The Little World

I know the most interesting people. A friend contacted me on Facebook and asked where she could get a 1:12 scale lamp post. It so happened that I had a new one – long spare from an old project that had passed by. She offered to trade for it and I named a 1:72 model kit; her choice. We had lunch and she presented me with the Airfix Swordfish Mk I float plane. I was delighted.

It is a model I never saw on the shelves – but it is a beauty. New-moulded, with parts inside for both float or wheel version. Fully capable of bomb or torpedo armament. Decals for pre-war or wartime RN use.

Usual Airfix plastic, and evidence that it has been designed by the CAD boys to be a very precise fit. I hope so, as this is a large biplane after all. The floats or wheels are no threat, but the cabane tower ( it really is that ) and interplanes are just as hard to get right as any other two-winger. I am getting better, but still nervous.

Noted as well – the provision for folded wings and the flattened tyres – both delightful details. I do not intend to fold it up as it is too big and beautiful for that. But I do have to make some decisions about it at some stage of the game – more on that next column.