The Little World

The models displayed at my scale club are varied – aircraft, vehicles, ships, armour – even figures and Sci-Fi items. They are so very varied that there is no chance of making one-scale-only or one-theme-only cabinets – they jostle with each other for attention.

But the attention they get is from dedicated model makers – not the general public. They are bragging pieces – and some are so with justification. However, they eventually brag to empty eyes – they are seen too long to capture the member’s continued attention.

I think a wise modeller might regard the club cabinets as he would a feature window in a shop. No-one expects a retail outlet to put a display up and to leave it untouched from one year to the next. The lifeblood of the window display is the ever-changing nature of the fashions or appliances or cameras or goods that are seen. People look for new and admire it as much for novelty as they do for value. ( This also explains a lot of political careers…)

Let the members of the model club take advantage of this quirk in human nature. Stop placing a half dozen models each on the shelves to be jostled out by everything else and then just let the things to gather dust and oily residue. Instead of leaving them untouched until they are broken and sad, the modellers can make an ever-changing show for themselves and others. Here’s the recipe:

a. Look at what you do. Cars, armour, planes, ships…whatever. Look at the scale you work in most often. And measure the average size of the model that you do.

b. Design a good base for this. Add about 25% more area to the base to allow a space around your model or to cope with bigger examples. Make the base look good – it can be a diorama base, a diorette, a museum plinth, or whatever.  For myself, I favour the idea of a graduated series of shallow bases that have a low lip around them. Perhaps made of 6mm MDF board with a rim of stripwood. The outer surface should be finished to a high standard in neutral colour while the inside of the tray can be left in simple paint. The idea is to line the tray with a sheet of inkjet paper printed with something that compliments the model.

That something could be the print of a tarmac or hardstand. Or a flight deck or grass field. It could have a printed explanation of the model’s prototype and a small section with my name on it. In short – it’s a combination protector tray and presentation stand.

Sizes? Well a small fighter would fit on a 5 x 7 area – a two-engine bomber on an A4 area – a four-engine job on a A3. These correspond to regular inkjet paper sizes and can readily be printed.

Then just get into the discipline of taking the appropriate stand with the display model down to the clubrooms and install it in a cabinet. With my collection it would be easy to give them one new plane a month…for about the next forever and a day. I’d get a month’s worth of bragging rights and the members would get a fresh display 12 times a year. And all at the cost of about $ 1.50 a month.

Fresh is good – whether it be bread, vegetables, or fighter-bombers.