The Little World

If you want to put the fear of God into someone, just say vacuum-form. They will either go very hot or very cold, and you must be prepared for them to pull the lever on the ejector seat. You may end up talking to yourself and landing the thing yourself…

The vac-form kit seems to be a frightening prospect for most scale modellers who have trained up on injection moulded ones. Thin material, uncertain edges, internal bracing, and scratch building may daunt the newcomer. I know it did me when I recently found a vac-form canopy in a new kit. But I think I was the victim of a bad press for what turned out to be a fine product.

Now there are vast differences between a simple WW2 canopy in clear plastic and a full vac-form kit of some monstrous airliner that will need a wooden framework built inside plus and enginering degree in bamboo skewers for the landing gear. Still, the principles are the same, and I am starting to suspect that the one will yield as well as the other.

For my part, I found that surgical scissors to remove the bulk of the flash was a good idea, leaving a good 2 mm space round the fitting edge. Then ever-closer snipping and a final sanding to make the contours match. The canopy was a pleasure to paint with the bow pen and easy to secure with MicroKleer white glue. I would willingly see this form of glazing in any kit I find.

It would also seem to be a sensible solution for some of the larger structures that can have a simple shape; Nissen huts, emplacements, water tanks, drop tanks, etc. More power to the moulders.

Please re-read this column when I work up enough courage or foolishness to tackle a full-scale vac-form kit. I may be wailing instead of dancing.