The Little World

Because he could never get the geometry right…

I look fondly on equilateral triangles and acute angles – many of my friends can best be described as angular and obtuse – and I like to see the geometry of the model airplane come out well. I wish this was the case with every short-run kit.

The major manufacturers usually get the basic fit of an airplane right – they provide solid tabs for wing attachments, flat lands for the wings and tailplanes to come against the fuselage, and in some cases internal spars for the wings or box-slots for the horizontal stabilisers. Airfix and Hobby Boss are fine for this in their new models – you can be sure that the things are plumb and square as long as you seat the components well home. Of course dry fitting is necessary, but that’s part of the reward of a kit.

But the Czechs? I wonder what the house walls in Prague look like? Are any of them vertical? Are any of them nailed together, or only cemented with a butt joint…?

I’ve gotten smart after being stupid – when I find that the Czech kit has no wing tabs I carefully sand the wings and fuselage stubs to eliminate wonky seams. If the inner surface of the wing is open, leaving just a rime of an edge, I fill the space with sturdy Plasticard to give more cementing surface. I never trust putting both wings on at one time – I let the first one set a long time before I try on the second. And then ditto in spades for the tailplanes.

The result can sometimes need some compromises – set more to eye than to protractor – but in the case of the Helldiver the basic structure is fine.