"Please read through all instructions before assembling model..."

Scale plastic modeling has never really appealed to me, not until a couple months ago. I have, however, for the past couple years, been a military fanatic. When my Grandfather, who served in the Canadian Air Force, suggested that I go into modeling. Then, my mother bought me a kit for a model USS Kittyhawk, an American naval aircraft carrier for us to do together. That got me hooked. We then bought a Model F15 Eagle which we did together, and then we bought a model A10 Warthog, the last of the models we did together. But we did buy another kit, for a PT-109 patrol boat, but we lost the instructions soon after its opening. (While I have never found the instructions, I have managed to build some of the more intuitive things, like the deck piece going on top of the hull piece, with some help from the image on the box.)

After that, I was alone in the modeling world, and so decided to move to something more affordable: LEGO! I spent years of my life Lego-ing, but eventually, right after my birthday (That was about the only time I would save up enough money to buy anything good) my dad suggested that I go down to HobbyHouse to blow my money on models. So I did. And I bought a model T-34 Russian tank, some Russian infantry to go with it, a WWII German anti-tank gun, and some German infantry, which all totalled about $100. When I returned to my house I realized I had no paint, glue, or brushes with which to make my model; they had all been lost during the time I was absorbed with Lego. So I went to a closer store, Michael's. There, I found the paint brushes, glue, and paints. But all the paint bottles were mixed up, not in the sections they were supposed to be. The Silvers were in with the oranges, and the Matt Blacks were in with the Olive Drabs.

After quite some time trying to find the colors I needed, I came across a label (Covering the color listed underneath it, of course) that said "50% off*" or something like that. So I grabbed all the paints I needed, and went to the checkout line. My Train of though:

Paints regularly cost $2.50. But they are 50% off. And I have about 40-45 of them.

$2.50 x .50 = $1.25

$1.25 x 40 = $50

So I was feeling happy that I had saved some money. However, when I got to the front of the checkout line, the cashier said that the 50% off only applies to a few of the colors, and that my bill was $100. Annoyed, I complied and paid the bill.

When I finally got back to my house, I started the model. the first group of kits took a little over a week to build and paint, and the diorama took about 5 weeks (Paper mache' takes a long time to dry, and so does the paint I used). In the end, I was left with the need for another model to build. But, that shall be another post.