The Little World

The Hobby Boss model of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning has something I have not seen before on any plastic model airplane – it has a driveshaft. Or put more accurately, it has two.

All the other models I’ve encountered have had just the opposite – a precise hole in the crankcase or nose where a plastic or metal shaft is inserted – and upon which some form of propeller is cemented. I’ve taken to securing the props into my latest models with just a blob of Yellow Uhu putty to allow their removal for photo purposes, but they all plug in.

I’m delighted with the P-38 way, as it would allow me to build a representation of a model with the prop off, if that were necessary in a diorama. I’ll secure another pair of spinners and make clear prop discs for the studio.

I’m also nostalgic for the older kits that allowed you to retract the landing gear manually. I suppose the gear doors were well oversize and the mechanisms crude, but they would be perfect for studio work. Bit much to ask of 1:72 scale, I suppose, but if they can torture us with photo-etched ashtrays, why not working undercarts?

For that matter, why not rubber tyres? I’ll excuse them the tailwheels on some kits…

Note: The Hobby Boss designers were smart – they included instructions to place weights into the engine nacelles to ensure that the P-38 sat on the nose wheel. They specified 6 g in each engine bay. I don’t know what 6 g is so I cut apart a Brown Bess musket ball and hammered out two fitted weights. You can’t make this stuff up, folks…