The Little World

Yes, I’ll confess…I’ve always wanted to be in a self-employed business that involves a fast horse, a black mask, and a brace of pistols. The only thing that has prevented me starting one up is the need to decide upon a suitable name. I was toying with ” Captain Fatuous ” but the family disapproved…

In any case I have turned my attention to stands for model display – and before I make my own for my cabinets, I thought I would look out the ones that have been accumulating in the spares box. I Am not sure of the provenance of a few of them but I can identify Airfix, FROG, and Matchbox readily.

They were muck of a muchness early on but got quite complex in the late 70’s. The first ones just hooked under the plane’s fuselage in a slot moulded in as part of the two halves. Later they filled over the external surface but left a cut-out shape inside in case you were going to use it.

Then the idea of multi-pose stands came in with various complex ball sockets at the upper end of the vertical arm. They were always more visible than the early ones and never very strong anyway.

The stands had to be made small enough to fit in the box that enclosed the rest of the kit – some of them ended up being of marginal usefulness with a big model – you were afraid to balance your Halifax or Superfortress on a plastic spindle.

Lately they have gone out of fashion – you can get them from the makers but you buy them as a separate kit of parts. Perhaps this is just another way of catching a penny from your pocket.

I will keep the ones I encounter for some ill-defined purpose – probably nostalgia – but devise my own metal and wood stands for larger aircraft. Whatever becomes the standard must be inexpensive and strong, while presenting the least visual distraction to the image of a flying aircraft.