Modeling Spoken Here
Bob Hunt — Aeromodeling Editor
Our modeling skills come into play in virtually everything we attempt in life.
Every now and then we all must put aside our favorite pastime (in our case that's probably modeling) to allow time to do some chores around the house. Those among us who are older have refined methods of avoiding this as often as possible.
One of the more creative ways to sidestep household chores is to have offspring to whom they can be assigned. I've used this approach on two occasions, but I made the mistake of having the children arrive in fairly close proximity to each other. This meant that a division of chores was possible, but that the service agreement for both offspring would expire at nearly the same point in time—bad planning on my part.
If I'd only been able to separate their arrival by a few more years, I'd still be looking at some ongoing indentured-servitude benefits. Translation: they're both grown up and pretty much out of here. Hopefully they have learned from dear old dad that this is a time-honored process that they can keep going in their own lives.
Even with such great live-in help, there is always something that requires a hands-on approach by management. This usually involves the more dangerous or complicated chores. In my house, it was usually mowing the lawn whenever there were too many bees around! Anything that had to do with great height (roof work, gutters, etc.), great mess (cleaning up paint or oil spills, pet issues, etc.), or great weight (moving boxes, shoveling after excessive snowfall) was, and still is, handled by "management." I'd better make it perfectly clear that in my house it's a management "team."
Every few years there are major chores that—no matter how creative I get—cannot be avoided. Yes, I'm speaking of the dreaded redecoration process. This was not too bad when the kids were young and, well, spirited. It didn't make too much sense to put a lot of work into the house when major outdoor sports were still being contested indoors. This is an aspect that is compounded by the Dual-Offspring of Similar-Age Principle; it takes two—at least—to engage in ground-acquisition games. Add in a few of their friends (usually split into two groups known as "teams"), and the result was enough wall dings to start me thinking about investing in a spackling-compound stock.
Okay, there are no excuses now. The walls are relatively safe from assault, and the floors are no longer divided into "inbounds" and "out of bounds" areas. It's time to make the interior look more like something you would see in Homes & Gardens than in Sports Illustrated.
While I put forth every effort to delay, sidestep, or otherwise avoid having to actually move past the planning stages for redecoration (a process that involves my simply agreeing with whatever the other management person thinks is a good idea), there comes a point at which physical effort has to begin. Bummer.
Of course, I could have simply applied the "hurl enough money at it" approach and hired professionals to do the work. There are two things wrong with this tactic. One: I don't really have enough money to have it done right all at one time. Two: aside from the local hobby shop, Lowe's and The Home Depot are my favorite toy stores, and I never pass up an opportunity to spend money there.
I guess there is a third reason too. Being a modeler, I like using my hands and mind to create things, and I take great pride in doing a chore well. The lessons learned through modeling about visualizing a finished product, planning work, estimating materials needed, cutting, shaping, covering, masking, and painting came into play during the redecoration process. I realized as I went that almost all of my modeling skills and the hand-eye coordination that flying models had instilled in me came into play, albeit on something larger and far less critical in weight and accuracy than a model. I think we all tend to think of modeling as just one aspect of our lives. I'm pretty certain that if we think about it, we would all agree that our modeling skills come into play in virtually everything we attempt in life.
They probably also give us the courage to attempt things we might not have tried otherwise.
The first time I attempted wallpapering, I remember thinking that it was not much different—but certainly much easier—from covering a model. By applying the same standards to the wallpapering job as I would to covering a model, I was able to achieve a level of quality that stunned my wife and friends. I wasn't surprised, and in fact I wasn't even fully satisfied.
Modelers are used to working in a manner that produces good results even when viewed up close. Back away from even a moderately good wallpapering job, and the results look more than acceptable. We, as modelers, have a higher standard of craftsmanship as a rule, and without realizing it we hold almost everything else we do in life up to those standards.
As I write this, the redecoration process is nearing the end. The house looks great, with new oak floors (courtesy of the sale of my Goldwing motorcycle), new wallpaper and paint, new carpets, new doors, and lots of new furniture.
The other half of management is happy, and even suggested that I should now spend some time in the model shop building a new airplane. Hey, this honey-do stuff might have an upside after all!
If you need a handyman, don't call me. But if you need to talk modeling, I can be reached at (610) 614-1747.
Contact
- Mail: Box 68, Stockertown, PA 18083
- E-mail: bobhunt@mapisp.com
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
