The Little World

I was delighted when my friend Warren presented me with this Matchbox Percival Provost – inasmuch as it has passed through three sets of hands for free I hope to make mine the last ones before it becomes an airplane. It was found inside another model box purchased at a secondhand arms and militaria fair and passed to Warren – and thence to me. It certainly improves the percentages in my cost/engine equation.

The prototype seems to have been a successful British training aircraft in the 1950s and popped up as an operational one in Oman, Rhodesia, and other out of the way places. The kit seems very well moulded and is the first one I’ve ever had that has been orange plastic. It seems a shame to paint it in anything drabber!

As with all Matchbox, there are pilots and in this case a well-moulded canopy. Clear, but with easily-paintable framing.The gear struts are fine as far as the legs go but are fairly fine in the compressible parts. The engine is pretty basic, but needs to be nothing else, and the raised panel lines are not offensive.

The instruction sheet is no better than the Matchbox Spitfire Mk IX but you cannot make any errors with a simple a kit as this. The decals are also fairly clean – aged, but salvageable. Heck, if I could get the Airfix Blackburn Buccaneer’s original decals to work, these should be a piece of cake. Hopefully the orange will glow over a silver paint coat. I’ve reviewed the Omani and Rhodesian versions but they are not as cheerful as the RAF trainer colours. This will make a good companion to the RCAF Harvard, and the Manchester University Air Cadet’s de Havilland Chipmunk.

Can’t imagine why the very original owner of the kit never built it.