The Little World

I am often overwhelmed when I open a new kit and see the dozens of sprues that they pack in the box. Well, make that several, rather than dozens, but you get the idea. Seeing the bits laid out on the runners makes the whole project seem more formidable, mysterious, and complex than it often proves to be. That doesn’t mean I am a genius at 3D topography or a specialist in airframe construction. When you follow the instructions you sometimes arrive at a finished product that looks like it should.

Still, I am always prepared to be impressed, or otherwise, by the individual parts that make up a kit. Some I recognise from pictures of the real thing and some are new to me. Here are a few of the detail parts of the new Hobby Boss P-61 that pleased me:

There are detailed engines in those cowlings, though you’ll need a torch to see them when it is all buttoned up.

A slip-cast nose that doesn’t exhibit a horizontal or vertical seam  in the most critical areas.

Really good-looking wheels and struts. Not weighted, but I am ready to forgive that.

Bombs and rockets that won’t be used.

A fairly seamless match of wing and fuselage and positive tail boom alignment. Flanges and lands wherever the kit needs some positive cementing area. Nearly all this assembly was done with MEK liquid and there are few gaps to fill.