The Little World

I am starting to get smarter when I open the box of a new kit – I dive for the instruction sheet. The thing I want to see straight away is the diagram of the sprues with the ID numbers on the bits that I will use and the greyed-out portions that indicate things that are surplus.

In the Special Hobby Lodestar, there are some sprues that seem to be almost entirely something else. Only a few parts on them pertain to the version of the plane that is on the kit box art – the rest are earlier, later, or alternate versions. I seem to have scored a great deal of Lockheed Hudson here…

Of course, that is perfectly understandable – I also seem to have scored a Ventura or Harpoon nose and a spare tailplane. I do not think I will be cementing the machine gun to one of the side windows, though there were probably a few Mannix employees who would have welcomed one at times.

Look at the heading image. The pink stars are parts that actually go into the Lodestar as a civilian version – the rest of the stuff is military interior and parts. I am delighted to have them, of course, and you never can tell where something will turn up in the Air World museum. I am particularly impressed by getting two complete extra dual-bank radial engines for display as well as the ones that go into the plane.

The one puzzle is the third control wheel – the green star. There are two in the cockpit already on their actuator arms. Where did Lockheed think a third one would be needed?