The Little World

That’s always a pertinent question as far as my hobbies go. Indeed it also applies to clothing purchases, dinners at restaurants, and holiday trips. Sometimes the answer is no – for instance when they bring a tiny dinner out on a vast white plate and then hover like a Sikorski asking whether it is to my liking. One day I am going to tell the helicopter the truth…

But did I get value for money with the Airfix kit of the Douglas Devastator. Remember that this was a $ 9.00 purchase at the Victorian scale model show – and that the decal sheet was said to be unserviceable. $ 9.00 is a lot of money when your allowance is 50¢ a week…

Well, yes, I jolly well did get value for money. The decals proved to be damaged but saveable. The kit was all there. I had the correct paint for it, and not another penny was spent to finish it. It will be displayed in the Yellow Wing Gallery of Stein’s Air World with a great deal of pride.

Like the Canadair Sabre, the Shooting Star, and the old Matchbox Spitfire, this Devastator is proof that there is as much joy to be had out there with the discarded and dismissed model kits as with the latest super-detail giant new issue. The only difference is a little plastic and a lot of money.

I can’t wait until the next swap meet.