A good jigsaw

I love a good jigsaw. There is something about bringing order to a random pile of little pieces and watching the picture come together that is very satisfying.

It can be horribly addictive too. Jigsaws tend to be left out for anyone to pick at around here. Gradually the pieces will be sorted out, usually the edges first and then little areas inside until these can be pulled together and the remaining holes filled. As a relaxing pastime, it's hard to beat - you can't really think of anything else while you work so it clears the mind. The problem is, you think you'll do ten minutes and an hour layer you are searching for just one more piece.

For this to work, obviously you need lots of bits - at least 1000. The picture has to have plenty of detail and be well reproduced too. A recent jigsaw became an exercise in trying every piece in every gap at one point as the painting of sea and rocks wasn't distinctive enough to spot which parts should go together.

The picture at the top shows "Airfix - Through the years", a selection of Airfix products from the first little grey Fergie kit at the front to more modern offerings such as the ship in the bottom left corner. Classic artwork on box tops from Roy Cross (anything with guns and explosions) to the tamer modern images. There's some old catalogues in the centre, at least one of which I remember having from the 1970s.

I'm not sure how or why, but there is even a little bit for Beatties anoraks like me - the HMS Warspite box has a price label on it! I wonder if this was left in deliberately? It would seem odd as none of the other boxes is priced.

Am I the only jigsaw fan out in the world of modelmakers?

Surely not. After all, we all enjoy bringing a bit of order to chaos.

Anyway, jigsaw making isn't that much different from building a model from a kit, especially with some of the instructions I've found in kits.