The Little World

If I told you I hate, loathe, and despise kits that have separate blades and hubs for their propellers you might get the wrong idea.

Many 1/72 planes have this feature and the two, three, or four-bladed props sandwich in between a hub and a spinner and end up looking fine. I reserve my negative emotions for the short-run jobs that just give you the bare blades in a row on the sprue tree and a vague blob for the spinner. ” Sort it out yourself – we got your money and now we don’t care…”

I have been condemned to these before and they make me see where the after-market shops make their money for one-piecers in resin or metal. With no extras available locally and nothing in the spares box, all you can do is either cut a clear disc for a spinning prop or just resign yourself.

I decided I could not really trust the Sword moulders for this prop – plain styrene cement was going to make a mess of the parts and there was nothing for it but to drill holes, pin the blades, and depend upon super-glue to keep it together. I do not vouch for the exact geometry, but at least there will be something.

I do not accept that the makers cannot do it – I think they just do not want to.

Note: Throw away nothing. The pins that hold the prop blades are clipped off small LED ‘s that went for another purpose. Hormel was right – if you use up all the pig except the squeal, you win…