To build - or not to build?
12/01/2024
Who remembers? The days when you could even buy plastic kits in the toy section of department stores? Mostly military models, airplanes and the like, but every now and then there was also a car, usually in small scale, because the shelf space in these general stores was quite modest. The French manufacturer Heller, for example, had a whole range of models in the 1/43rd collector's size; I can well remember a Citroën 2CV. Matchbox had also tried their hand at kits in 1/32, including a Traction Avant Roadster/Coupé, two of which I was able to call my own.
However, my attempts with this type of model car were mostly miserable. I lacked the patience and skill to paint them. The result was usually unsatisfactory, there was usually a fingerprint somewhere in the paint or the windows were smeared with glue at the end.
Plastic is merciless, the paint usually doesn't come off without the plastic dissolving. It was a love-hate relationship. Later, as a teenager, I discovered the large prefabricated models from Bburago and started to "super" them. Freed from the obligation to create a perfect surface, as they were already painted, I took my freshly bought models apart and only repainted the details - sometimes with pictures to support me, sometimes as I saw fit - blackened window frames or "deepened" body openings that were only indicated as engravings with black paint and painted the kitschy chrome rims in aluminum paint, for example on the Ferrarri 288 GTO from Bburago. With the F40, a sensation when it had just come out - in 1988 - I didn't really dare to "treat" it at first. In retrospect, however, it gained massively by adding some extra black to the window frames and the body joints.
Over the years and with a slightly better budget for this leisure activity, I bought higher quality kits, now mostly antiquarian, such as the incredibly detailed kit from Gunze-Sangyo of the Lotus Elan. The chassis is photo-etched from thin sheet metal and the suspensions and engine including drive are made of white metal. Covering this, if successfully built, with a body is actually a sin. After a few years, during which the kit was stored unopened on a rack, I sold it again. I never dared to start with it. The anticipation of looking at the individual parts, that magic would probably have been destroyed when I opened the first bag.
I felt the same way about the "Star of India", the Rolls-Royce Phantom II that the Pocher company brought out at the end of the 1960s, the largest car in a series of impressive 1/8th scale kits. The box is huge, the 2500 or so parts are all packed in small bags or wrapped in paper, everything is very lovingly arranged. To put the kit together now - bought from a friend some years ago - would be a sacrilege in my opinion. The number of Pocher kits that have been started on the relevant auction platforms also confirms to me that it takes a lot of stamina to get the model right.
What's more - and this is my main fear - I'll be able to complete a real car in the same time it takes to finish a model. Well, certainly not a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, but at least a car that needs a bit of care and can do a bit more than just collect dust. For an experienced model builder, it may be a shame to deliberately ignore this opportunity for enjoyable activity, but in my case it's better that way.
That's why I only collect kits as such - unbuilt - and enjoy imagining what the car could look like. Every now and then I lift the lid of the boxes and cartons and take a look inside. Then I close them again, put them back on the shelf and think that's a good thing. However, there are still some metal kits from Hubley or Gabriel - the boxes are very old. I was once able to buy them from an estate.
They are nicely laminated with printed paper showing the models as illustrations. A while ago I managed to put together a Ford T from Gabriel/Hubley quite well (see the picture above). Thanks to die-cast zinc, these can be washed off again in the event of an unsuccessful painting attempt, and the plastic parts are designed in such a way that they can be painted individually. There really isn't too much that can go wrong. I'm looking forward to the festive season - and hope the paint supply hasn't completely dried out yet.
