Category: Miniature Philosophy
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Are We Having Fun Yet?
When that question comes up, the answer is never ” Yes “. Yet it could be… I do things that are pointless and expensive and embarrassing. And fun. I’m not going to tell you what, but you can let your imaginations run wild. As this is a scale model column, wild is likely to involve…
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Dodged A Bullet?
Perhaps. And it was just a series of events… The Scale Modellers Club of Western Australia newsletter that has just started to appear in this column was initially going to be an email-based bulletin that would reach out to some 50 or so members and local shops. I gathered email addresses from the club members…
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The Internet Forum
Or ” Like my model or I’ll kill myself…”. When mothers put their children into Bonny Baby contests they are asking to be hurt…because not all babies are bonny – and only one in any group will be bonniest. All the rest will be second-rate – and their mothers will be secretly hurt to discover…
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The Art Of The Signal Failure
I used to think that a signal failure was the dismal collapse of the world. I now view it as a necessary component in the chain of good communication…and not one to be ignored. I have done badly with my scale modelling at times…mostly through impatience and lack of understanding of the materials with which…
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I Wish To Apologise To The Committee
And to the membership. I realise now that it was a mistake to paint the dunny with Estapol and rub a long-haired cat over the seat while it was wet. I have learned the error of my ways. This has not prevented me from using the wrong shade of semi-light grey on the Norwegian dive…
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The Wrong Scale
There is no better way of starting a donnybrook than to suggest that a model is the wrong scale. Say it to whom you will, you will have a fight. And haven’t we all seen the box scale gem that is destined to shine alone? Or the model that supports too little or too much…
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Are We There Yet, Daddy?
Or in scale modelling terms: is it real yet, Daddy? There comes a time in every scale model build – whether it is with scratch-built parts, a kit, or a box of Lego – when it becomes real. Perhaps not real as in finished, but real as in a model of something under construction. And…
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Modellers Need A Holiday
Or a festival. Not sure which would be better, but it needs to be a day that can have good things to eat and drink. I’m talking a regular, yearly holiday that can be gazetted in the Western Australian calendar the same as ANZAC Day or Easter. A day that you get off work, if…
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The Smell Of Victory
You’ll all remember the line from Apocalypse Now about napalm attacks. It harks back to my earliest modelling days when the smell of turpentine filled the house every time I painted. Those were enamel days – Pactra, Testors, and Humbrol. There was a fair range of quasi-lacquers as well from Revell that had a distinctive…
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The Songs Of The Modeller
There should be songs, anthems, or hymns that feature the scale modellers of the world. Something that celebrates life in miniature. They could include the march of the hobby shop, the airbrush sonata, and the after-market aria. The last-named would be saved for the encore and would cost roughly the same price as the rest…
