Heartland Model Car Nationals. I won't be entering any time soon.

Every once in awhile, I like to work on a model car. And when I'm done, I usually think they look OK. But then I go to something like the Heartland Model Car Nationals, and I realize that my modeling talents have a long way to go.

Hosted by the KC Slammers modeling club, 2011 marks the 20th year for this model show and swap meet. The most talented model builders from the area, as well as some of the more prominent model car dealers from the Midwest, packed the Overland Park Convention Center for some small scale fun.

Remember your old cars with a scale model

Like most people, I sometimes miss the cars I sell. Usually, I get rid of them for a good reason—like the new one is better—but still, I get attached to them.

Of course, unless you have unlimited funds, you can’t keep ‘em all. And since that is the case, maybe the next best thing is to pick up a diecast or build a model of your long lost prized possessions.

I got in the habit of building a model of whatever car I own years ago. Truth be told, my models aren’t show winners or anything, but they mean something to me. I still find myself studying my old models and thinking about what it was like to drive that car, or I think about the fun places I went in that car. I’m pretty sentimental anyway, so it doesn’t take much to send me into dreamland.

Model kits from the 1950s and '60s. Who builds these things, anyway?

Whenever I go to the hobby store, or to the craft place with my wife, or anywhere they sell 1/25th-scale plastic model kits, I always wonder if anyone ever actually builds them anymore. Real life people that I talk to about them say things like, "I used to build them as a kid. I think my mom threw them out a long time ago." Most of the kids I see now seem to be more into electronic games and test messaging than something that takes the patience of model building. Who is supporting this hobby?

And yet, there is a bigger selection of models than ever before, and some of these kits are more detailed than the older versions ever dreamed of being. There are aftermarket parts and custom spray paint colors, tools and materials that can make a model kit look like a real car.