The Little World

I am never so inspired or terrified as when I open a new model box and look at the plastic sprue trees. In some cases there seem so many of them – in others so few. The Airfix Lancaster is in the first bracket. However, this is a new-mould kit and the parts look to be excellent.

They are big. I keep to the 1:72 scale deliberately, and this has given me an eye for size and volume in the different aircraft I build. This one seems a monster. I imagine I am going to encounter this even more when I eventually get to the Italeri Short Stirling or someone’s evocation of a Boeing B 29. Big can sometimes make you nervous…though if you are prepared to deal with it with rattle cans, the task seems lighter.

I am heartened when I see that the modern moulders include extra parts in the box. I now pay strict attention to the parts list and diagram as i have made silly errors in choosing alternate parts before. But I have made wise choices in some instances when the exact plane I want wasn’t on the box top – but did exist in parts inside. In the case of the Lancaster there are alternatives for the rear turret and exhausts but these fall well within the limits that contemporary pictures show for Canadian Lancasters.

I’m a little less sanguine about the modern practice of moulding fuselage or wing parts in the clear styrene like canopies. I know that there are times when you need to deal with tiny little windows by masking but apart from this I always feel clear styrene is a brittle compromise and a building risk.

However, these seem excellent. Pity I won’t be using the kit’s ventral radar dome in this build, but I’ll save it and its contents for another time. Note the options for the side windows in the cockpit area.