The Little World

I have come at last to the 1/144 scale model. I received several as presents and bought one from a legacy sale – and now I have to start thinking…

The 1/72 aircraft that form the bulk of my collection are a delight to build until you come to the landing gear – and then you have to paddle like a duck at Niagara Falls.

The planes can be well in scale but well out of balance – heavy nose weights needed for most tricycle-landing gear jobs. This places great stress on thin little plastic landing gear legs which snap and bow. There is a constant need for maintenance even if you do not juggle your models.

How much worse will it be for the 1/144? I shudder.

So the convention for me will be to model my 1/144’s flying, with gear up and in the doors. Jets will be fine, propeller aircraft will need clear plastic discs for their engines. A standardised stand is easy; MDF disc for a base and a thin steel rod rising from the centre. I have mounted 1/72 twin-engined bombers this way and it is fine.

So now that my mind is organised, the airliners can start to flow!