The Little World

If you started reading this build as a Fieseler Storch you can be forgiven for wondering what happened. The end of the war happened and the French and Czech aviation industries needed to get started – and there were plans and parts for ex-German aircraft galore.

The French army and the Aeronavale needed small liaison aircraft – and what better than the ultra-short landing Storch. A leftover engine, a pile of aluminium tubing, and some fabric. Versions produced for Indo-China were adapted with more metal and less fabric, but it was essentially the same aircraft.

There are several models of the Storch on the market. Scalemates lists offerings from Airfix, Academy, Heller, and Revell. I think this old Airfix kit may be the least precise of the lot, but as it was a free Paul Plane I am delighted anyway.

I have managed to get the fuselage together around the simple cockpit and assembled the three-part glasshouse over it. The clear castings are products of the 70’s and will benefit from being seen on a dull day. Nevertheless, they are in place and masked. The undercoat will make a pretty good interior colour for the frames.

The colours for the Aeronavale plane are simple – blue all over. But the colourful French tail flash is not available in my spares box – hence it was masked and sprayed. Tomorrow will see if the rest of the blue goes on smoothly.

The wings are on paint racks – they are supported with such delicate struts and phenocky attachment points that I do not fancy trying the spray the whole as one assembly. I’ll bet the wings came off the real ones for shipping anyway. Or just fell off on hot days…