Cataract surgery on my right eye had me down for a couple of days this week. The procedure went fine and the follow up visit with my optometrist seems to indicate a good outcome for my future vision.

Throughout my life, I’ve been extremely nearsighted and I didn’t want to loose my ability to focus close-up, which has been a great advantage in modeling. The surgeon did alter it somewhat and my natural focus range isn’t as close as it was before. To see up close for model work like I used to, I’ll need to use extra magnification in the form of an Opti-Visor or similar. Not a big deal really, just an adjustment in habit and techniques.

Today was the first time after surgery that I could work at the bench and I was pleased that the Opti-Visor compensated for my altered close up sight. With that hurdle passed, I decided it was time to solder the bolsters to the car body and see how it works.

As expected I got the height of one bolster off a bit, so I made the adjustment and resoldered it back in place. The end result is seen in the photo above.

For all intents, the car body looks to be level along its length (as shown by the angle finder on top) and that’s the critical aspect. The sections of the center sill are solid and appear to be aligned from end to end. It’s a major milestone (at least for me) in the build and I’m pleased with how it turned out.

We Change and The Craft Will Too
I’ve known about the need for cataract surgery for a year and at my annual checkup last month, my doctor indicated it was time to deal with the issue while it was still in the early stages. I’ll have my other eye done in a few weeks from this writing and that will be that.

Obviously as we age, our physical health becomes a factor in our ability to practice and enjoy the craft.

That might mean changing modeling scales, relying more on external visual aids, adding more light at the bench and so on. I’m in my late sixties and have already made all of those changes and will deal with the ones that are sure to come later.

While everyone’s situation will be different, my message here is that advancing age doesn’t have to be an impediment to our enjoyment of the craft.

Growing older, we may have to make major changes at some point, pick different subjects to model or accept that our increasing lack of manual dexterity no longer allows for the refinements we once enjoyed. I do appreciate there are folks whose physical condition no longer allows them to actively engage in modeling and that is a hard reality to accept. The truly beautiful thing about this craft though, is the multitude of ways we can enjoy it.

Moving forward,
Mike