Scale Aeromodelling
 I
have often wondered what makes this hobby so special to me.
I guess that, above all other reasons, it helps me to connect
with my childhood and the many things that were so special about
being a kid. It all started when my Dad took to me to an airshow
in Pune, at the Lohegaon Airforce Base, in 1971. I will never
forget the impression it left on me.
On that day, I bought an ancient balsa wood model glider
of a Spitfire. I cannot remember how many times I broke and
repaired that model, but it kept me occupied, and out of trouble
throughout that summer, and it made me hungry for more.
As I look back on those years, I have come to understand
that building all those models served many purposes. It gave
me an outlet to express my fledgling creativity. I can now
look at a plain, basic stripped-down model and picture it
as a finely detailed model ,simply by changing the picture
in my head. It honed my skills at following instructions to
assemble things,adept at discerning spatial relationships
and developed my basic problem-solving skills. It instilled
in me a sense of symmetry and organization...All these attributes
serve me well in life today as a practicing executive.
 I
write this, as we are in the process of loosing an entire
generation of modellers. The future generation of our hobby
is growing up on electronic games, and most of them will never
benefit from all that model building can bestow upon a young
mind and propel a young man or woman to success.
I write this also in an effort to re-introduce the art of
creativity, imagination and ideas, and to remind all of us
that there is childhood to be found even as we grow old!!!
Get in touch if you want to know a little bit more about
being a kid! I shall write on some tips about scale aeromedelling
in this space later. In the interim, get to a toy shop and
pick up a Rs. 100/- airplane model and put your self in the
cockpit!
For more information e-mail me at saha@bangalorebest.com
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Miniature Vehicle Modelling
Small is beautiful
 Bishojeet
Paul creates breathtaking miniature paper models of cars,
bikes, trucks and fighter planes. His unique talent to create
such wonderful things from paper makes him stand apart.
He was listed in the Limca Book of Records 1999, featured
in Star Plus (Amul India Show), Channel V (Cool Maal), Siti
Cable and Times of India. Last year, on Children's Day, he
held a solo exhibition in the Planetarium.
He's been creating these wonders for the past five years.
"Right from my school days, I was crazy about cars. Then
I worked for a year and half and created my first successful
model of a car."
He makes the bodies of the vehicles using charter-paper and
chisels out the tyres using pencil erasers. And to get that
glistening look, he applies a coat of Fevicryl paint. He has
already made 89 models of cars, bikes and trucks, including
two fighter planes. His smallest creation is a Sand Buggy,
measuring just ½ cm! His smallest car is ½ inch.
He has one unique car model (measuring around 2 inches) with
front lights (fixed by LED). "I normally take 8-9 hours
to complete a 4-wheeler and about two days for a bike. The
planes require at least 16 hours to comple." And one
more thing: All his models are registered.
How does he get the ideas? "I browse many automobile
sites, magazines and photographs to get the multi-dimensional
effect."
Does he sell his unique models? "Last year, I sold 20
models to Zen Motors for a cool 12,000 bucks. But I am not
interested to sell them anymore."
He was born in West Bengal and brought up in Bangalore. He
is a graduate from St.Joseph's College. He has been offered
to work as a trainee (Product Designer) in General Motors,
Australia. He is expected to join the company soon.
E-Mail: bpaul@usa.net
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