The Little World

I mean, procrastination starts with ” pro ” and you’ve gotta be dedicated for that, right?

I’m typing this because there is a backlog in the Little Workshop – but it is a deliberate thing. I’ve been working on the A-20 Havoc, several P-39’s and a B-25 Mitchell. They’ve all got to the undercoat stage with many of their subassemblies like wheels or props already painted – but I’ve carefully boxed up the grey models in the unfinished state.

It’s all a cunning plan, Baldrick.

It revolves around the little show I want to make at the WASMEx display next year. I’ve got the airfield, I’ve got the runways and hangars, and I’ve got the buildings pretty much done. There’s a good basic complement of RCAF aircraft for the apron – but I want a story to go along with this. So I’ve decided to model a contingent of USAAF aircraft going north through the station on the Northwest Staging Route to Alaska.

Some of the aircraft are Lend-Lease types that have been prepared at US factories for the Soviets – I’m basing the colour schemes and insignia on actual period photographs of planes in transit.

Some of them are USAAF ships being deployed to Alaska for the defence of the Aleutians and northern British Columbia. Again I am going on actual deployments and period photos. Thank goodness I have a surplus of US stars and tail serial numbers saved from previous kits.

The reason the planes are being carefully paused in their builds is so that I can do most of the major painting when the weather warms up and the paint flows better – and so that I can achieve some uniformity in colour. Not 100% corporate, but within a reasonable margin. I may let myself go slightly on the Lend-Lease ships. In the meantime I can do all the subassemblies and as many crew members as can be scrounged.

And I’m using the cold time to do more research about the actual deployments – a lot bigger variety of aircraft went north than I suspected, both USAAF and RCAF. Oddly enough, very few seem to have been adapted to arctic conditions, either in their equipment or their colours.