34-ish years ago when Swansea had a proper Model Shop I used to go in whenever I was in town. Stare at the various balsa models hanging from the ceiling and admire the shelfs stocked with what appeared to be hundreds of planes and boats. Every Saturday morning the place was bustling with various customers, some I thought a bit peculiar as their main interest was obviously Trains. They would stand as if on a platform in front of a large display cabinet full of various engines and carriages, seemingly checking for in correct details, or perhaps to see what new arrivals had been added, or identifying what had been sold during the week.
Occasionally, I would fall in love with a model, usually a glider, sometimes a rubber band powered plane and once a Control line Vernon trainer which I have forgotten the name of. I gave it a black and gold livery, inspired by the JPS Formula 1 car no doubt. I preferred the Keil Kraft Phantom but as I wasn't paying I didn't get much say in the matter. Whilst reminiscing perhaps I should point out that the very first non Airfix type kit I had the pleasure of owning was a Keil Kraft, Otter (tug). My Father built it as I watched on. Sometimes bewildered but almost all the time enthralled. It was only a small model and went together quite quickly, whilst sat together at the building board my father told me of the tale when he was young and one of his rubberband planes flew a complete circuit of Underhill Park. I was so impressed. The Otter turned out fantastic and as my Father was an Artist the paint finish was near perfection. Not a run, splodge, fingermark or drip in sight. However, this was to be first and last time my Dad and I built together, from then on it was up to me. Dad had a scratch handicap and International Golf duties as a Welsh player, Captain and Walker Cup Selector as his main hobby.
A few years after the Otter I was looking around the Model shop and a boat rather than a plane caught my eye. It looked like a red and white scale racing boat from the small picture stuck on the end of the box which was wedged in and amongst the other models. A couple of weeks later and after a fair amount of plea bargaining I was the proud owner of a MFA Piranha. I remember the sales assistant warning me how fast it would be if fitted with a Hummingbird 40 rather than 20 motor. Slowly the kit started coming together but unfortunately due to the cost of the RC equipment this model never saw the water. It lived for almost a decade under my bed, eventually being landfilled!
So you could say I have always had soft spot for this model and when I found this one on Ebay. Well, I thought it was worth a punt. £13.50 had it bought and delivered. I think a budget of £40.00 should see it flying around the pond OK in a month or two.
Who needs a mid life crisis Porsche convertable when memories are priceless.
