The Little World

This will be a delicate subject. Give me a moment to put on my hob-nail boots.

Firstly, let me say that I realise there are scale modellers with mental and emotional challenges. I sympathise with them and hope that they get adequate professional care to help them cope with life.

Secondly, I am not the professional to do it. I trained to fill and pull teeth, not diagnose psychiatric matters. My sympathy extends as far as the pull cord that alerts the train guard.

Past the true mental illnesses, there is a shadowy world of compulsions, manias, and addictions that really does include scale modellers. The size of some stashes is a real giveaway, and in some cases that is precisely what happens eventually.

Then there is the authenticity or correctness type. I cannot use the ” A ” word for fear of triggering the social media site censors, but so far the letters ” R “, ” A “, and ” K ” seem to sneak by. You’ll have one near you at your hobby club or exhibition. Show your model with the green paint colour and brace yourself…

The modeller who goes bigger to go better is not odd at all, until they essay a 1/72 scale model of the USS AKRON. Then their spouse leaves them and the council sends in an inspector and it’s only a matter of time.

Eventually we all go a little this way. One day you look round and the sanest guy at the hot rod show is Ed Roth…