The Little World

Or, in the case of the stash maniacs in the readership – simply build…

Today’s posts on my other two weblog columns has centred around simplicity – in living and purchasing. It can also be applied to our hobby of scale modelling. Not every kit or model needs to be super-detailed to be super fun.

I am the exponent of this approach for several reasons:

a. Frugality. I like to squeeze a nickel until the indian yells. Being a retired individual I need to herd my pennies, and if I do not try to go down a path of after-market complexity, I can stretch the hobby dollar a lot further.

b. Availability. There are a lot of big and complex kits, but a lot more small, simple ones. If i want a bigger collection, it can best be done with simpler components.

c. Time constraint. I do not want to be the modeller that spends a year on one kit. While I don’t demand the instant gratification of a die-cast model, I do like the kit to be finished in a reasonable time.

d. Skill level. I do not cope all that well with brass photo-etch sheets. I daresay continued practice would make it better, but the scale I like means the parts would still be troublesome.

e. Eyesight. Mine is marginal and will need surgery to get better. I could not do nor appreciate ultra-complexity.

So I can appreciate a medium-level model much more than a masterpiece and a basic one nearly as good. In many cases it is mere decoration that makes one product better looking than another and often this can be down to a set of decals.

f. Display durability. It is rare for me to rig 1:72 biplanes as the delicacy would poorly serve my collection on the shelf – particularly when I bring the aircraft out for photographs. The same applies to plastic pitot tubes – I replace them with brass wire whenever possible.