The Little World

If you have a room, you have an elephant. It doesn’t matter whether it is a real room with a real elephant, or a scale model one. Somewhere there will be a problem that no-one mentions. In my case the pachyderm has been a Minicraft 1:16 scale model of a 1931 Ford two-door sedan. It has occupied the corner of the stash for going on three years – and the time has finally arrived to shift it.

I don’t mean shift it as sell it or give it away – most things of the elephantine class are only lurking because their time or their idea has not come. They were bought or otherwise acquired with some vague thought that they would eventually be a thing of beauty or utility – but the ensuing months or years has not yielded a need or an inspiration. Yet there they are…all that potential and nothing doing…

You must just be patient. Something will happen. Either someone will see the elephant, cry out joyously, fall on it, and demand to buy it for a price far higher than ever you gave ( Right, In your dreams…) or you will come across the missing thought link that fires you up. In my case it was an internet search for the 1930’s airliners and airports…and I happened upon a page of Dust Bowl refugee cars in clear pictures. And I remembered my father’s tales of the 30’s as a young man in the western USA…particualrly of his brothers and their travels in Montana.

So out came the box, and after I looked at the pissy box art – and the even pissier instructions and decal sheet – I knew what the Elephant’s fate would be: star vehicle for the Stein Boys on the road.

Missoula Here We Come.

The Minicraft people bought this mould from someone else – it’s not new at all. It’s also not branded as a Ford – obviously they do not want to pay royalties to Detroit – and it has its share of flash and sinkholes. The rear of the body has a short-shot hole that is just perfect for a slightly botched home repair. The kit contains optional parts for other ’31 Fords that will provide alternate parts – and I have the leftovers from another Minicraft ’31 Ford pickup that was built as a rat rod. Very useful for the Depression-era migrants car.

1:16 scale is an oddity in the shops here – only ever saw the Minicraft and one AMT car in this scale – even the die-cast vehicles in this size are scarce. But it is lovely for detail that you need not fumble to see. My main hope now is that there will be some doll house accessories and items that can be adapted to it – otherwise it is a case of some furniture scratchbuilding. I don’t think my Dad or Uncle Jack were driving a classic Okies’ car but there were tales of fishing trips and interstate drives that were not far off it. I think I have some wiggle room.

The previous 1:16 rat rod showed that Minicraft or whoever moulded this before were ambitious but foolish – they tried to incorporate working hinges in plastic and wire with scale dimensions. A nightmare to do. I am going to be sensible – the doors will be glued open or shut to show the thing off and the detail will be ramped up to make it worth looking inside.

This elephant is going to be fun – all it needed was a story to begin with.