The Little World

Having grasped myself firmly by the collar and demanded that I pay attention, I can come to the point of individual rules. I have a very threatening manner when I catch myself fooling around…

a. You have your own interests and goals – you must build for these, and not for the demands of others. Let them build their little worlds to suit their own plans. Build YOUR model YOUR way.

b. The point of building the model is not to win a contest. If you wanted to win something for the sake of winning, you could play Snap with toddlers and cheat outrageously.

To be frank, none of the models that you build are likely to be contest winners, but that will not prevent you from showing them off in exhibitions. With pride – and your own sense of showmanship.

c. Your goal is good models to incorporate into dioramas and model photography. Build to suit this and photograph each model as you go along.

d. Build each part of a model as a model in itself. Good subassemblies mean that you have rewards all along the way as you progress to the finish.

e. Appreciate other people’s models as much as you appreciate your own. The good ones show the way to extra skill and the bad ones show what not to do. But either way, keep your opinions to yourself.

So far, so good. The business of distancing oneself from business means that the hobby, avocation, or art is going to be all that much sweeter. No nagging sense of accountancy to be overcome every time you set out to make a new model. If it ain’t gonna pay, you can get right on to the good bits where it is fun to do.

Doing the art for the sake of doing it is the goal, but you can become distracted by the lure of praises and prizes. If you want to win, and do, well all is well. If you want to win and don’t, the cheerful hobby becomes a terrible trial. You run the risk of seeing everyone else as a rival and missing out on the fun of the game. It becomes a football grand final with your team losing every day of the year. Avoid this.