The Little World

Well, Poo…I realised today that I published Part Four before Part Two and Part Three. You must have gotten a disjointed view of the process. Forgive me and read on today and tomorrow – you’ll get the rest of the story. Blame early mornings…

There we was at the Men’s Shed session of the Scale Modellers Club Of Western Australia – sitting in the newly-painted club rooms. Two big tables full of codgers, geezers, and old coots. Cutting, sanding, painting, gluing…and also eating cake, drinking coffee, talking bullshit, and generally enjoying the hobby.

It’s a session that starts at about 9:00 every Tuesday and continues until after lunch. If a birthday has occurred, a cake appears. So, occasionally, does one of the local retailers with a box of temptations for the club members. I have to leave my money at home…

But it was perfect for getting started on the Italeri Macchi Veltro. These kits are not quite the shake ‘n bake of a Hobby Boss product, but they are not too far from it. I am impressed with just how much building fun Italeri can pack into a product that is at the lower end of the price ladder.

Their plastic is a bit more brittle than Airfix, but not as much so as Zvezda. The sprues have very little flash and the major parts have no warpage to battle. The cockpit detail is decent for an injection kit and contains one clever thing – as the kit contains no pilot figure, the seat is moulded with seatbelts cast into the plastic. A simple touch, but appreciated. Also the instrument panel decals actually fit the dash they are intended for!

Despite the rowdy behaviour of the over 60’s at the club – and you have to remember that this is a place where the police lob tear gas in before they enter – I got the fuselage, wing, and tail united before I went home, and all it needed was a spritz from the airbrush to paint the interior. Then the seams and cavities were puttied up and sanded – thanks to a warm day back in the Little Workshop – and the Mr. Surfacer went on smoothly.

Tomorrow we embark on the great Azure Blue Quest – the perpetual search for the RAF Mediterranean blue underside paint. It is not a standard feature of either Tamiya, Mr. Hobby, or Mr. Color. If you want to switch chemistry you can find it in Humbrol or Modelmaster enamel or Vallejo acrylic…but I do not want to switch again. So it is out with the blue, white, purple, and spare mixing bottles. If I do get a decent match to the RAF Digital Shade guide I will make up a large batch of it. So far I have ended up with various shades of Bright Med Blue that do not really do the trick.

Thank goodness Middle Stone and Dark Earth are out-of-the-jar colours.

Oh, for those who are wondering why I want MS, DE, and AB…well, keep wondering – there is a reason for this with the Veltro that you might not suspect.