RIP - Alan W Hall - PolyTech Forum

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Chris Hughes 17 years ago

It has been reported to me by John "Tigger" Wilkes and on Hyperscale by Graham Boak (via Richard Caruana on Malta) that Alan Hall passed away early this morning on the island of Malta.

Alan Hall was one of the pioneers of scale modelling here in the UK and for his overseas readership. He was also a renowned aviation journalist and author and, in his younger days, an officer in the Royal Air Force Reserve.

I recall his articles in the Airfix magazine of the 1960's, his editorship of the original Scale Aircraft Modelling and his Warpaint series of books by which later generations of modellers will know him. His articles in Airfix magazine set me off on my journey in this hobby of ours; his clear and well-written explanations of the various techniques were easy to follow - although I was never brave enough to try carving balsa and using the famous talcum powder and "dope" varnish as a filler!

RIP Alan.

Chris Hughes

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Ol' 45 17 years ago

I had the pleasure of meeting Alan on several different occasions at IPMS / USA conventions over the years. He was so low key and so knowlegable on so many various modeling and aircraft topics and a true gentleman to boot. He will be greatly missed. Cliff Davis Highlands Ranch, Colorado

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Steve 17 years ago

Thats very sad news indeed, Alan has been a familiar face to many modellers for decades at the IPMS Nationals (now Scale Modelworld) and to not see him there next week will be the end of an era. Alan's choice of RAF subjects for the Warpaint series and prior to that Aviation News was for me important. subjects that are British through and through and that deserve far more recognition and publicity than are given, Alan waved their flag strongly and good on him for doing so. Often with the passing of someone like Alan goes a deep treasure trove of knowledge, we can but be grateful that Alan, unlike some, did committ his knowledge to paper. I can but wonder what else he had planned and what died with him. Alan from my little chances I grabbed to talk to him at the Nationals, was a gentleman and keen to discuss ideas and the subject matter most close to his heart. I just wish, having had a deep interest in a lot of what made Alan tick, I had taken more time out to have a chat, but the Nationals as they were known are just too busy in the day for such. Just a while ago the figure modelling side of our hobby lost an excellent modeller still in his prime and with many years of excellent work still to come, one Roy Hunt. A most unexpected loss given his age. He like Alan was friendly from the outset, another sad loss. What a sad year indeed. I hope they have modelling tools where they have now gone. Steve

"Ol' 45" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@r37g2000prr.googlegroups.com... On Nov 6, 5:34 am, "Chris Hughes" wrote:

I had the pleasure of meeting Alan on several different occasions at IPMS / USA conventions over the years. He was so low key and so knowlegable on so many various modeling and aircraft topics and a true gentleman to boot. He will be greatly missed. Cliff Davis Highlands Ranch, Colorado

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RIP - Alan W Hall

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