The Little World

The PM model of the Hawker Sea Fury is just done and onto the photo table. It has been a symphony of pleasant surprises right from the start. And it’s a good lesson for the modern modeller – particularly the person who hangs on every internet report and thinks that there are experts who know better.

There are experienced hands, of course, and if they tell you not to stick an Xacto knife up your nose, you would do well to heed their advice. It is not the sort of thing that advances the hobby. But then, some of the reports that filter through on the forums are also fraught with danger. In the case of the PM models, the IPMS forums seem to have adopted a contemptuous attitude to the products. Poster after poster describe them as dire or crude or unbuildable. Even when praise is offered, it is stinted. I think this is quite unjust.

The models are simple – but then anything in 1:72 scale should really be simple. Beating yourself up with impossible detail or desperate angst over millimetres is not the way to pursue a hobby. The PM kits have as much detail as the old AIrfix or Matchbox ones and in many cases this is more than enough. The seam lines are engraved and the seams themselves fit gloriously well. The clear parts are certainly so, and they fit. The landing gear is sturdy enough, even when the prototype’s legs are spindly.

The slight surface roughness smoothed out under an undercoat and colour coats, and a quick spray of gloss let the decals go down well. They were just a little this side of complete opaque density but the faint shadowing needs to be searched for to see. They released in 10 seconds and floated on well. The whole affair became a delight when finished off with Dullcote.

Did I get a good Sea Fury? Yes. Did I get good value for money? At $ 16.98 AUD, I sure as heck did. Will I buy another? I will – and finish it for the RCN next time. And I’ll search out what other models PM might make – aside from the C-45 and AT-11 I got in this order. If they are all of this quality, I don’t mind if I do, thank you.