The Little World

Or ” The Kit Designer Is Laughing At You  “.

I’m drawn to this conclusion upon seeing some of the decal sheets that ask you to reproduce a complex paint job with a two dimensional sheet of plastic film. The painters and decorators that the Air Force and Navy get in from time to time to tizzy up the aircraft have a difficult enough time of it with spray guns and masking tape, but at least their medium doesn’t not need to be ironed on in big sheets while wet.

Even the small models can tax the credibility. The air vent on the top of the little 1:72 scale US Army ambulance was a case in point. It was the sort of detail that needed to be painted on but the decal printer thought you could do it with setting solution. It was a fine line between finishing it and throwing it over the road into a ditch. I am happy to say that I succeeded, though I should not like to do a second one.

Likewise the decisions that are taken to break up some surfaces and structures when making the kit moulding. It all works well if the mould maker follows the practice of the actual aircraft designer…but in some cases they do not. They break a fuselage half-way to facilitate making variants and render neither versions A, B, or C very well. Had they just made one the fuselage it would be superb instead of a kinked sausage.

Of course the decision to follow original drawings blindly is all very well if the material you use is as strong as steel or aluminium. If it is styrene plastic, no. Hence scale-sized landing gear struts and attachment points are usually a guarantee of structural failure or a gluey mess. I think the kit designer can afford to compromise in the landing gear well and put in a sturdy socket for a sturdy landing gear leg. Or charge a little more and include a set of white metal legs as a matter of course.

I also admire the modellers who strive for scale antennae and aerial wires, but only for photos. The things are a menace when it comes to dust and display and any movement is fraught. I use imaginary rigging for my models and the virtual radio signals travel out just as well.