The Little World

I am always surprised by the end of a build – it seems to come so suddenly. Of course, this is because I have been beavering away in the background doing sub-assemblies while waiting for paint layers to set, and the final clapping on of these portions is quite a quick thing. One moment it is a plastic kit and the next it is a Defiant.

The bow pen painting of the canopy worked yet again, and the use of Mr. Color lacquer made all the difference to the finish. I did not lay on too thick with the semi-matt coat at the end, and it all seems to have worked well. The canopy and turret were clear enough not to need any sophisticated treatment with floor polish – you can see the pilot in the driver’s seat quite well – at least as well as 1:72 has ever allowed. If I eventually build it again in the night fighter configuration I am going to use the open canopy option.

I must record my admiration for the design team at Airfix over the precise and accurate way the landing gear fitted together. Once you clicked it into the purpose-built slots you could apply thin cement and the thing set solid and square. Part of the charm of the Defiant is those legs and the doors that cover them – and these parts fit perfectly.

The real aircraft gained its victories and suffered its losses…you can decide for yourself if it was a good idea or just one of those British brainstorms that sometimes escape the boffin’s tea room. They made a lot of them even after they found out that they were not a good fighting idea – but they used them for target tug duties all over the place so I guess that this was as good a finish as the Vultee vengeance had. The BP Defiant would at least have been able to shoot back at the students, which would be, as a Terry Pratchett character used to put it – ” A VALUABLE LESSON “.