The Little World

I am subject to misapprehensions from time to time. They generally don’t result in disasters, but they can mean that I miss out on good things. I can remember several occasions as a young man when I did not read the signals correctly and passed lonely Valentine’s Days. It all worked out perfectly in the end, but there are still those thoughts…

Well this time I was under the misapprehension that I had built out all the Lockheeds I needed. I’d constructed a civilian version of the Lockheed Lodestar a couple of years ago and just assumed that all the other twin-engine aircraft that looked like it were the same as it. Then I took out a book from the scale model club library that dealt with the Vega PV-1 Ventura and Vega PV-2 Harpoon and that educated me.

There is a familial history, of course  – Harpoon, Hudson, Ventura, Lodestar – but what a difference between them all. As soon as I realised the truth I remembered a Special Hobby 1:72 Harpoon kit that has been languishing in Hobbytech for six months. As soon as I read that it contains decals for the Brazilian Air Force version of the plane I shot down to the shop and laid out my money.

The kit is no disappointment – even in bare sprue stage. There are vast differences in the fuselage, wings, engines, tail, and armament – a whole new aircraft. I get some resin parts that are decently simple, though the only use I’ll make of them is the superb little engines. The props are injection moulded so there is no complex assembly. The glass work is clean and well-marked.

The Brazilian decals are superb, but I am again confronted with large panels for the tail surfaces. I am never sanguine about this idea, but will go along with the gag one more time now that I have Mr Mark Setter to secure them. it seems to react very well to Aviprint markings as long as you flood the surface with water prior to landing the decal. Certainly it snugs them down into the panel lines.

Well, another Brazilian plane…one that would have been flying when I was conceived in that country. Good thing I checked that Squadron book out.

Note that I am getting more circumspect…not to say leery…with Special Hobby instruction sheets. They seem clear enough diagrams but you really need to study them with a talmudic intensity to get all the information off them. The designers try to convey a great deal with a few lines. Sometimes they spell out the wrong things – this one has labelled the Brazilian variant as Camo B  when that is the French one – The Brazzy is Camo C, and it makes a vast difference to the nose and the dorsal turret. I shall read through each stage very carefully indeed.