Dubai-based Indian entrepreneur boasts over 3,000 scale model planes

Gulf News

Dubai-based businessman Kalpesh Mehta has a rare hobby.  Mehta, who is passionate about aeroplanes, has a collection of scale models of aircraft in his home and office.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/meet-indian-businessman-in-dubai-with-a-collection-of-over-3000-scale-model-planes-1.101746024  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Indian #hobby

Transcript

00:00I've been living in UAE since 1992 and this is my hobby, collecting aircraft die-cast

00:15models since 82.

00:18So it's almost 42 years since I've been collecting and have almost around 3,000 pieces

00:26from the time I've started collecting.

00:28Lots of different models, lots of different kinds, I mean, you name it, from the 727s

00:34to the 737s to the 747s, 757s, 767s, the 300s, 310s, 320s, 330s, 340s, from all the variants

00:44available which are there, which are made to us available.

00:48First time in 82, the British Airways had come out with plastic models and that time

00:53the Concordes and all were there.

00:55So the first aircraft model was bought, we had to send a demand draft from India all

01:00the way to UK.

01:01The money goes to them and then it used to come in a plastic case, it's a 1-250 scale

01:06that time, was the most popular.

01:08And those, the six models which I had got, which I still have, all of them still exist

01:13and all of them are in my collection as of now.

01:15At least 7 to 10 days, if I work 4 to 5 hours to clean everything, to remove it, get it

01:21back in its place, take pictures of it, where it was placed, because once you remove, you

01:27cannot not know where to put it back.

01:29Because it doesn't go in the same place, it doesn't get, then the models become extra.

01:34So on an average, if in a year, if I clean it twice, it would take me around two weeks

01:40minimum to clear everything out.

01:43So this is the full collection here, with all the 747-400s, 777-200s, A330-200s, A310,

01:53which is already long gone.

01:56That's the one Emirates uses, 777-300, their main fleet, Qatar Airways, the Star Wars collection

02:02of all Nippon Airways.

02:05These are all the 1-400 scale of all the aircrafts, from DC-10s to 321s to 737-200s, 319s, MD-80s,

02:18the aircrafts with special liveries, McDonalds, very hard to find.

02:26Then the Pokemon series, the Universal Studios series, it's very, very hard to find, very

02:31difficult, you cannot get them anymore.

02:32These are very, very old.

02:34My favourite is the Air India 747-200B, the oldest, with the cheat lines, with the India

02:42written both in Hindi and English.

02:44These are bigger scale, mostly 1-200, 1-250, and these two pieces are 1-300 scale, which

02:51were hardly produced.

02:53The rest are some plastic models, some old livery of Emirates when it was introduced,

02:58the 777-200.

03:00Most important, all the new ones, these are A350-900s, LATAM, Vietnam, Cathay, all the

03:06new liveries are here, the new aircrafts, and some of them on the top, like the North

03:10West Orient, American, which don't exist, these liveries don't exist anymore.

03:15South African, Eastern, some of the smaller planes, some of the smaller liveries which

03:21you cannot get anymore.

03:23As long as I'm living, it will stay with me.

03:26After that, I would, I mean, that is what I think that I should give it to the airport

03:30or put it at Dubai airport, give it to them and let other kids, other people, because

03:35it's not only kids, plane, any man, if a plane takes off from the top, he will look at the

03:41top.

03:42That is the way it works.

03:43You always look on the top.

03:45So if there are plane models, they will stand and they will look at the plane models.

03:49It is like you give a small boy one gift, plane model, he will end up buying tomorrow

03:55one more when he goes to see, because that is the way, that is the way hobby is made.

03:59It's just, you start with one, then you want second, then you want, and it never ends after

04:03that.

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