The Little World

Well, there we were, folks – Sandown Park in Melbourne for the 2019 model exhibition. Plenty of parking, real live motor cars circling the track, and a large canteen area set aside for the punters. What more could one want?

One of the first tables that caught the eye after I rounded the Wall O’ Kits was the Silver display by the Northern Area Modellers. All models with something of a silver or bare metal look about them – even if it was just in places. As I’m a fan of this sort of look – and am studying how to best get it on a number of modern aircraft – I took a keen interest. Forgive any focusing errors – I was just getting the Fujifilm X-T10 with the new 27mm lens worked out. Eventually I arrived at the best compromise and then let it have its head.

This looks suspiciously like a Heinkel similar to the ones sold to the Royal Ruritanian Army Air Force, but as a civil carrier.

A bit more heavily armed, but also with that mid-30’s look about it. Also a RRAAF candidate…

A rather exquisite Dornier DO-X. Sadly Ruritania has no ocean to land it upon.

But this is very encouraging – I have silver-coloured plans for a Lancaster myself. I should love to know how the builder has blanked off the mid-upper turret so smoothly. I shall need to do that for several aircraft in the works.

I was also impressed with the decision by the NA Modellers to display the silver upon a dark colour – too often the light blue or green of a table doesn’t really show up the drama of the model’s finish.