The Little World

I had fallen off the horse. A model that was proceeding well became bogged down with a bad paint choice and nasty wash job – incompatible chemistry. Efforts to rectify it made it worse – parts were bent, then broken. It looked appalling, and I knew that every time I saw the finished product it would make me feel sad. It was one of very few models that I have binned.

There were only three saving graces with this:

a. The model was extremely inexpensive.

b. The model was one that I did not really require as part of the collection – it was a build to be building something…

c. I now understand the basic incompatibility of the paints and thinners chosen and of their application. I will not have to make the error again.

Well, sadness and shame only last as long as you let them – though there are some people who can make one disappointment last a lifetime – and I determined to follow the old horseman’s dictum of climbing back into the saddle when thrown. I plucked a Revell Morane-Saulnier N out of my friend Paul’s gift stash and washed the parts. They are going together remarkably well and the paint scheme will be a simple one…using paints with which I am familiar.

I am not sure if throwing away a model would be approved by Teddy Roosevelt – he said we must do what we can with what we have, where we are. I generally follow Teddy’s advice, but in this case I listened to Joel Chandler Harris and remembered the tale of the Tar Baby. Once I fought free of the horrid mess it went into the bin – and as it was bin night, my shame went down the street never to be seen.