The Little World

At the recent WASMEX scale modelling exhibition there were plenty of fighter planes, battleships, and Grand Prix racers. Even some trains, if you count railway guns and Harry Potter locomotives. And they were all well done and attracted considerable attention. But the ones that really bored into the consciousness were not the exotic wartime subjects – they were the slices of daily life.

It’s hard to find daily drivers in some hobbies – the makers and collectors seem to concentrate on the grand and the historical. They can often relive something they did not live the first time. With daily drivers it is the same…except you know what you are looking at. If anything, they are harder models to make – everyone is a genuine expert in daily life.

Let’s start out with two ordinary people figures – scratch-built, of course. Just a couple of firefighters in their safety yellows. ” Just ” is a word you can bandy about but consider that the real-life firefighters saved people and property in our city just a few months ago. We know what they looked like because the news coverage showed them tired, dirty, and still working. That’s what makes these two figures special.

• 

• 

Now a sight that we all see every day on the roads and in the paddocks. Our critical faculties are razor-sharp because it is such an accurate piece of daily life. It just needs a flagman and me sitting in the car waiting on the Freeway. I’ve been waiting in the Cockburn section for literally ten years and I’ll be waiting ten more…

Now this is different. We’ve all been to the train show but this is the first time the train show has come to us. Yes, it really is that small and yes, the trains go around the track.

I don’t know if the builder got a prize, but the greatest reward would be the pleasure it gave the rest of us to see it. Oh, and possibly getting his eyesight back eventually.

And finally, the hobby room. A diorama or room set-piece is traditionally the province of the dollhouse ladies in their show, but I think they should be encouraged to flood the WASMEX competition with their work from here on in. They have an artistic eye and access to as many aftermarket bits as any model airplane builder. Plus a heck of a lot of humour.

And a well-designed room or structure can be a diorama that transports well. No aerials or machine guns sticking out of it to break off. Choose your subject and everyone who sees it will find an echo of reality in it.

I need a coffee. Anybody want anything from Muzz Buzz while I’m there?