The Little World

Starts to go pear-shaped…

Make cider, possibly. Or begin to panic. Panic is always a good choice as it gets the circulation going nicely. And you get a lot more done when you are screaming.

Some kit builds progress well – they are logical procedures that flow from one to another as the structure matures. You do the right thing in the right sequence. All at once it is finished and everyone admires the result.

Or half-way there a part is lost, broken, falls inside the rest of the structure, or melts into position. It will be a part that is vital to the rest of the build and it will do this just before you put the kit away for a week. Good luck getting that part unstuck and out of the hole it fell in.

The finish can also start to go sour as you apply layer after layer of foolproof paint. You realise that chemists made the paint but God made the fool – you – and the result is no contest. It all starts to look like hell.

This is the point at which you either go big, go home, or go Duncanson. Either strip the paint and begin re-priming it, throw it in the bin and sit in the corner, or start weathering it to the giblets.

Occasionally you just have to carry on and accept the fact that some days you catch the bear and some days the bear catches you. At least try to learn why it went bad and don’t do that again.