The Little World

The moment of truth arrived in my hobby room – I opened the Mister Craft box and saw what I had exchanged money for. I was pleasantly surprised.

Heller it was, and Heller is still is. But not as bare or sad as some people would have you think. And not moulded as badly as it might have been. There is a little flash and a little burring but it is not a deal-breaker. And there is more detail than expected.

The plastic is light grey – smooth in most places, and only warped over a very thin portion of the rear fuselage. This is not surprising considering the engineering of the kit and the design of the original – it will present no barrier when the time comes to close the fuselage.

The airplane portrayed was – I struggle for words – of a different aesthetic. You may read that in a M. Poirot voice, if you wish. French thought and design in the aero industry was not as we might have it now. They had a conception that was not realised. Thank goodness..

The kit has enough parts for $ 39 to satisfy even the most fastidious. The real attraction – not heralded at all on the box art – is the decal and colour call out. They promise French, German, and Belgian schemes…but deliver French, German, Italian, and Republican Spanish schemes. It is the last-named that I treasure. I’ve got one RE plane  – a Tupolev SB2  – in my collection courtesy of a Novo kit, and this will become the second. It will be far better than the Soviet repeat of a FROG kit.

I can only hope that the decals will survive their water bath and flow onto the plane when the time comes. Fortunately, even if they do not, the Republican insignia is a series of broad plain colours that can be sprayed on. I cannot decide yet whether to make it a red tail version or go for the plain green.

Note that the instructions are actually pretty decent and do not promise parts that do not exist.

I am already happy with my purchase, and I haven’t clipped a sprue tree yet.