Words and Photography: Charlotte Vowden
Some mothers-to-be get pregnancy cravings; insatiable desires for food items that don’t normally feature in their mainstay diet, or wanting – no, needing – to snack on something completely random. I had high hopes for the latter. I’m not a fussy eater, I’d say I’m an adventurous one, (I’ve dined on live giant ants in a South American jungle and stomached fermented shark in Iceland), so I was looking forward to finding out what wacky concoctions I’d develop an urge for. Instead, I got hooked on Airfix.
It began when the stork at Hornby Hobbies – the British company that manufactures the scale model kits – gifted me two starter sets; a classic Aston Martin DB4 and an exotic Lamborghini Huracán Evo. Designed to be achievable for people returning to the pastime after a long hiatus, or, like me, total beginners aged 8+, they had been given a one out of four rating on the Airfix difficulty scale; four being the trickiest and most advanced. I got stuck into constructing the 1:43 scale James Bond car first.
Unboxing the contents of the kit meticulously, I studied each item with a level of patience that I normally find hard to maintain. Laid neatly on the table in front me, the inventory of ingredients was thus: thirty pieces of plastic, four pots of water-based paint, two paper instruction pamphlets, an assortment of microscopic decals, one tube of glue and a brush. The finished model would measure up at approximately 10cm by four so a fiddly undertaking it would be.
As a child I’d spend hours crafting; creative DIY activities were 100% my jam. But, when my father set to work on his Airfix, I didn’t participate, I only observed. Treating each one like a precious trophy, his automotive and aircraft creations were a labour of love borne out of his rare and therefore precious spare time. So now, to be joining the one in five adults in the UK who assemble scale models of their own – a number that’s on the rise – it felt as though I were crossing a threshold into a community where projects are approached with the utmost respect.
Following the instructions obediently, ticking off each stage with a pen, I settled into a happy and meditative flow, and in a world that’s relentlessly switched on, it’s a headspace that can be hard to locate. Plus, being eight months into my pregnancy, with my mind and body hijacked by the baby’s needs, this state of total absorption was exactly where I wanted, and needed to be.
During the course of three soothing and productive sessions, the DB5 was the sole focus of my thoughts. The low-level demands of its assemblage, outlined by diagrams that were super easy to understand, provided a hinterland away from the pressures I felt as a self-employed mother-to-be – there’s no relaxing mat leave for me.
Whether a group or solitary activity, studies have shown that pastime pleasures can help relieve professional, as well as domestic stress. Hornby Hobbies conducted a survey to find out for themselves if this was true. More than half of the 2,000 participants said excessive screen time was harming their wellbeing and mental health. This group was twice as likely to suffer from anxiety too. Meanwhile, over 80% were concerned that digital devices were having a negative impact on young children. Swapping passive experiences such as doom scrolling on social media for hands-on, screen-off activities, the study
found, was a well-supported – and necessary – cultural shift.
At 37, I’m a few years outside of the age group that has the biggest appetite for suppressing their online and smartphone use – that is those aged 16 to 34 – but for me, Airfix was an incredibly effective tool. I accomplished something by logging off. In a separate study that was supervised by a doctor, participants who dabbled in miniature model making responded positively on both a physical and emotional level, such as experiencing a reduction in blood pressure and feeling in a more upbeat mood.
A patchy paint job, a crumpled decal and bodged together panelwork that disturbs the curves that run from grille to rear, my DB5 was not as perfect as illustrated. But, from box of bits to finished object, the I enjoyed the journey we travelled along the production line. Staying sane during one of the most intense periods of my life, that is gestation and impending birth, hasn’t been – go figure – very easy. From sickness to insomnia, there are so many factors that prevent you from settling comfortably into the baby growing groove, but building dinky Airfix cars, rather than fishing gherkins or pickled eggs out of jars, it turned out, was the unexpected fix that I’d need.
For tips on getting started with modelling, or to explore more research insights, visit Hornby Hobbies.
Are you a fan of Airfix or any other motor-related hobbies? We’d love to hear all about them in the comments below.
