The Little World

At the time. Buy a cheap old English sedan and do it up. How hard could it be?

People who have experienced Austin, Morris, Triumph, and Hillman vehicles in their lives fell into two groups – those who never opened the bonnets, and those who never closed them. Some came to their fate through fond memories of the glorious Years of British Engineering. Spitfires, Gresley locomotives, and Sir Barnes Wallace. What? What?

My family came to it by driving first a company Land Rover and then a second-hand Triumph. I lie – I had a Triumph bike as a child. I got it new and had much the best experience of the three.

But I needed a car for the Ess Bend Engineering scenario and it had to have an open bonnet – so this Airfix starter set was the go. It was on an EOFY special from the hobby shop and even though I do have acrylic paint, brushes, and cement, they will all come in handy somewhere. Rest assured I will be spraying the paint, not brushing it.

It is every bit a vintage kit – the flash shows that – but it is a surprisingly detailed one without going overboard. The decal sheet is tiny but the instructions and clear parts are quite decent.

No rubber tyres – they’ll get a good paint job.

And the final thing – this sort of kit would once have been a source of discontent when I came to contemplate the chromed parts – none – just grey plastic. But now I have the magic of a Molotow chrome marker and can get as good a shine on the bumpers as the old AMT kits ever provided.

Had the Ess Bend been 1:24 I would have had a vast selection of kits and die-cast vehicles. As it will be in the 1:32 to 1:35 range I must take what can be found. Military vehicles abound, but modern civilian types are rare.