Saturday Ramble The flat kit society

 Where does it all go after we've built it?

I was rummaging around in a box looking for something that I hadn't got when I was aware of the expansion problem. This may be somewhat obvious and yet it is real and without resolution. All the unbuilt kits fit neatly into the box; well almost neatly. And at an exhibition I will always head for the club stand to pick through the unmade kits, which usually are part of a dead club member's estate that they are trying to clear. But when they are built, where do they go? Things to consider here with my often random selection of buying practice;

1. I'm buying the unbuilt stuff that still has some modeling life in it.

2. This is easy to sell/pack for the club. 

3. I store it for later(flat).

What doesn't happen (generally) is that I will buy pre-made stuff. The take away from this is that unmade kits have more value than made ones. This is long term, what happens to the made things? A conversation with an friend found me saying that all has treasured stuff would be landfill in time. Yes, it may find one interested buyer who was familiar with the process, but after that? Toy trains. Dump it. He was mortified, but could see my reasoning. What we find fun to build is purely personal, but often once out of that sphere it becomes worthless, the value is only in the actual building and the personal ownership. Once outside of that, the value drops to near zero as that personal connection is lost and we are back to landfill once more. It's notable that characterful models often lose that character if they are passed on to a third party. Read; dogs and their owners at this point.

What can we do about this? Very little. This is not about modelling or art even, but about human nature. Unless something has an outward value to others, we have to accept that anything we build, whether it be an exquisite fully detailed layout or a wagon kit is ultimately a purely person thing and that is where it ends. We cannot transmit the pleasure and the time spent building it to someone else and nor should we. Our modelling is just that; ours alone.