The Little World

As they sang in The Newcastle Song; ” Don’t you never let a chance go by, Lord Lord…”. And I didn’t.

At the Tuesday Mens Shed modelling meeting a senior modeller ( I love saying that… ) came in with five roller boxes of model kits to sell. He is obviously clearing out a stash and the luck of the thing is that he has stashed models I dearly want. Many of the kits are short-run 1:72 aircraft and the prices – while not completely advantageous – were reasonable for items that have long gone off the boil.

I absented myself, went to the ATM at the shopping centre, and came back with cash.

I am now the proud possessor of 5 new kits, two new books, and a healthy discount. I hope that he comes again, or that I can contact him in the future.

The Mitsubishi Ann is a Pavla kit – a new maker to me. The box it came in may have long dissolved, as it was presented in a plastic Glad Bag. No matter- all that was in the box is in the bag , and the box top was included as well for a colour reference.

The kit is pure Czech Republic at its short-run best. No locating tabs for anything, butt joints for wings and tail planes, a five-part propellor assembly, a photo-etch plate, and vac-form canopy. It would daunt a novice, but I have my Mr Craft ribbon and my Mach 2 medal on my chest and I ain’t afraid of nothin’. Not for $ 15, I’m not.

The parts seem well made. The decal sheet is a red dot special. The assembly instructions are far better than the Russians supply. I shall commence the build with my eyes wide open and my teeth in my mouth and enjoy myself immensely. The decision of colour scheme can be left till later – though I am a little light on China War aircraft at present.

The interesting thing about the stash man is that he had at least a dozen more Japanese aircraft from Hasegawa and other makers in the sale. No-one else bought, and there was no model exhibition this year, so those kits may be available for some time to come.