The Little World

And guess who’s going to take it…

They often say that you should choose the sin that you’ve never committed before just to keep things interesting. I don’t know about the sin bit, but the chance to build a model in a new way has attracted my eye.

A lot of aircraft put onto aircraft carriers have been fitted with wings that fold up or back. This lets them occupy a smaller area of the flight deck and to fit onto smaller elevators if they are to be struck down to a hangar deck. The mechanisms that do the folding can be quite complex but in the end have to present the folded part of the wing to the fixed portion in a tough joint – after all there will be a lot of pressure on this area as the plane is flying. The Martlet Mk.IV kit from Airfix is only 1:72 scale but they have included the option to fit the model as a parked aircraft with folded wings – this is the first time I’ve ever built one of these.

Oh, I did build a crude 1:48 F4F Wildcat back in the 1960’s but I don’t remember if it had folding wings or not. That was the heyday of working features so I suspect it did. In any case I won’t be folding and unfolding the thing – just finishing it in Royal Navy FAA colours for the ” Torch ” operation in the Mediterranean.

The insignia will be the American stars, though the rest of the plane carries British fin flash and lettering. It was odd, but real.

The kit mouldings are new and good – no flash and lots of detail for the interior and landing gear. I suspect it will be a job of work as the Grumman Duck was a bit of a fiddle with the struts. However , the Duck was an old mould and they may have gotten better…

If I didn’t fancy the folded wings, there’s two more flat out…

And two separate engine cowlings – this kit shares with the Wildcat version of the same plane and that had a different engine.

I’m confident that the canopy can be assembled as the open version so will try my hardest to make a good cockpit. As a parked machine it is one of the few in which I do not need to include a pilot, so I’ll save him for another ship.

And I am glad to see that the instructions are the good new Airfix ones with clear diagrams. I should not like to be abandoned to my own devices with the wing fold or the spindly landing gear. Look at those wing spars. That’s class!

Roll on Operation Torch. A companion for Sub Lt. Chondomely-Smythe in his Fulmar.