The Little World

The oddity. The kit that everyone else avoids. The scratch-built model that no-one has ever heard of.

In other words – just down your alley.

I have been the recipient of numerous models that fit into this category – and I’ve gone out and spent actual money on others. Not a lot of it, mind, but then that is the one good thing about the oddity – it gets to the remainder table at the swap meet quite quickly. And there is never a fight for it – you can turn up at the end of the sale with no fear that you’ll miss out.

The entry of oriental and eastern European makers into the scale model game – and the advent of short-run cheap-mould technology means that there are more oddities than ever out there. The resin-casting route means that one-off prototypes can be produced as one-off kits. And since the makers are not there to take the flak, they can be sold and re-sold for years. In a lot of cases the only thing that ever happens is the box lid is opened, a few vile words are uttered, and the lid is closed again.

The person who finally does attempt to build the thing is the only one who ever actually gets their fingers into that box. The basic truth underpinning this state of affairs is that with each class of technology; ships, planes, trains, cars, etc – there have been as many weird and dodgy prototypes as there have been successful designs. In the case of some technologies the ratio is 10:1 in favour of the junk. All the model making firm has to do is locate a plan or photo, overcome their disgust, and make a master model.

In many cases there is no-one living who can dispute whatever they make – you might as well accept the rodent-powered nuclear glider as being accurate and truthful. Just pray that the club anorak doesn’t get to it before you do.