A Campaign of Illegal Harassment: Matt Martin (Tarquin Montague), Chris Smith & Patriot Models

Over the past two months I have been the recipient of a campaign of harassment organised by Matt Martin (who poses behind the username Tarquin Montague on forums), his associate Chris Smith and Patriot Models (who Martin works for and with). This stems entirely from a personal hatred of me that Martin and Smith hold because of their political views and dislike of people discussing models. In this thread I post the evidence and abuse I have suffered and name the perpetrators.

The Background

While I strive to undertake level-headed non-sensational evidence-based reporting, and work closely with the majority of brands, the popularity of my work can attract bad actors. The main one has been Andrew Klein who owns one of the smaller brands in the scale called Aeroclassics. He has a long reputation of being a keyboard warrior and attacking people talking about models or working with competitors he holds grudges against. He has attacked me personally, name called and spread lies for many years.

More recently he has been joined by an online username called Tarquin Montague (Matt Martin). Both of these people are connected to the current harassment. They have been saying unpleasant things about me online and made an AI doll figure using the stupid Richard Strappon name Klein had come up with. I believe it was Tarquin Montague who made the AI doll and it was he who published it at DAC, but Klein has spread it around his messaging too. These kinds of personal attacks have been the norm for me for many years. They spread lies and attack me personally but never rebut anything I write because all they are interested in is abuse.

They are welcome to their personal views but they are not welcome to illegally harass people and that is what some of them have begun to do.

The Illegal Harassment Begins

On April 16th I purchased a model from eBay from the user andsm_1889. I did not know who that user was at the time but eBay sends your address and personal phone number to the seller when the sale is made. On May 6th the same user purchased a model that I was selling on eBay. Only then when they sent their contact details (tellingly without the usual phone number) did I see that they were connected to Tarquin Montague as they said to deliver it to Chris Smith (c/o Tarquin Montague). Checking my feedback for the purchased model I saw the eBay seller left derogatory feedback using the Strappon name.

Andrew Klein already had my email address but had never used it to harass me. However, he could easily supply it to these people and now they had a full set of my contact details. With that they have begun a campaign of harassment (more below). But who are they? Let me tell you.

The Perpetrators

I was able to confirm that Chris Smith (and his brother Andrew Smith hence the andsm username) works with and for a guy called Matt Martin (who I had suspected of being Tarquin Montague for sometime). I am told he constantly follows Martin about and is always with him at fairs and such. The eBay experience and this knowledge confirmed that he was. In addition Matt Martin advertises himself as a director of Patriot Models on LinkedIn has a FlyerTalk profile where he talks about his PA (i.e. Chris Smith). He has also been the primary distributor outside China for Patriot Models. It appears he may well fly for the cargo airline Geosky judging by his LinkedIn and the fact I have been told he is a pilot. That would also explain how he gets to China so regularly.

Matt Martin, like Andrew Klein who he is connected with, doesn’t like people discussing the models in any critical fashion, discussing competitor brands (he is connected to a brand called Patriot Models) and is a pro-Trumper who gets angry whenever there is any criticism of Trump (which is a topic that has come up in my work given tariffs). I found Chris Smith on Facebook and looking at his likes it is clear he is also a strong right winger. This gives them extra motif to attack me.

Here is Chris Smith's Facebook page. You can see looking at his likes that he is lives in Folkestone, Kent but follows a lot of strongly right wing US media such as FOX News, Trump, Tucker Carslon etc. Matt Martin is also on Facebook and lives in Ashford, Kent not far way. He has also historically made pro-Trump messages on my Instagram. These political leanings are partly why they are bullying me but it is also because Martin wants to be a big man in 400 scale. He has plans to start his own brand BENBO models and is neck deep in distributing models for Patriot. He thinks I am a know-it-all with a big ego.

Left two are Chris Smith, right is Matt Martin. These images are verified as being them.

Historically I have had a good relationship with Patriot Models owner - a James Chou - also on Facebook. He was friendly to me for many months but since Martin went to the Beijing HEC show earlier this year I have heard he is spreading the same lies Klein and Martin tell, on Chinese forums. These are the same old lies about me getting free models from NG and them buying good reviews. Somewhat ironic since I have always been very complimentary about Patriot Models at my site. Tarquin Montague over on DAC has been spreading other lies such as this:

This is a 100% lie and fabrication and I dare him to publish the supposed slurs if he thinks they exist.

The Crimes

Soon after the Smith and Martin acquired my personal contact information the harassment began. I have received a long list of contacts requested by them using my personal contact details. Such as:

Newsletter sign-ups to things they believe are abusive or funny (such as Autism society, Deaf association, Mental Health charities, Lancome makeup, UKIP)
Sign-ups to 2 marriage infidelity websites Ashley Maddison and Victoria Milan
A callback request from a Furniture company for ‘chair that can handle my frequent incontinence’
A call from a Aged Care home in Worcester requesting a brochure
A booking for a meal for ten at a local Indian restaurant
A contact from the Autism society requesting an adult Autism assessment

There have been over 20 of these kinds of harassment events over a period of nearly two months, many of them using the Strappon name that has only been used by Martin, Smith and Klein. Several use my home address and mobile phone number.

They are the only people with the motive to do this and who have my contact details. Nothing like this has ever happened before.

Police

I have gone to the Police and they recognise that the actions undertaken here are illegal.

I have made a statement, but as the offence has been committed in Kent the case is currently being transferred to Kent Police for actioning.

Takeaways

The reason I am publishing this is because so far I have gone through this alone and been unable to do anything more about it. It has been a very unpleasant experience and I have personally felt that myself and my family are being threatened. I don't know how low these people will go and what the next stage of the harassment is. Whatever your political affiliations this isn't right.

I want this harassment to stop but I don't see why these people should get away with this behaviour and so I wanted to make sure that people know who they are. I have spoken with Patriot owner James Chou and he has spoken to Martin and told him to stop. Obviously Martin denies his involvement, but he has admitted he is Tarquin Montague and the evidence of association suggests very strongly his involvement.

If you are thinking about dealing with any of these individuals as a customer or a retailer, or buying their models then I urge you to think about what kind of people you are dealing with. If they will do this to me then they will do this to others. I already know they have been bad mouthing various retailers they have been working with.

Nobody should have to suffer this kind of abuse and harassment when all they are doing is discussing model aircraft. I hope that this harassment will stop and the perpetrators will be brought to justice, however in the meantime these people should not be listened to or worked with, and everthing they say is a lie.