The Little World

I occasionally go to our local bottle shop and buy beer or wine. It is a big shop and has hundreds of varieties of booze, and the only way to differentiate before you buy is by the labels. I have given up being a gourmet or a gourmand and have finally come down to being a graphic buyer. I purchase the ones with nice colour schemes. So far my tongue has not dropped out.

The same might be said for choosing the colour scheme of a new model airplane. After being hooked by the box art I settle down and then see if the colour call-out can seduce me. Failing that it is books or the internet and a harder task…but I am always open to the manufacturer providing a novel option that appeals. Thus I battened upon the choice expressed for the Air Group Commander of USS YORKTOWN on the decal sheet – and confirmed that it was real by reference to the profile book. The idea fascinates me.

Coming just after the yellow-wing era, and just before the blue and blue/grey period for the US Navy, this all-grey option is novel. The combination of the red tail and oblique red fuselage stripe is even more interesting…approaching the appearance of some Japanese naval aircraft of the time. Deliberate? An oversight? Who knows – it changed pretty darn quickly.

The other thing that fascinated me with this model was the wheel-bins that carried the retracted wheels. They shriek 1930’s art-deco design, and I am surprised that the designers thought them a viable option. This changed with the SBD and never again appeared – until the A-10 jet of the USAF, and that is for a very good tactical purpose. I cannot decide whether I love them or hate them but then I say that about many landing gear designs when I’m tasked with modelling them in 1:72.