Say Hey! Revisiting a childhood error

www.insidetheparkcollectibles.com

Coming across this picture of a 1960s model of Willie Mays making a famous catch reminded me of my own attempt to put together this very same Aurora kit when I was a kid.

Mine turned out nothing like the one in the photo. For one thing, I had no painting skills. But my biggest problem was that I used way, way too much glue.

I had a devil of a time getting Willie to balance on that one foot. So I kept adding more and more glue. Eventually I accidentally managed to dissolve the plastic outfield surface. And about the time I realized my model would look like Willie had stepped in a gopher hole (which, admittedly, would have made the catch even more impressive) I decided it was time to call a halt to this insult to a great baseball player.

I did see him hit a home room once in person. Fortunately, his cleats were not covered with glue. So he had no trouble trotting around the bases.

I had slightly better success with my model airplanes. As I ended up setting fire to many of them in a glorious crash-and-burn effect, my generosity with the glue only added fuel to the driveway fantasy.

www.straggleresearch.com