The Little World

And the topic with which I treat today is the business of after – not before or during. Specifically, what are you going to do with the models that you build?

I’m okay. I spent up on Billy bookcases from IKEA when they were cheap and I wasn’t and have enough space for my 1:18th car collection as well as some of the new 1:72 aircraft. And I have a giant scale airfield a’building to house the production from my Little Workshop. Should the flood of new models crowd out the old, I’ll sell off some of the 1:18 to make room. Years of storage to go.

Other friends are not so lucky – either lacking basic cabinet room or being so prolific as to fill the hobby room, lounge room, and many other horizontals surfaces in the house. The pressure to build is constant, but there can be stoppages along the way.

Note – the answer is NOT to build a smaller scale. This may seem to compact the collection into less space but the whole sequence will just start over again and before you know it you’ll find the soap dish in the shower full of Messerschmitts. Some would find this bliss, but it never finishes well…

Building more storage space is one answer and finding more is another. Those who invest in granny flats and then fill them with IKEA and models are the happiest. They spend more but they keep their styrene family about them. Those who gift their models to institutions like museums and schools are relieved of the storage worry but might find that their creations are not treated with respect thereafter. People who just give them away to random relatives might just as well leave them on the verge – they will be lost.

I say build that model library for yourself – or find an organisation that loves them as much as you do. Then build away with the confidence that your work is going to last long enough to be appreciated – and take good pictures of the models once completed. Those pictures may one day be the only evidence of your skill.