The Extra Mile

As yet another year races to an end, with a new one round the next well-worn corner, a look to the future always makes me spare a thought for the past.

Although I've been sticking kits and glue together since I was a boy, I've only been a professional builder for the last twelve years. It still surprises me to think that those last years have been the most intense learning curve of my life. It's not just the diversity of the work - although it has been pretty various - but also I've met so many people, mostly due to the internet. So many different people asking for so many different projects.

Some of my early work consisted of the 1:350 scale Lusitania, the ED209 model from 'Robocop', the R/C Tiger Tank in 1/16 scale, as well as a whole bunch of radio controlled cars and planes. These days the job takes a steadier course, winding its way through scales and subjects but mostly aircraft with the occasional ship or tank thrown in.

Only once or twice have I wondered why I put my wife and myself through this... Generally we have been lucky to have clients who have become friends and share their lifestyle and hobby with us in a way which has enriched my work no end. Projects are a pleasure, and the line between work and leisure is blurred.

When I was building for myself, I could please myself, build what I wanted in the way I liked. All that is different now. I have to build what the market wants, to very individual specifications. It can be hard to come to terms with - I prefer authenticity to creative styling, for example - but I look upon it as a challenge. Because I have to please someone else, my work standard has gone up exponentially. I find myself doing more, adding more, going the extra mile. I take a new pride in my work, and at the end of another year, when the job market has changed yet again and not for the good, I can honestly give thanks that I have a job I love.