Library Provides `Glue' to Bring Together Model Makers

(Above, scale models assembled as part of a program at the Franklin Public Library, shown in library display case.)

Among the many activities put together by children’s librarian Caleigh Keating this summer, one of the more unusual might have first glance seem to have stepped out of another time – a club built around kids interested in building plastic scale models.

It’s a hobby that hits its peak in the 1950s through the early 1970s, brought into existence thanks to a few pioneering companies that married advances in polymer production technology to slick marketing to create a phenomenon that touched most baby boomer kids – especially boys.

Prior to the advent of plastic models made by companies such as Revell, Monogram, and Airfix, anyone with an urge to craft a model of an airplane or vehicle had to be very skilled at working with wood or (for flying models) tissue paper or light cloth.

Many of the companies merged or disappeared over the years as consumers turned to other interests, particularly electronic devices. But a modest renaissance has kept some of the companies in business. And, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, many of the companies in the industry, which is largely clustered around the Windy City, have seen spectacular increases in business as a result of the pandemic, particularly with bored boomers returning to a hobby they often hadn’t touched in 30 or 40 years.

The Scale Model Club at the Library is different though, started at the suggestion of a local boy who contacted Keating to see if she would help him connect with others. In a text message he explained that he had started building models when he was seven and had enjoyed building many kinds of models – about 25 in total and, in some cases, constructing dioramas to display them.

“I started my first club at my school then I thought it would be fun if everyone could do it,” he wrote. That led him to contact Keating, and the rest is history. “My favorite model was a M4 Sherman tank,” he added.

As for the club, he said “the people who came really enjoyed it.”