The Sherriff’s Mini Cars shelves had some of the best and oddest kit shopping I have been able to do for some time. Stashes had disgorged treasures and/or trash and they were sensibly priced for all that. I have no idea how new the Widgeon is, not how long it may have mouldered on the shelves…but it was cheap as chips and that is always a good thing.
The moulding, however, is somewhat reminiscent of Airfix’s dark period. The fit of several of the parts is tangential, and there is a basic problem with the engine nacelles not matching the profile of the engine covers at all. They are so far from a fit that I will not even attempt to putty and fair them in. Along with the medieval fit of the curved windscreen and the mis-moulded delicacy of the landing gear, this definitely limits the final result – puts it on the back shelf.
Even the poor old AIrfix pilot is badly moulded – he resembles a corpse that has mouldered and fallen in upon itself. I shall leave him out of a cockpit that has literally no other furnishing…
If one were to build it as a deeply-camouflaged Fleet Air Arm amphibian, one might almost be able to get away with it – particularly if you built it into a diorama that saw it floating on an artificial sea with the wheels tucked into the side of the hull. But you would find yourself scratch-building an entire cockpit.
I have decided to go the other route – Not the US Coast Guard as seen on the box lid – but following a museum example that came up on Google. I’ve leftover decals from another kit that would dress it well enough to be novel – and the rest of the flaws will just have to glare at the viewer.
The Little World 
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