The Little World

The swap has been done – Paddy – a gentleman who read my advertisement on Gumtree – called and we have exchanged a Revell flying boat kit for an Airfix bomber kit. We both seem delighted with the deal and I will devote this kit to my workshop after the Boeing Fortress Mk III is completed.

The kit was sealed, though the box showed a little dust. I am not surprised or dismayed at this. As I explained to another caller who tried to persuade me not to trade with Paddy, the fact that it is an older kit is no problem. I started plastic modelling in 1953 and as long as it is newer than that it’s fresh stock as far as I’m concerned. I couldn’t care less whether someone else has a different mould or whether there is a price disparity in the swap – I could not build the flying boat and I can certainly use the B-24, particularly as it is provided with SE Asia RAF markings. It will be a good foil for my Italeri C-47 in Burma colours.

So – what have we got? Raised rivets, a bit of flash, and the old-fashioned Airfix crew members with the arms joined together. I’m delighted with these and will experiment to see if they can be brought to a little more anatomical accuracy when the time comes.

The ailerons and rear control surfaces look to be movable as well – I’ll pose them and lock them – but there is not the wealth of interior detail in this plane that we see in the newer Fortress Mk III. Never mind – the clear parts are good and don’t look too tough to mask. It has plenty of room inside for the necessary nose weight and fortunately the landing gear legs look like the will not bend. If they do, I’ll put the belly on a clear perspex platform to take the weight off.

The decals look fine – And are of such quality that I don’t see a need to buy aftermarket ones at all. Looks like there is two days of tny stencilling, however. My least favourite task…

So the trading day has been a success.