Wonwings diary-The story of a tube of adhesive.
Here is a little story that many people here can probably relate to,firstly fortunately having been building models now since nineteen canteen you can imagine that I have accrued quite a few modelling items,my balsa stocks would put a balsa timberyard to shame,and there are drawers full of accessories and bits and pieces accumalated,so apart from the occasional purchase online I do not need much more to complete my models,however like everyone the usual consumables are purchased on a regular basis,things like Cyno,paints,thinners and 'Adhesives'
My small tube of polystyrene cement,the type with those fine nozzles was on its last legs as the last hisses of air were heard from the squeezy plastic container,so a quick trip to the local model shop was in order,imagine my surprise when the shop had vanished overnight ! stripped of everything,not even a note on the door to say anything ? so a trip to the next town was called for,this is not a model shop as such but a long established craft type shop that sells carefully selected items for model building,this time the shop was closed ! a note on the door to the effect that due to commitments the shop would now close all day Wednesday and also the hours were reduced as well,after standing and thinking the only thing to do was go to the next big town ie Coventry where I knew there was another model shop,so off I trotted only to find that the shutters were down,and a note on the door said that the shop had closed for business,it had only been going with these last owners for about 12 months anyway,so things did not go well there did they ? now what to do ? 20 miles one way and still no adhesive in my hands,ah,there is an Hobbycraft branch in the centre so in the car again and off to Hobbycraft where I knew they sold model kits,the model stuff is on the top floor,well what is left of it ? as to be expected Airfix were thin on the shelves,Revell stuff was padded out so the big kits hid nothing behind them just as they do in supermarkets when the Cornflake delivery has not arrived on a Monday,and then at the end of the aisle I espied the Humbrol and Revell paint racks,must be getting warmer,where is this darn adhesive ? well the nearly empty paint racks contained a couple of dozen tins of paint between them,no useful colours,just those garish hippy wagon mauves,pinks and gorrilas armpit greens whose only use would be to paint last years Halloween mask for the kids ! in other words no new stock,the dust on the tins of paint and the racks suggested that they had been like this for a very long time,but still no adhesive in sight ? just as I was about to give up I spotted a tatty box sitting on a plush showcase that looked as if it had cost a fortune ? at last what I wanted a tube of adhesive with those handy nozzles,note that I have said 'a tube' in the singular ! yes you have guessed the very last one.
I took my precious purchase to the till and the young assistant scanned it,with the result it kept beeping as if a protest that it wanted to stay in the building ! still with no luck and a queue building at the back he called over the manager who reached for a pile of catalogues under the till,we dont sell much of this stuff these days he said ! well I just had to say that is no surprise as you do not appear to have much stock in the model section anyway ? the whole shop had that air of despondency about it,one on the till to a long line of buyers,one on customer service looking very bored,and a manager who looked like a newcomer ? I did eventually get the adhesive,with no apology or explanation and left the shop,it was getting late and the rush hour traffic was building up outside,as I battled my way home I weighed up the days events,a round trip of some 40 miles for one old tube of glue,about three hours out of my busy day ? was it really worth it ? in a word no ! I think next time a quick order with Mr Sticky on the internet will be the answer as it will be on the doorstep the next day,the days when every newsagent shop sold adhesives suitable for modelling are long gone,and with this rapid decline in model shops throughout the country they will soon be a thing of the past,good job that I still have that valuable balsa to use plus a healthy stash of kits to keep me going ?
21 Oct44 Two airplanes with volunteers flew from the Philippines to attack US carriers. 
