The Little World

If you are a reader of Britmodeller or some of the IPMS sites you’ll find that there are a number of people who live in mortal fear – whether it’s fear of discovering their plastic kit is out by three millimetres or fear of discovering that it’s not – is not clear. I think the forum writers would be equally distressed either way.

It cannot be good for a dedicated enthusiast who knows a prototype intimately to be presented with a completely inaccurate scale kit. If every line, surface, or bulge is wrong, they would feel offended. But the same kit might thoroughly please another builder. The awkward thing is when the first complains and the second hears it. Thus, it doesn’t do to follow the forum regulars too closely – you will rarely, if ever, heard good of the kits you buy.

I have found a few duds in my day – and they must have been pretty gross to have attracted my attention. But by and large, the inaccuracies that may be present are largely hid from the casual eye, and unless you are striving to build some 1950’s heritage kit, you need not be too fearful about what you’ll get. The model presented in an kit that’s produced early in the service life of an aircraft may be a lot more prototype than you really know, but at least it is a model of something. Waiting decades for the exact product for some obscure marque is no fun either.

I was given a 1960’s model of a Blackburn Buccaneer that was derived from a prototype. It was a heritage model and needed special care in building. But the result in the end is every bit as satisfying as the newest super-kit. If it has non-service markings, so be it – it carried them at some stage of the game.

How far am I prepared to go to correct something? If it is so glaring as to disturb even me, it must be crass indeed. The very worst I would avoid – but the slightly bad wing shape or tail profile I would take to with files and shapers. I have coped with wholly inadequate canopies before by the simple expedient of either ignoring them or tarping them over. Most bad landing gear is underneath and need not be peered at too closely.

I should always want a kit to be of Tamiya quality but I must be realistic – if I would not pay Tamiya prices, I must build what I can afford. And I must build it in a kindly fashion.