Category: Miniature Philosophy
-
Special Greetings From The Hobby Shop Siege
This is the second day of the hobby shop siege and the management hasn’t gotten me out yet. I’ve holed up behind the paint racks and taken hostages. Police negotiators have turned spotlights onto the acrylics but I am refusing to budge until my demands are met. I have sent out a manifesto and have…
-
The Mark Of A Person’s Character
You can discern the character of a man – or of a woman – by their behaviour in the shops. The only difference between the sexes in this discussion is the sort of shop that they frequent – in the case of the man we’ll place him in a DIY centre or hobby shop and…
-
I Was Saving That For A Rainy Day…
When we set out stockpile materials, kits, plans, money, and tools with a hazy vision of one day making the grande supremo opus de-luxe model…we condemn ourselves to a lifetime of anxiety. For how will we know when that ultimate opportunity arrives? When can we open the secret vault door and bring out the ”…
-
Copyright? I Laugh At Your Copyright!
” Ha Ha Ha! I am master in my own workshop and I laugh to scorn at your copyright! Paugh! ” Which will make for interesting times if someone actually does go me for pinching artwork that belongs to them. Or if someone decides that I am making fake products in an effort to defraud…
-
When All Else Fails, Cheap Out.
We all cruise the aisle of the hobby shop, hardware store, craft shop, or toy store looking for the Great Bargain. The Score. The Once-In-A-Lifetime chance to buy a $5000 model for 50¢. It never eventuates, of course, and we can become bitter and twisted. The thing we all need to do is realise that…
-
” Modeller In Aisle Number Four. Call Security “
As scale modellers we are especial creatures – half way between stuffed Winnie The Pooh figures and blood-crazed werewolves. The staff in many stores recognise this and probably have contingent plans ready in case the moon is full. I know I have found myself staring lustfully at items in shops that would seem to have…
-
I Want To Build The Model That Would Make My Life Complete, But…
But… a. No-one makes it. Or at least they do not make it in the scale I want. Or they make the Mk 2 version and I want the Mk 34 version… b. They made it in 1959 and have been re-issuing the kit ever since. Every time the mould changes hands they hire another…
-
When Is Old Junk…Old Junk?
And when is it Invaluable Historic Resource? This thought was forced upon me as I sifted through the secondhand dealer’s goods at the Model Railway Exhibition this year. There were at least three dealers specifically dedicated to secondhand – perhaps there were more that I did not see. Their stock ranged from quite professional goods…
-
Precision Need Not Be Prestigious
Nor need it be pricey.* I came to that conclusion each time I approached the Hobby Boss Brewster Buffalo kit – even at the wash and trim stage – where I got the mould-parting agent off the basic sprues and then air-dried them. And then started cutting parts from them and building subassembies. This was…
-
The Myriad Of Little Worlds
In one holiday weekend – devoted to Western Australia Day – I found I visited five different Little Worlds. And in most cases the costs were under a sawbuck, including coffee. You can’t beat that on the international travel circuit. Day One: I appear as a cameo walk-on at a belly dance concert…the Little World…
The Little World 