The Little World

Few scale models are built on an original idea – nearly everything is a good or bad copy of something that already exists. The prototypes might have been just a one-off or even just a plan, but it was in someone’s mind before that of the modeller.

However, there are exceptions. I think I have seen some on the Sci Fi stand at the annual big local scale model exhibition and possibly at the hot rod stand. The former included Steampunk models – always a source of improbability and the latter seemed to be the result of too much in the spares box.

The fantasy figures all seem to be someone else’s imagination, though there is nothing to stop the creative sculptor from creating whatever creatures take the fancy. Perhaps there are other exhibitions where this is the case.

I do admire the people who work with the construction kits for a bygone era. Of course a lot of the designs are plotted out in club publications but every now and then one someone just picks pieces and assembles an imaginary machine. And in some cases the parts are turned into a real machine that they use for daily life.

I know I converted plastic and metal parts from a German construction toy set into a processor for colour film. It needed perspex sheet for water baths and commercial film tanks for the film, as well as an aquarium heater for the temperature control…but I developed colour neg and slide film in the 1990’s with my own home-made gear.

Thank goodness the digital age arrived before the plumbing at my house gave out!