The Little World

And a Tamiya bargain at that – you don’t see many of those around the shops these days!

I cannot say whether this Aichi Seiran float plane model was inexpensive because it was unpopular, or unpopular because it was an old kit, or an old kit because it was inexpensive…that sort of circular logic is never helpful. Suffice it to say I bought it with some of my birthday money because it was so cheap and I am so cheap…

The box is from the late 90’s, the subject was never seen in the West, and Japanese prototypes have less traction in local sales anyway – but I enjoy building nearly anything and a chance like this was not to be missed.

The kit is typical Tamiya – nearly perfect. I do not bother looking for sinkholes or ejector pin pillars. I do look lovingly at the clear instruction sheet, knowing that it will not set me wrong. Then I look longingly at the perfectly-printed decals and know that they are going to be perfect pigs to apply when the time comes.

At least Tamiya give a colour call-out on the outside of the box to alert you if you are running out of the paints you’ll need. They use their own numbers and sometimes are recommending shades that they sell that may not be 100% accurate…but between them and GSI Creos I can colour anything.

And I have an advantage with this one – I’ve recently built another colourful Japanese float plane and this one will be a fine companion on the shelf.