The Little World

Remember Christmas as a kid? Remember your birthday? Remember the present in the wrapping paper that looked suspiciously like a model kit – and the final minutes of anticipation before you got to it and unwrapped it?

Be honest with yourself…if it WAS a model kit when the paper came off, you were thrilled. It really didn’t matter if it was a PT boat or an airplane or a car kit; it was a kit. Occasionally some weird thing would surface; a British Beefeater model or a plastic Oriole – and you would have to adjust your expectations a little. But they were soon up again as you opened the box and looked at the parts.

Well, I’ve hit on a plan that provides me with this childhood thrill all year long. I ask some people who are engaging my professional services to provide payment with a model kit instead of money. I specify a scale aircraft – 1:72 – and tell them that I build anything. They go to a hobby shop and please themselves what they buy…and it pleases me when I receive it. I never know what the parcel will contain, but so far all the presents have been good ones. And in most cases the cost of the kit has exceeded what I would have charged anyway.

I hasten to add this is reserved for small private jobs, and not weddings or theatre coverage. Nor would it be appropriate for a large commercial contract.

It leads to an eclectic collection and an interesting stash. If the aircraft is a present from a dancer I like to name it after her with a custom nose-art decal. That’s why the Tornado GR.1 is Ms Emily. There is a Convair F-106 that’s named Irish Red for the same reason.