The Little World

” Skipper to crew: Does anyone have the telephone number for Windscreens O’Brien…? “

Have patience, your canopy is in the preparation stage. Fortunately Monogram/Revell have moulded clear ones with pronounced frames. After-painting should be fairly straightforward.

The Dornier is on her legs as well – and here the decision of the moulders to make sturdy landing gear and sockets for the main legs to drop into – keyed so that even novices cannot put the gear in backwards – means the task is actually pleasant. They were not this kind with a Revell Heinkel He-70. The gear was all there, but the angles of the struts and doors were all arbitrary with few chances to slot them in firmly. Better luck here.

The question of landing gear is one of the most vexed for small-scale builders. Pure scale legs and hinges break – crude adaptations look bad – extra parts in metal are expensive and hard to obtain. It explains why so many jets are built as if flying – held up by a display stand. The problem extends to the die-cast planes as well – they can be even heavier on inadequate plastic legs.

A new approach is needed – all advice gratefully received. I can’t always build seaplanes.