The Little World

I remember the AMT model car kits of the 1960’s with fondness – particularly the 3-in-1 kits that allowed you to build a stock vehicle, a hot rod, or a custom car. I never met anyone who ever built a stock model…

The kits seemed to give a lot more value than the dedicated one-car ones from Jo-Han, Monogram, or Aurora. But the thing was ephemeral – you could actually only build one car from it, no matter how you many times you dry-fitted the accessories.

I am in somewhat of the same position with the Special Hobby Boston MkIII. It is the same basic kit as the Havoc I built a year ago but now with multiple choices of nose, gun packs, blisters, and engine parts. There are three variants alone in the instructions and the basic components for about two more on the sprue trees.

Good for choice, but bad for design. Douglas supplied different things to different air forces and the changes between one engine fit means a lot of alterations in basic structure. The RCAF Boston I’m building has two upper wing panels that are inset into the surface but in this case they are done with Czech, rather than Douglas, precision. A good deal of filler will be needed to achieve an uninterrupted air flow over the wings.

You’ll also note the filler stripes near the wing and tailplane roots. No big problem, but one that doesn’t occur with some Czech kits.

One saving grace with this model will be my decision to have it gear-up – flying in the big cabinet. The Douglas design of a flimsy tube structure within the engine nacelles to support equally flimsy landing gear struts was a major headache in the Havoc. It is the same head-pounder here but I will circumvent it by closing the gear doors.

Deep in that closed fuselage is a sturdy block of wood. The pilot – Squadron Leader Burton-Giles – is Airfix and fits pretty well.

Note for the critics. Canada has done away with the aero ranks for the RCAF. There are sergeants and lieutenants and captains but not flight, squadron, or group any more. I guess it is pretty impossible to get a group together at the price of modern airplanes…but it does seem to dilute the individuality of the service. At least they got back the R in the RCAF anyway.

Oh, and you have to be an aviator instead of an aircraftsman. Political correctness grows wild in Ottawa.