Still a few years shy of legal driving age, and being unable to accelerate the calendar one whit, my automotive outlets were car magazines, doodling, slot cars, and scale model kits. Laboring at my basement workbench to bring forth my next great scale masterpiece, I learned the box contained more than a bunch of plastic parts, an instruction sheet, and some decals. It held some important life lessons that still apply today.
Some Assembly Required
The picture they put on the box looks great, but the cold fact is that the picture is a pipe dream. You don’t just open the box and there it is. You have to build it, one piece at a time, one assembly at a time, not, as I would later find out, unlike a diploma, career, or family.
Following Instructions Is a Good Idea
It’s tempting to bypass the mundane steps and skip ahead to the more fun parts, but there’s probably a reason that they tell you to do stuff like scrape the chrome off the grille before you glue it to the body; put the “glass” in before interior; and put the wheels and axles through the chassis before gluing it to the body. Instructions were written by people who have already been down this path and determined the correct steps for success. Freestyling is risky.
Patience Pays Big Dividends
It’s a fruit of the Spirit, and you can’t be an artisan without it. Take the time to prep the parts. Test fit them to make sure they’re the right parts and not a mismatch. If they’re the right parts, trim off the flash, sprue, and waste that might prevent a good fit. Only then is it time for glue. This alone would have saved me a divorce.
Complexity Is Its Own Downfall
Opening doors, steerable wheels, operating trunk lid—the extra features are all cool, but they add to the build time, often don’t fit right, are pretty fragile, and are known to up and fall apart. I guess that shouldn’t really be a surprise. These are models made of plastic and built by 11-year-olds, not jeweled eggs by Faberge. Features are alluring, but simplicity gets you farther down the road and keeps you out of trouble. Just ask the subprime lenders.
Paint’s Tricky
It’s the make-or-break step and you can’t unpaint the car, so pay attention to the dos and don’ts. Do make sure you like the color. Do shake that can, even if it’s not fun. Don’t put it on too thick or you’ll get a run. Don’t touch wet paint. Yes, it’s still wet; no, it didn’t somehow dry in half the usual time. Some people are naturally good at some things, and some people are good at others. If paint is not your strong suit, and it wasn’t mine, get help.
Mistakes
They’re inevitable, but take every effort to keep them to the absolute minimum. Glue the wrong parts together and you’ll need to cut them apart with a saw or an X-Acto knife. It’s messy and dangerous, and you’ll have to handle tools that can cause pain and bleeding. Trust me. I still have numbness in one fingertip. With swords in the hands of the untrained it’s likely that the wrong thing will get cut. An apology is noble, but not as noble as needing no apology.
Decals Are Like Kids
Soak ’em in warm water. They need that. Slide them carefully off the backing, then you’ve got a limited time to get them placed where they’re supposed to be before their adhesive sets up and they get hard to move. Sometimes they stick to your finger and you have to peel ’em off. You know what I’m saying, right?
The Work Reflects the Builder
Once the job is done and it takes its place on your bookshelf or dresser, every time you look at it, it will remind you either of excellence and the discipline you exercised during its creation, or of corner-cutting and compromise and things that could have been done better. It will trigger either satisfaction in a job well done, or regret. It’s said that first we make our habits, then our habits make us. Even as a kid building models, it’s not too early to learn this. — Originally published Dec. 2010
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