It sorta looked like this;
...was roughly the size of this;
...and had minimal details like this.
My family was either visiting someone in the hospital (in Toronto?) or it could have even been in 1976 when my sister was born –I have no way of knowing the circumstances– but I remember quite vividly seeing in the lobby a model of the hospital that we were in. Now, I wasn't unfamiliar with miniatures by any means –I had toys, after all– but this was the largest one I'd seen in real life. I remember the blocks of white buildings, the chunky primary-coloured cars, the tiny green trees, I think there might have been some mini people, too (so, I guess it's not that vivid a memory after all –but not bad considering it's about 40 years later).
Although the memory of that model has lasted all these years, it didn't, for a very long time, inspire anything in me but wonder...and a lifelong fascination with miniatures.
Years later (late 1970s), my older cousin, Bob, was keen on building model cars and I would see the results when I visited. I don't think I remember watching him build one, but I do have a very strong and happy memory of the two of us walking 2.5 km each way to the Bargain Harold's near his house so he could buy a model car. His interest in modelling cars eventually translated into an interest in actual cars and he's run a successful auto body shop for decades now.
This is the very store on Island Rd. at East Ave. in Scarborough.
(You can still read the ghost sign.)
Although the memory of that model has lasted all these years, it didn't, for a very long time, inspire anything in me but wonder...and a lifelong fascination with miniatures.
Years later (late 1970s), my older cousin, Bob, was keen on building model cars and I would see the results when I visited. I don't think I remember watching him build one, but I do have a very strong and happy memory of the two of us walking 2.5 km each way to the Bargain Harold's near his house so he could buy a model car. His interest in modelling cars eventually translated into an interest in actual cars and he's run a successful auto body shop for decades now.
(You can still read the ghost sign.)
Some examples of models from that era (I love the box art!)
that Bob would have been interested in building.
(I know he built a Mustang like this
–possibly from one of these kits)
Although the memory of that walk has lasted all these years, it didn't, for a very long time, inspire anything in me but admiration...but it did trigger something in me...something that has since made me excited whenever I see a wall of boxes full of styrene model parts. Something about the excitement of creation...the fun of building something with your hands.
Thrill to the potential!
(this is not my stash, BTW)
(this is not my stash, BTW)
I plan to do a bunch of kit-bashed and scratch-built models and, rather than have Small Pond's Special Projects Division take on extra work, I'm delegating all my builds to the newly-created Small Pond Shipyard, which will have individual posts for the various projects, but they'll also be grouped by theme, just follow the link below to get to the main projects hub:
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