The Little World

When you build model kits you need not do it in just one place.

I have four locations at which I can endeavour to cut my fingers and damage table tops; two at home and two in other premises. If I was a travelling salesman who was sleeping in a different hotel every night I would carry a portable modelling kit to allow me to spread out all over the country. I believe this is what Rod Stewart did when he constructed parts for his model railway layout – before he was Sir Rod.

As the Yak 3 is a speed build I am going to take advantage of every spare minute – and several hours of them will be at a friend’s house for a fortnightly modelling session. No point in not making use of the opportunity.

The chief need at present is masking – the Yak 3 and the Ilyushin 2 both have a happy Soviet blue underside and it is time to protect it for the top coats of either Russian Green or Light Gull Grey. To this end they will travel with the tapes and the white-tac and hopefully come back ready to spray.

The concept of using spare time for modelling is no new thing. I used to paint away at lunch hour on some school days if the weather was good and I could eat my lunch quickly. The grade schools in Canada used to send the pupils home at lunch to get them out of the hair of the teachers ( and allow them to either drink or weep uncontrollably ). It was only during blizzards that we got to take a packed lunch and eat at school.

One good thing about doing spot modelling is that there is sufficient time for paint or cement to dry before you go to the next stage. You also get good at making jigs and supports to allow this during the interim school time. There is no structural engineer in the world as well-adapted to jury-rigging things as a kid who is cribbing school time for a model airplane.