen and dog handlers from a military perspective.
There are, of course, quite a number of fantasy models in our display; one of our centrepieces is a vinyl Swamp Dragon that Gem got at her very first visit to SMW with Martin several years ago. Some of our contributors are also fans of 3D printing; Gem has her own Elegoo Saturn 8K resin printer, giving access to thousands of free and paid for .stl files online from places like Thingiverse, Cults 3D and MyMiniFactory. We also featured a fair few figures from HeroForge, a site that allows you to design and equip your own custom figures that you can then buy files for to print at home – some example include a couple of Tabaxi (cat-folk) figures, a Mermaid, Werewolf, and a Very Modern Minotaur.
Being a relatively new SIG we are a small but select group at the moment but we are more than open to having new members and contributors. We do not have any in person or online meetings, as our members are spread across the country, nor do we charge a membership or subscription fee. All of the costs for the table and putting on the display are paid for by Gem and Martin. We stay in touch via our Facebook page, where we can post pictures of our latest builds and discuss all things wild in the modelling genre. Anyone who would like to get in touch who isn’t on Facebook can email Gem directly using the address below.
SIG Leader: Gem Atherton
Deputy Leader: Martin Deakins
IPMS Birmingham 