The Little World

In Russia, model build you!

It certainly builds your basic modelling skills, as well as your stoicism. The ill-fitting parts, flash, and suspect plastic make sure of that. This kit started in 1964 as a FROG Trailblazer, and the trail has long since been lost – overgrown in weeds. Even when explored by a small Russian company, it is hard to find.

The dots of white filler on the wings are covering the most complex ejector pin marks I’ve ever seen – they looked like bullseyes. The grey Milliput in the engine is to fill it enough that the propeller shaft could be cemented in – the original hole is twice the size of the shaft. The seats, surprisingly, fit perfectly.

The pilot and passenger are the dear old FROG men in long leather coats – they all look like Lindberg. Like Lindy, they have a hole in their middle.

Apart from this, the general condition of the Wallace is actually pretty good for a period piece. The fuselage halves meet and mate well as soon as you trim off the locating pins. The picture of the fuselage setting is a reminder of how much we model in time as well as in space. The clamp holding the parts at the front is 50 years old. It’s an old Exacto tool that came in a set of four – I’ve only got three left and they are starting to distort a little, but in the day they were perfect for 90º gluing of wooden ship parts – holding an angle perfectly. They are no longer seen in the shops, but I’d buy them in a minute if they re-appeared.