The Little World

And I was just the right age -14 – to fail to appreciate just how awful the Revell kits were at the time.

I had built Revell planes and ships since the 1950’s and they were a sort of base standard upon which other maker’s efforts were judged. Aurora was worse, Monogram was better, Eaglewall was crude, and Airfix was a mixed sort of a bag. Now I have dozens more makers to rank and unfortunately a 70’s re-mould of a 60’s kit sits a long way down the league table. Even for a kit whisperer like me, this is a struggle.

But struggle is a hobby as much as anything else. I looked at the fuselage fit and saw that the filler pot was going to be needed. The sanding stick has run red-hot. The struts on their sprue trees are frightening…but eventually something will end up looking like a Sopwith. It will take a place beside the Academy model of he same aircraft and it will only be the paint and decals that save it.

One of my birthday kits was a Roden Pfalz III that I chose out of a local shop. The first glance into the box shows far more detail and far less trouble than this Revell product. I shall not rush through the horror, but I’ll keep an eye on that Roden kit and an Airfix BE2C as lights in the darkness.