I was struck by a recent comment by DM, in a discussion about where to purchase mounting brackets, who pointed out that these were things a modeller from 50 years ago would naturally think of making for himself. Nowadays, modellers are much more likely to assemble a box of parts or buy a fitting rather than create it themselves.

Model boats seem to require the most 'fittings' of any type of model, and there are regular requests for sourcing things like a 1/88 scale winch or a 2mm fender. 'Back in the day' we had to make our own, and this skill (and attitude) seems to be dying.

The EeZeBilt range of boats that I have a particular affection for were cheap starter kits, and there was no way that a young kid's pocket money would stretch to expensive fittings for them – so fittings on an EeZeBilt were invariably made from straws, wire, cotton reels, drawing pins and other household impedimenta. Here I present a simple thread where I show a selection of raw materials and ask what you might think of making from them. The first one comprises a Kinder Egg container and a plastic bottle – and, yes, as Diede suggested a little while ago, it will be a weapon – at 1:48 scale. May I encourage readers not only to guess, but to contribute their own puzzles for our consideration…!

At 1/48th ??! That would make a human figure approximately 300 ft high….

Paul has it! Though you would not usually call it a Nudelman-Nemenov NN30 – that's just the gun designation. The complete system – fitted to lots of Warsaw Pact boats as a CIWS – is an AK-230.

See – **LINK**

And here it is assembled (though not yet complete):

Good Morning, campers!

Here is today's puzzle. Soluble aspirin and some bamboo from the garden. Again, the scale is 1/48th, but this time it's not a weapon. Any takers?

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 16/09/2017 10:21:00

Dead right! That didn't take long!  Bamboo is:

• cheaper than dowel
• stronger than dowel
• comes in a wide variety of diameters on the same stick

I'll have to think up a harder one for tomorrow – or perhaps someone else will have a go…?

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 16/09/2017 12:41:43

Yes – there seems to be a general feeling that has been running through society for the last 20 years or so that there is a 'right' way to do things, which is the officially sanctioned and approved way that is published by an authoritative body, and that any individual who decides to do something on their own, or questions the 'approved' answer to any question is instantly suspect.

And if there IS no 'official guidance' on a topic, there is a clamour for some superior body to tell us what to do…