The Little World

You can get a pretty good idea early on with a scale model kit – whether it is going to be kind to you or slash your face.

The OV-10 is one of the former. Here is the thing after one afternoon in the library cutting and painting. The wing has been cemented together, as have the two tail booms, but the fuselage is dry – the lead weight you see in the nose was fabricated at home in the Little Workshop. The entire thing snaps together and holds its shape even without additional work.

There will be a deal of cutting and sanding on the underside, however, as the streamlined housing for the rockets and miniguns is entirely superfluous in the fire spotter’s role – yet the plastic part forms a large portion of the underside. I think it is going to need some careful progressive layers of putty or sprue goo.

Note that the wing is made of old ironing boards – and has no tilt at all in any direction. I would be willing to bet it has a central spar made of old steel rails from the Santa Fe railroad. It is not going to bend, no matter what.