Today I had planned
to build an airplane model. But, instead I've sat around watching
Love Actually and thinking about writing about building an airplane
model. I like to build airplane models. I find the tedium relaxing.
It's meditative. Building an airplane model requires small amounts of
glue and tweezers and large amounts of patience. I don't know many
people who can tolerate it.
It has nothing to
do with a love of airplanes in general. I like them well enough I
guess, as a mode of transportation. Their physics are pretty amazing.
I don't know why I build airplanes as opposed to tanks or cars or
ships. Although trying a ship in a bottle might be interesting, or it
might kill me.
I think I like the
lines of them. The speed with which they can move. Airplanes are, by
nature, sleek. And military planes, which I tend to favor, always
have interesting paint schemes and decals. I have a P-51D Mustang
that says “Lollypoop” on the side. Why? I don't know, probably
because it's American.
If you haven't
tried building a model, of something, anything, give it a try. I
can't promise you will actually enjoy it, but it does build
character. Character is something lacking in people these days. Maybe
airplane models are secretly full of character that seeps out every
time you cut the spru. That sounds a bit gross, but it happened all
the time in the 40s to 70s I guess. Everyone was just full of
character then.
The decals however
are not particularly filled with character, or fun. They are mostly
filled with annoyance. They aren't stickers. They really are decals.
You have to soak them in water and then slide them onto the thing
that you just painstakingly painted. I'm always worried that the
water will just make all the paint go away. Then you get it properly
positioned and it's still not stuck, because it's not a sticker it's
a decal, and your finger gently touches it and it goes all wonky and
you whisper under your breath “fuck” because what else can you
do?
Anyway, build a
model, it's good for you.
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