I inherited a love of plastic models from my father. You’ll note I didn’t say ‘building’, ‘assembling’, or even ‘painting’ plastic models – just a love of plastic models in general. One could say I’m a bit of a collector. Except this is where the title of this post comes in – a collector knows what they are collecting.
Over the years I’ve slowed down on buying plastic models because I’ve recognized I have a tendency to collect plastic and obsessively read about it, watch videos, and then never build it. This particular case is no different, but I have to say, hits a bit close to home.
Recently I’ve developed an affinity for buying 1:32 scale WW2-era aircraft. For some reason I got it in my head that I must have a Corsair – I had no plans to build one straight away, and I still have a Mustang and a Spitfire waiting to be built. But away I went to the hobby store, in search of a 1:32 Corsair.
I found one – for a good price too. But the salesperson was unusually pushy about trying to get me to buy something else. Something more expensive – but most importantly, something other than the Corsair I held in my hands. As I made my way to the cash register to pay for my purchase he advised me to check out Scalemates – that the experience would be worth my time. A man standing behind me in line agreed – Scalemates was absolutely the best. The kit I had in my hands was ok though, he’s built a few over the years and it’s ok enough. Seemed strange to me that he was commenting on my kit as if to reassure me I’d made the right choice, but I thanked them for their feedback, and home I went.
As soon as I opened the box I realized my “new” model kit was not nearly as new as I thought it was. I wasn’t sure of the exact age, but the cockpit contained almost no detail, and the pilot is an absolutely awful sculpt. Well, I thought to myself, the box is open – you’re stuck with it now. And as I do, the box went onto my self to join its friends – the Mustang and Spitfire.
A few weeks later I was surfing YouTube and decided to look up videos on Corsair kits to get building and painting tips and imagine my surprise when I saw a video about the exact kit I had purchased.
The video goes in-depth about all of the reasons why this kit could’ve been better – and why it should be avoided. Basically, the kit is over 50 years old and as a result, lacks many of the niceties to be expected out of newer kits. To bring it up to the standard of a more recent kit, it’d cost significantly more than it is worth (provided the parts are even available).
So, with that in mind, I finally signed up for a Scalemates account (now I know exactly how old my kits are). I also will do my research before buying another kit and maybe actually build the ones I already own. Although, I am currently eyeballing a 1:48 SR-71 on sale. I just need to figure out where to put it.
