Ipms Nats The Holy Grail Of Aging Model Enthusiasts

CHATTANOOGA — Some folks go to boat shows, gun shows and car shows. Some of us go to Nats. If you’re of a certain age, you went through the childhood ritual of building a plastic model. Back in my day, it meant saving your allowance or waiting for your birthday or Christmas for that box with cool art of an aircraft carrier, jet fighter or bomber, Sherman or Tiger tank, Corvette or Camaro or a tractor-trailer rig. Add some paint — when I was a kid, it was 10 bottles for a dollar — and a 10-cent tube of glue, put some newspaper on the dinner table to avoid that “oops” moment and, before the afternoon was out, you were probably making jet or engine noises and flying/driving/sailing your model through the air or across the floor. The first model I ever saw was a Westland Whirlwind helicopter my dad was building, like the ones the Royal Air Force was using to pluck dumb climbers off the Cornish cliffs down the road from where we were stationed. I still have a thin scar on my left index finger knuckle — a souvenir from using a pocketknife to cut parts off the frame for one of my first models.