Plastic model making has come a long way from the days of sticky little fingers and spilled pots of paint on family kitchen tables covered in newspaper.
Many older men would today barely recognise the hobby of their childhood, such is the range and quality of the kits, glues, paints and tools now on the market.
"Manufacturers seem to have worked out that they're not designing kits for kids any more," said Craig Chidley, who runs a plastic model hobby/military bookshop in Colonel Light Gardens.
"It's not like those fumbly, horrible things that never used to fit, with the streaky glue that used to go everywhere and the fingerprints on the canopies.
"Nowadays they have these Weld glues that you run along with a tiny brush even after the parts are joined together - no mess, no fuss."
Kits are also far better made. Craig says the precision is "unbelievable", the result of computer-driven engineering, superior plastics and improved moulding technology.
There is a huge range, too, from the Wright brothers' Flyer to jumbo jets and spacecraft. For ship fans there's even a 1.5 metre-long model of the Titanic complete with LED lights. Theme kits are also popular and include TV shows like Space: 1999.
"There's almost anything now, even diorama accessories if you want to create, say, an airfield with a jeep driving past, or a 1950s French cafe with chairs and tables and people sitting outside.
Nostalgia aside, Craig sees many benefits for seniors returning to plastic modelling or taking it up. Physically, it can help dexterity. Mentally, there's research to keep the brain ticking over. Socially, there are tons of clubs, Facebook pages and competitions to join and enjoy.
Nor does it matter too much if your fingers are not quite as nimble as they were at age 11: some kits come in larger, less fiddly parts.
It can be an absorbing hobby. Craig told The Senior a timely joke about a modeller surrounded by old kits. "Someone asks, 'Self-quarantine?' He replies, 'I've been training for it for years'!"
"Yes, it can still be considered a bit of a 'daggy' hobby, but I've found amongst non-modelling friends that that attitude changes immediately once they see what you've just completed."
- AeroWorks, 20 The Strand, Colonel Light Gardens, 8357-4756.
