The Little World

Is there a natural lifespan for scale models?

I have seen a magnificent dolls house in London that apparently belonged to one of the British Royals when she was a girl. I suspect it was in the 20’s…but it is preserved in a museum for all to see. It may well go for another century under curatorial care.

My own childhood’s models are represented by very few remnants…and these are die-cast items. The plastics have all gone. I do preserve knowledge of them and seek images from the internet to bolster my memories. That’s all the fun with none of the dust collecting.

I am also quite cognisant of the fact that our models pass away from our control when we die. There are few of them preserved by our heirs.

But it’s the ones that break down and disappear while we are still building and collecting that surprise me. I have had some models I thought firmly cemented that have flown apart at a touch. And some that shed parts as a result of poor engineering choices on the part of the firms that moulded them. They are a lesson to anticipate future trouble and reinforce plastic with metal.

Should we declare a lifespan for our works and dispose of those that have served a decade? And then build more? It is a tempting thought for those who do not have a great deal of storage space. If we can dispose of them by sale ( and I have been lucky in this several times ) we can let them go gladly and use the money for more fun. If they can go to appreciative recipients, all good as well. Just disposing of them seems a very harsh fate…but it can have the seeds of new life in it.

Most of us will build better the second or third time, and the interim may well have brought much better kits onto the scene.