Peter’s Exciting Dates with Models

One of the delicious ironies of retirement is the fact that my hobbies are more structured than my day is. It’s not that I’m complaining mind you, I worked directly with the public for most of my 40 years with the Canadian government, dealing with people during some of their worst times, as they faced crises both financial and of self confidence in many cases. Too often I had to face the unpalatable fact that I had done all that I possibly could for some deserving person. Although I developed the necessary ability to “leave my day” at the office, there were rare occasions when I just couldn’t get a situation out of my mind. While alcohol was always available as a crutch, I found it marginally more socially acceptable to immerse myself in plastic aircraft modelling.

Peter Flies the Plastic Fantastic

My dad got me interested in plastic modelling, building Airfix Series 1 bagged ships. I remember watching him at the kitchen table, building “The Golden Hind” or “The Great Western”. He was working on a model of “The Revenge” (What? Sir Francis Drake had another ship?) when his second son, your humble scribe, decided to work on it while Dad was away at work. I managed to make the maindeck melt and sag, through over liberal application of glue. I’m sure he was disappointed, but I did live to tell the tale.