The Little World

And don’t get funny with the Mick Jagger or Keith Richards jokes…I mean scale models. What do people over 60 want in a scale model kit, and how can they get it? I can speak for myself as I passed that mark twelve years ago, but I am hesitant to decide for others. However, I will interview other senior modellers and see if I can get sensible answers.

Okay, for me, I can list a few desiderata:

1. The model must be of a real thing that exists or has existed. I value imagination as we all might, but I do not need to be paying out for it. Nor do I wish to pay for or spend time on a spin-off from Hollywood’s limited understanding of the world. I can be deluded on my own without them.
2. The model must be of a decent standard. I do not demand perfection…I cannot display it in myself, let alone my models. I accept some degree of error, as long as it is correctable without major trauma.
3. The model must be a recognised scale. I see things in relation to other things – architecture, machines, landscapes, people, etc. I do not want to be constantly seeing a mismatch in them. All scales are valid, as long as people are prepared to stick to them. I have long lost patience with the ” box scale ” model that is a wonderful orphan. Note I work in 1:18 and 1:72 for my man models but have added diecast things in 1:64 and 1:43 where necessary to complete a photograph. I avoid them if possible.
4. The model must be buildable with ordinary effort. I accept that we get better at detailing as we progress, but eventually finer and finer details get to the point of slaving at awkward work for no benefit. Let me have a model that rewards me, not punishes me.
5. The model must have some attractive feature. As a boy, that attraction was probably a working feature of out-of-scale proportion, and I can eschew that now…but I still want to look on the model and see something interesting. A weapons fit, a variation, a colour scheme. Something to lift it from the run of re-done kits.
6. The model must have some colour. Pure colour may not be appropriate, but I tire of grey tones on every surface. I can accept them if the decals are a stand-out.
7. The model must be affordable. I cannot and will not pay $ 80 for a 1:72 scale single-engine patrol plane, no matter how rare it may be. I have a formula of $ 20 per engine that is largely achievable with ordinary model kits.
8. The model must be durable. I don’t intend to bat it about with a tennis racquet but I equally don;t want it to be so delicate that it can never be moved.

Note that in none of these categories do I specify raised or inscribed panel lines or rivets – nor photo-etch or resin parts. These are largely immaterial in achieving the pleasure of the build. Indeed, too much reliance upon this sort of excessive detail is a turn-off. I do want a good clear canopy or windows, but I don’t care whether it is cast or vac-formed.

I am saddened by bad moulding on propellers and other detail parts, but there are ways around this. Really bad moulding on the major components is much worse, and worst of all is the carelessly-moulded kit that has been warped from the outset. You can struggle against this but in the end the only thing to do with some kits is to return them to their makers with a stiff note. In some cases it is the only stiff portion of the whole structure.