The Little World

Well, that was better. Sunday, the hall was full of visitors, and we even had more to the build-a-kit section.

This meant the people nearest the table needed to help with the youngsters – under the supervision of their parents. Sprue cutters were lent out; sandpaper sticks as well. Most of the really young ones paid no attention to any instruction but the older kids actually listened.

The tiny 1:144 scale tanks that the local hobby shop kindly provided for free were sort of a trap for young players as they had tiny fitting surfaces and impossibly small photo etch parts – but the kids soldiered on with them and some finished them without fingerprints. There was a table of miniature figure painters that let the kids paint for free as well, so once they were done with us they could run over there.

The day spent in doing my bargain kit was pretty jolly and laid-back. I participated in the morning swap meet and got an unknown Japanese float plane at a very small price to add to my stash. Obviously a kit for their home market, but colourful enough to make a hit on one of my museum shelves. Then a final acquisition when someone reduced their prices to despair level meant I’ll be building three kits for the price of one in the coming months.

A philosophical point here: There is a line you must draw in your mental sand to tell yourself that there are kits that you need not grieve over. Even should a price be laughably low, if you will never actually like the kit, you should pass it by without regret.

I noted at the morning swap meet that there were marginally fewer stash sellers, but some still had hefty prices on their kits. They were considerable kits – new, detailed, and large – but the prices weren’t pensioner’s prices. One would deplete the coffers for a year – and if it took less than a year to build…?

But I browse further down the food chain when I go to a swap meet – And fortunately there are people who just grow tired of stashing perfectly good kits and are prepared to slash them to 1/4 or less than the shop price. Cash bargains and a philosophical frame of mind are the go here. Most models sold will have all the parts, but occasionally you’ll miss out. There are still ways around this and you are no worse off than a modeller in the 1950’s who may have had to scratch-build many parts of a kit anyway.