The Little World

As a young kid, your scale model building is limited by one thing: money. You have little of it and are largely dependent upon birthdays and Christmas to supply you with your kits.

You may have desires, but you recognise that you’re going to be building whatever you are given. If you are articulate and polite, you can sometimes influence this. With care you can get plastic, not socks.

As an old kid, you generally have money, but may not be in a position to get the latest kits if your region is not considered a top market. Less-fashionable kits may be left on the shelves well past the point when anyone really wants them. Then, a number of different strategies suggest themselves:

a. Try to order interstate or overseas. This is no help to the local merchant and incurs a penalty in shipping costs. Don’t even think of getting something from Europe or the USA because many firms will not do business overseas.

b. Try to haunt swap meets and stash sales. If these have anything different from the standard shelves, you might get an amusing build. Or you might get junk that someone bought when it was cheap and is selling now that it is dear.

c. Rely on birthdays and Christmas to get something to build. If you thought your family was clueless when you were young, wait till you see what they have become now…

d. Scratch build something. Even if it is not quite completely off a plan, try a wooden kit or a flying model. You don’t need to make a museum model to have a lot of fun.