The Little World

There’s people here who need to go…

Well, it’s not about that, though the topic is really one that can rivet you to the seat, if you know what I mean. I mean how long should you take to build a model?

Well, if you are a model engineer setting out to build a coal-fired ” Flying Scotsman ” that you can ride on around the estate, start early, expect to finish late, and do not be surprised if it costs you the same price as a good saloon car. You will be building for years, if not decades.

If you want to make a Mini Bricks model of a fountain pen, set aside twenty minutes.

In between, the average kit will be hours, days, and weeks…if you do it right. You’ll need time to select it, order it, wait for it, open and dry fit it, amd then start the serious business.

Set aside time for primary mistakes and errors, and the necessary hand-wringing and despair. And then more time for thinking, repair and restoration before you are back on track.

Slow down when it looks like speeding up, for that is the time when secondary errors are made…and these can be build-killers if they are serious enough. Measure twice, cut once, and leave another couple of hours for the cement or paint to dry.

If you are a parallel builder – 6 kits on the go at any one time – you will have no hiatus problems. By the time one thing needs to be set aside, another can be taken up. Your chief danger comes from forgetting which one you’re working on and losing parts in the long intervals.

Serial builders can lose things too, but the wise ones tape sub-assemblies into the kit box as they are done.

My fastest kit build was a day and a half and the slowest was four weeks. But as I am not racing or at war, it doesn’t matter.