The Little World

Readers of this column who follow the history of the Royal Ruritanian Army Air Force will be long familiar with the history of the service.

The training facilities in Alberta, the variegated equipment roster, the bad decisions and worse outcomes…all have been documented. But here is a new chapter of the saga – brought to you by the fact that Italeri models are jolly good value – well built and cheap.

This aircraft was destined for the Swu Ping Army Air Force on the basis of a Wikipedia article until a Russian modeller’s page published an illustration of a different SM 81 that was supposedly used by the Nationalist Chinese Air Force. it was beyond my capabilities at present so the SM 81 has been acquired by the RRAAF. No bad fate, as it preserves it from actual conflict.

It is cheap! Even at Perth hobby shop prices, this much plastic for this amount of dollars means that you really cannot resist. I cannot say whether it was stocked pre-Covid or post, but as I had the cash at the time, I could spend it with a good conscience. All it needed was a back story to move up the line to the building table.

Other modellers do not look at their kits with a historical or political eye. I do, and that means I sometimes build things that are startlingly different. If you see a plane that you recognise in a different livery, there is a real example of it somewhere in history, including the Ruritanian planes. I have the authority of Anthony Hope to back me up.