The Little World

I’m glad that I am adventurous – for a person who doesn’t leave the house much. And I’m glad that I have friends who are also adventurous – it leads me to the sort of things I normally would not do.

The Tasman Models 1:72 kit of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation’s native fighter plane of WWII will be a milestone in my hobby career – the first Australasian kit I have built – also the first kit to feature whitemetal parts. It has been received as a Christmas gift from a good friend who had access to an online buy. I have never seen the kit offered in our local shops, and probably would not see it outside of the annual WASMEX show.

I have long thought that I should build a local kit – as well as a vac-form kit – just to say I have experienced the work. I did not realise it would be now.

The kit is definitely short-run small maker stuff – if possible, it is of a more basic nature than even the Mach 2 kits from France. The fact that I made one of those successfully is the sustaining thought when I gaze at the Boomerang parts and instructions. I am going to need all my courage to tackle this.

The plastic castings are complete, as far as I can tell. The flash is monstrous, of course but I expect this. The internal surfaces of the wing and fuselage are so irregular as to suggest that they will need to be ground flat before any assembly is attempted.

I have already been warned to do this wearing a respirator and gloves. The interesting thing is that while the kit includes gear doors and other parts in whitemetal, there are no landing gear legs anywhere to be seen. It will be brass tube and wire time. At least there are main wheels and tyres on a sprue.

The canopies provided are vac-forms. I am delighted with these as I find them easy to work with. But the only provision for the cockpit is a complex control column, dash, and seat – and numerous photos of the tube framework that enclosed the pilot. I think the makers intend me to construct it of plastic rod. It will depend on whether the inside of the fuselage hollows out well.

I admire the makers for tackling the subject, and I am grateful to my friend for the gift of it. This is at the start of the build. I may be murderous by the end. If you read about me in the police papers you’ll know what to expect if you build one yourself.