The Little World

I mean at the modelling bench – not on the roads. Out there you can go as fast as the car will do and no-one really cares. Swerve from lane to lane, as well…

No, at the modelling bench you need to pace yourself. If you do not have an unlimited stash to dip into you have to conserve your resources. Take eight weeks to assemble a 1:72 monoplane. Spend a year building a rowboat. Bequeath an unfinished tank track to posterity.

Or just go out and buy more kits. No matter who you are there is something out there that you could build. You needn’t build it well, but you also needn’t sit there and twiddle your thumbs.

Speed building is an exercise for modelling weekends but the results will rarely be as giod as things done with deliberation. The basic problem is sloppy fitting and impatience while waiting for joints to set or paints to dry. The attitude of speed-is-everything might work for an automobile assembly plant or a factory in wartime but you’re not in those situations.

One caution, though – too much time taken can dull your enthusiasm. You lose interest and never pick it up again. The Sad Shelf claims another model. Don’t be that builder – a little each day will keep you right.