The Little World

I puzzle sometimes – at the decisions that the model making companies take when they design a mould.

I cannot influence or gainsay them – they are providing the kits that I love to build. But the question of ” why ” comes up more than you’d think.

Take the nose of the Northrop F-5E. The shape looks accurate to judge from the pictures of the plane on the net. And the fit of the top and bottom halves of the main structure are impeccable. There was very little sanding needed to make the seam invisible.

But why go to the trouble of making the ring-pull sprue runner at the front? Just to protect the pitot tube during assembly? They could have left a small hole in the nose and added a pitot on another sprue runner just as easily.

As it is I will resurrect the old wooden painting stand that suspends models from their nose or tail to allow for all-round painting. If the ring is there in the nose of the bull, I might as well use it!