The Little World

It’s not cool to be cheap. Every commercial website or advertisement makes it clear to you that you only qualify for the admiration of the world if you spend money. The more you spend, the better you are regarded. This is a wonderful success on the part of the advertising culture – it used to be the other way around. Read Ben Franklin and see what real intellect thought of profligate spending in the 18th century.

I am delighted to be of the other camp. I drive a cheap motor car – and I drive it safely. I wear old clothes, and I wear them out. I eat frugally, but I eat well. And I buy my model kits with a stern eye focused upon the price tag.

Thus my delight at discovering the Hobby Boss range at Hobbytech. I’ve just done my second HB kit and found it delightful. I’ve another in the Little Stash that promises similar rewards. In the case of the Republic P-47 Razorback fighter plane I have had days of pleasure for $ 15. Indeed, it suggests a way of assessing future purchases – $ 15 per engine for good value – $ 20 if you really need to – $ 30 per engine if someone else is footing the bill. And take note; you are not guaranteed a better experience with the extra expense.*

The P-47 is in the colours of the 56th fighter group. The gun barrels are surprisingly light-coloured, but I have photos of real 56th P-47’s taking off from their English airfields with barrels this shade. The rest of the colour scheme is, of course, too fresh for combat but that is how I like my models. I may wear old shirts around the house, but that is no reason to have dirty airplanes…

The two-gun approach to painting seems to be working well. ” AA  ” has recently gotten his second airbrush and it is a trigger version, rather than the double action seen in many art studios. I think he has made a good choice – if you regulate the pressure, thinning, and temperature with your choice of medium, the trigger gun is ever so much more comfortable to paint with. Okay, use the surgically precise double action with a 0.2 tip if you want, but remember that most surgery is done on the basis of poking around and then letting the body heal itself later. I know – I used to do the poking.

The truly frugal modeller will be very disciplined – they’ll only buy one model at a time and will resist the temptation to blow 2 x  the price of the kit on extra decals and photo-etched parts. All paint jars will be used to the last ml. and they’ll have the same, single paintbrush they started with in 1957. No hobby shop items will ever be bought that cannot be supplied cheaper from the local Bunnings store or a $ 2 shop. They will knit their own decal sheets and sit huddled over a tealight trying to trim parts by feel in the dark. Frequently they will burn the box from the finished model as fuel for the fireplace – the really dedicated ones will cut it apart and use it for breakfast cereal.

That explains some of the entries at the annual modelling competition…

Note: This is only the second aircraft that I have built with a pilot aboard. I shall ask the figure modellers for advice on how to improve this feature.

*  I dread to think what a Sunderland or Halifax will cost…