Before a generation found another use for airplane glue, every kid experienced the thrill of building a plastic model from a kit.
But after spending hours hunched over our desks, painting with tiny brushes, carefully placing delicate decals, waiting impatiently for the glue to dry, most of us moved on to other challenges.
Some “kids” never got over that thrill of creating miniature models. One of those is Rob Booth, who has been building scale models since the 1960s.
“It was a rare kid that is really good at it,” Booth admitted. “Most would slap them together then take ‘em out and shove a firecracker into them.”
For those of us who haven’t been inside a hobby shop since the days TV had three channels, the basic kits are pretty much the same, although the quality of the molding has gotten infinitely better with engineering and computers.
Advances in chemistry have banished the old stringy glue. The new liquid cements use capillary action to draw the liquid along the seam, and actually fuse the pieces together. This eliminates seam lines
Grownup model building also has more at stake than bragging rights on the block. Model contests emphasize making the model look as realistic as possible.
”The emphasis is on making miniature real looking replica of what subject you are modeling.” The results of modern model making are so realistic the cars look “like you could drive them right off the table.” Authentic touches include seats with real leather, piping, photo-etched instrument panels, even details such as “heat markings” where the exhausts come off the manifold.
The subject matter has expanded. Today you can build ships, tanks, and a lot more airplane models than were available in the 1960s. Another category is sci-fi, with items from Avatar and Star Wars, as well as a growing variety of figures, from tiny gaming pieces to busts, movie monsters, and historic figures.
In his class, Booth plans to show examples of all these.
“This class will appeal to somebody in their 20s to retired folks looking for a serious hobby to spend time on in the evening,” he said. “It’s a good teaching tool for patience, and shows how to follow directions.”
However, if you were one of those kids who couldn’t wait for the glue to dry, you may not enjoy the experience.
“If you have no patience, you are going to be miserable,” Booth laughed. “If you are ADD this is not a good thing to do. But it is relaxing, and you can’t take it too seriously. If I improve each time I do it, I’m happy with that.”
One of Booth’s interests is to formalize a modeling club in the hill country. “I would like to see this for the kids at some point. I think there is value in this - teaching kids the ability to sit down and follow a plan, to keep their attention on something.”
According to Booth, half the fun is doing the research on what you trying to build. “With the Internet, the sky is the limit. You can do a lot of research, and can use pictures to help you be accurate.”
But like those children of the 60s, the main point of modeling is the same. “The whole thing is to have fun,” he said. “If you want to get serious, we can help you. But the main thing is don’t want you to come and be judgmental or to be judged. Whether you have done this before or not, the point is getting back into the hobby and having fun with it.”
What about the kid who turned his 79-cent kit into a molten mass of plastic?
“It will even appeal to them,” Booth said. “They will learn how to do it right.”
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