It never occurred to me that anyone would want to actually give me money for a model I had built - I build for my own pleasure (well, most of the time). Until I got an e-mail out of the blue the other day.
It was from a guy whose step-father, in his 80s, had finally started talking about his time in the US Navy, from WWII clear through to Vietnam. Suffice it to say, he'd seen more than a few things and wanted to get them off his chest before his ticket was pulled. The first ship he served on was the USS Lenawee, APA-195, a Haskell-class transport that had served in three wars. The same ship I had built in 1/700 scale as part of a small diorama and added to my modeling web pages. Which this guy found when he started looking for information on his step-dad's ships.
He wanted to assemble a collection of models of all the ships and boats his step-father had served on. Would I consider selling my Lenawee model to him?
Wow. At first I thought, Why would anyone want my meager effort? Then I got to thinking - I had no personal tie to this model (unlike some others), it had been a (ultimately) fun project, and this guy thought it would make a member of the Greatest Generation very happy as he closes out his final chapter. In the end, it was a no-brainer; I told him I'd be honored. We agreed on a price that would cover my costs for materials and shipping - no charge for the fun I had building it.
Thankfully I build all my models to fit into plastic cases (we have cats), so packing it wasn't too horrible. I'm headed down to the UPS office first thing Monday.
