Anyway, the mail man showed up, bearing my latest order from the Squadron Shop. If there's anything that makes me as a modeler feel better about the world than seeing the mail man getting out of his little Jeep with a box that I know contains kits, I don't know what it would be.
All of a sudden the landscaping didn't seem that important any more.
The real reason for the Squadron order was to score one of the Lindberg reissues of the "Satellite Explorer and Space Base", a pair of kits that I have historically felt some hunger for. But I hate to order just one thing - Squadron conveniently dangles the prospect of free shipping for orders over $100 in front of me, and like a hungry bass in an almost barren lake, I go for the bait every time, and with some verve.
So what's in my box this time? The usual stuff - 1/72 airplanes and 1/72 armor, for the most part, plus the aforementioned Satellite Explorer thing. I note that 1/72nd scale takes a lot of abuse these days. Especially on Facebook, where certain people seem to go out of their ways to make fun of 1/72nd scale and the people who dabble in it. But I like it. Or maybe, it's just what I'm used to. Either way, I'm not averse to bigger scales - who hasn't wanted a 1/32nd scale Gotha or a 1/32nd scale Ki-84 Hayate at least once? But on the basis of practicality, I tend to settle for smaller items.
I can actually pinpoint the exact moment when I stopped building really big models on a regular basis. It was when I got married, and my then-new wife looked up, saw the 1/48th scale B-29 hanging from the ceiling over what would become her desk, and asked "Are you trying to tell me something?" It's a good thing she didn't realize that it was wearing Enola Gay markings; I'd have had some 'splaining to do if she had.
My box also contained two 1/144th scale airplanes - the Attack MiG-21MF, and the old Academy Su-22 Fitter. Tiny little things! The MiG-21 in particular seems like something I'd pick popcorn residue out of my teeth with, not build for the purposes of display. But I'm curious to see what 1/144th scale is like. One thing is certain: panel lines are not going to occupy much of my time or attention.
And now, the hangover sets in. The kits have been looked at. The decals have been gawked at. The packing material and box have been discarded. The kits have been put away, or more properly thrown onto the top of the pile - I'm 6'4" and even I can't reach the topmost row of kits in my closet any more - and now it's time to get ready to go to work.
Sigh.
2 comments:
I was never much for practicality. The only scales I like to build now are 1/32 and 1/24 scale aircraft in fact I have waiting in the wings 1/32 Mig 3, Sea fury, Spitfire VB and a 1/32nd scale Ki-84 Hayate (prototype). I packed away most of my 1/48 scale aircraft to make the room. I love parcel day although last time I got into an argument with the postal guy. He kept insisting that I talk to him over the intercom before buzzing him up (for safety reasons) even though I knew it was him. I eventually told him to shut the hell up and give me my parcel. He ruined parcel day and that is unforgivable.
That IS unforgivable. Ruining parcel day is a very serious offense! Juha Airio (I think I spelled that right) told a story in "Scale Auto" magazine about how he was painting the keyholes on a car model when the doorbell rang, startling him and causing him to ruin the paint job (and Juha's paint jobs are extraordinary). The only thing that saved the day was that the person at the door was the postman bearing more kits.
I confess the recent spate of 1/32nd scale airplanes tempt me. And I do have a 1/32nd scale X-15 in the pile, and I keep telling myself that one day I'll build the Airfix 1/24th Hurricane I.
There was a time when I had a fairly large number of 1/48th scale airplanes, but the collection had to be put in storage for over a year while we were moving, and it didn't fare well. Most of them were Monogram kits from the 1970s and 1980s, though, so one could argue it wasn't a great loss (though I've always been quite partial to the Monogram P-61 Black Widow).
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