The Little World

Scale modellers who make plastic kits know that when an exhibition is coming up they need to steel their nerves to the sticking point for two things; the journey there and the journey home.

Because the model that you spent three months carefully cementing together has a dozen points of protrusion – plastic guns, pitot tubes, masts, rigging, figures, and detail – that can be made to vanish at any point along the way. One screeching stop at a traffic light can bust everything off before you get to the hall.

There is no-one more dangerous on the road – and this is frequently very early in the morning – than a modeller taking things to an exhibition.

All the more admiration, then, for a club from the country who have travelled 236 kilometres from Koorda in the wheatbelt. Bringing models, modellers, signs, and all. Even given a top legal speed of 110 kph, that’s a long and nervous haul with scale models.

It’s also a long way away from the regular hobby shops that we Perth residents can access. Anyone who models in the wheatbelt has to take stock, make plans, and buy provisions. They may have an easier time of it in these days of on-line commerce but then again the internet speed in country areas can be woeful. These are people of dedication and persistence.

I was delighted to see them again this year, and hope they had a chance to do a big old shop at the trader’s tables. They will have till next exhibition to build their buys, but then they’ll have that nervous task of bringing them.