Know Your City: From elephant dung trains to Rs 8,000 mini cars, inside Bengaluru’s most passionate hobby club

In the world of model collecting, detail is directly proportional to investment. While a basic 1/64 ‘Hot Wheels’ style car might cost Rs 190, a high-end collector’s version of the same size, featuring opening doors, a detailed engine bay, and underbody accuracy, can fetch between Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000.

Menon’s passion was sparked by a lifelong love for automobiles, nurtured by the rare imported car magazines he used to find on the streets of Bengaluru.

“MG Road used to have vendors on the footpath selling magazines like Daily Express and World Car Guide,” Menon recalls. “I have issues dating from 1988 to 2007, after which they became nearly impossible to find.”

While many members collect “die-cast” (ready-made) models, others prefer the challenge of assembly. Former IAS officer T R Raghunandan has taken the hobby to its ultimate form: building from scratch.

Raghunandan’s journey began in a small town where toys were a luxury. “If you wanted a model, you made it. I started with toothpaste boxes and used rice starch (ganji) as glue because epoxy didn’t exist back then,” he says.

Today, his work is legendary within the club. He famously spent several years building a YG metre-gauge locomotive at 1/16 scale. The model is a masterpiece of sustainable engineering, crafted in perfect detail using paper made from elephant dung.

Beyond their monthly meetings, the BMCA hosts an annual trade meet that has become a major event for the city’s hobbyists. Their most recent gathering drew over 500 visitors in just five hours, proving that the fascination with miniatures is growing.

For those looking to turn their love for machinery into a small-scale reality, the association can be reached at bmcclub.in.