The Little World

From the layout of the wing and tail – the position of the cockpit – and the size of the engine, this must have been a hot, sweet, ship to fly. And the same specs must have made it right pig to land.

I was thrilled with the appearance of the model as it was a’building and the final bright silver finish is all I wanted. I chose the Texaco Sky Chief markings as much for the colour as for the history, but then puzzled as to one question: why was the Northrop Gamma made? The closest I could come was as a mail plane for TWA. Then a record breaker and exploratory aircraft. The bomber version that was developed from it was used ( ineffectively ) in China against the Japanese. It was a plane before its time for awhile and then behind it after that.

The Williams kit was never a pain to assemble, and if you took it slowly and observantly, it all fit pretty well. A little filler, but very little. None at all on the wing fillets. It paid to read the retro instruction sheet very carefully.

The box was also fascinating – reporting on other Williams kits available in the 70’s – of inter-war American civil aircraft. So many good models – so rare to see them.

Note that the old decals performed flawlessly if you let them soak and drain for at least 5 minutes.