The Little World

I kid you not…this was part of an advertisement for a scale model kit. It described a navy attack fighter.

Presumably the launching of anything would most likely be done at a target…and unfriendly ones the first choice. Friendly targets are also possible, but you use smaller missiles.

Advertising in a language that is not your own is a brave matter. I would quail at trying to sell medical imaging machines in Urdu. Not that they do not deserve the goods…but the way I sold it might lead them to expect something with either a low-cut neckline or chrome exhaust pipes.

The whole business of technical communication for scale model builders is often done with line drawings. These are an attractive proposition but only if the artist is exceptionally accurate and capable of detailed work. Approximation or obscure art is actually worse than no instruction at all.

Yet all the kits seem to contain ample warnings about health matters. Builders are urged not to thrust knives into their eyes or drink cement. One can only wonder whether this level of caution has developed because of past experience or whether it is just lawyers sucking fees.