The Little World

Discovering a new hobby shop makes you feel like Christopher Columbus. Every aisle is a new land to discover. There are wonders to see. And savage natives.

Just kidding – when you have money to spend, the proprietors of the hobby shops are far from savage. They may seem grumpy but if you make the sound of a dollar bill they’ll dance like ducks.

You know you want to build a car? Head to the car aisle. You’ll find a number of different scales to build – 1:32, 1:24, and 1:25 very common. Sometimes you’ll see 1:16 or 1:12 cars but these will have stiff price tags. Fabulous 1:8 scale kits exist but they are not for newbies.

Choose a simple kit – not one that has 150 parts. Choose one you like the look of as this first time you’ll be building it straight out of the box. Put it on the front counter near the till and head for the tool counter.

Model making tools are dangerous as they will cut, stab, and burn you. But then so will steak knives and that doesn’t stop you from eating dinner, does it? Accept that you will slice yourself occasionally and just keep a box of Bandaids handy.

You may be tempted to get a boxed set of tools – the most attractive and romantic ones are in wooden cases and always have a picture of a sailing ship model on the outside. These kits are made to be sold by shops – not made to make scale models. If you are a tool collector, buy them by all means, but don’t expect them to help you in the hobby.

You may also be tempted to get tools from one maker only – the Japanese kit makers are adept in packaging goods that they advise you to use…again there are some that help and some that hinder. More details tomorrow.