The Little World

I don’t know whether Metro Hobbies in Melbourne lie in wait for me or if it’s the other way round. As the flow of money goes east and the flow of plastic comes west, it doesn’t really matter.

I tend to shop in three modes: Cheap, Curious, and Canadian. Some say that this is tautology, but when you get stuff cheap, eh…well, I’ll be darned…In any case this Caudron sparked curiosity. I had built two planes that they designed and wondered what they were drinking at the time. This model would either recover their reputation or damn it finally.

The first oddity was a Caudron fighter plane derived from an air racer. Possibly the result of a hangover or a foolish bet, it suggested that they were not adverse to Gallic jokes as long as they didn’t have to fly them.

Yet a Caudron Simoum light plane of the same period was a delight to see and build – and suggested that the design team actually had good ideas, even if awkwardly expressed. Let us see which way this one jumps.

The RS mould is pretty clean but the surfaces will eventually benefit from a micromesh rub before any paint is applied – The mould surfaces were not overly-polished. NO obvious clangers yet. And the seats are superb in resin.

The problem with anything that has as nice an interior as this is that you need accurate colours for it. I can only hope that one survived to a museum somewhere.

Note the box back and the decals. The scheme choices I gravitate to are the Armé de l’Air types of ’40 and ’44. The four-tone is always a turn-off to do but the ambulance symbols are attractive. Decision later.

Already liking the proportions of the thing just sitting on the sprue trees.