The Little World

Readers can look at a previous post of the North American OV-10A kit I built and compare it to this one – that was just one page – this will hopefully be written on many more.

The other plane was a fast build for a purpose – this one uses the same Academy kit but tackles it on a fortnightly basis – it is my Historic Modelling Friends club build at the Cambridge Library. A small enough item to manage in the travelling modelling box that goes to club meetings throughout the metro area.

I do not normally get the same model within a few years, but this one was a gift from a dancer friend in gratitude for photos to aid her daughter’s fashion modelling portfolio. I just told her to get me a model and this was the one she selected. What it will be, however is what I choose.

The aircraft has a civilian history as well as a military one – and it is apparently in operation in this role in the USA right now. The basic aircraft was a warplane, but the type of role it was designed for can also be found in the firefighting business now- it loses the bombs and rockets and becomes a nimble spotter plane for aerial fire tankers.

The kit is good – Academy make few duds. The instructions are fine, the decals good ( though mine are now spare ), and I can testify that the build is straightforward.

The colour scheme is well-illustrated on the internet, and there is a set of 1:72 decals available out of the US – but I suspect I can home-print a tail set and mask and spray the rest. Red, white, and black, with the red predominating.

Another warplane converted to peacetime – this will be the fourth on the shelf, and I haven’t even got to the dedicated firebird kits yet!