The Little World

If it all happened before, you can be sure that it will all happen again.

Somewhere there is an iceberg looking for an ocean liner. And the next time you book a zeppelin…

It is the same with scale modelling – you can bet on death, taxes, and Spitfire kits. If it caught a penny in 1959, it can catch one next year. Frequently using the same damned mould. A wise builder does not make a model of a BISMARK, Messerschmitt, or Mustang early in their hobby, saving it for much later. Or they decide to make an entire collection of the one thing and just go ahead and order a case.

One severe danger exists in the memory of early kits – built when we had happiness, hope and hair. They were always much more glorious than the drab offerings of today. We fall aghast when we buy a new kit that turns out to be a re-pop of the fond memory, and find that it really was a warped monster way back then, pockmarked with ejection circles joined together with flash.

It is like seeing a beloved school friend dangling from a gibbet.

The best way to prevent this sort of horror is to only build models of things that you never built before. This means you will have to take careful notes of what you already have – I cut off the box art and save it in a file. Be wary of makers who flout copyright on trade names and just refer to the prototypes in generic terms. “ Airplane With Wings “ may be true legally but do inspect the box art before you buy.