The Little World

No, I will not be a fighter pilot, or a movie star, or a rich man. But I think I can say that I am acheiving a childhood ambition with my aero modelling.

Not flying models, you understand – scale plastic models that sit on a shelf. My experience with flying models was and has always been spotty…and the spots mark the places where my beloved creations hit the ground and exploded. I couldn’t have done better if I was Werner von Braun.

But I always had an ambition to build my models as good as I could see them in the Revell and Aurora catalogs. The illustrations in these wish-books were partly drawn – partly photographed. The models as depicted by the factories were perfect – no weathering or dirt visible. The decals were bright, the paints clean. But there was also a cleanliness about the assembly; no glue marks – no gaps. I could see my own efforts when I was 10 or 11 and recognise that there was a long way to go.

That also included the use of spray painting. It was an esoteric mystery – and unattainable skill. I struggled with regular brushes as I learned about matte paints and then with rattle cans as I learned about car spraying. Later years saw me discover what could be done with wooden points as brushes and also the bow pen.

Now I cheerfully tackle airbrushing for enamels, acrylics, and lacquers, even with trivial parts. I’ve lost my fear of the instrument.

I am starting to wonder about the business of advanced weathering and dirtying-up that is so much in vogue. I admire the AFV and figure painter’s effects that seem so realistic…but I dearly love the clean look of the museum aircraft model. And I am not at all offended by the look of a good die-cast or toy – they please the child in me as much as the adult.