The Little World

My model building hobby is a focused thing, but it is soft focus…I love to build nearly any kind of 1:72 airplane…but I have a special preference for planes flown by the RCAF. Whenever I’m cruising the aisles of the hobby shops I am measuring up prospective purchases on the basis of whether they ever served in Canada.

Sometimes this is self-evident; the bright yellow of a Canadian rescue plane or water bomber stands out. Other planes like Harvards and Tiger Moths are obvious. And then you can always bet that an RAF plane of WW2 wold have an RCAF crew on it at some stage of the game.

But some you come to by the back door – the internet. Thus it was with this ostensibly Dutch light bomber. It was packaged like that in the shop but as soon as I started to investigate I found many more users. And sure enough. One of them was the RCAF in the early 40’s. All you have to look for is dear old Harald A. Skaarup and his collection and you’ll get access to authentic pictures. Often, all you get is one, but it may be all you need. Bless you, Harald.

Thus the Electra Junior came to the final finish with bare aluminium and roundels. No turret at all. Teardrop antenna. Old-style fin flash.

I am now going through the last of the rattle can final varnishes that were bought last year. The various brands and types seem very much of a muchness – whether acrylic or lacquer – and the previous trouble with odd results were probably user error.  Have taken Phil Flory’s advice to heart and spray very light coats at the appropriate distance, I choose whichever final reflectance seems appropriate and gently build it up. So far no decals have succumbed to the spray.

However, it the future I am also going to take Mr F’s further advice and leave off final sealing varnish for some finishes. I’ll brush-coat the decals to try to match whatever the overall finish has become, but I won’t overspray the metallics. They’re not going to be handled all that much anyway.