The Little World

As a young person I was as susceptible to hype as anyone – including that put out about modern aircraft.

The jet fighter that seemed to get most of it was the McDonnell Douglas Phantom. For a while I confused it with the older McDonnell Phantom – a late 1940’s straight-wing jet. But it was the twin engine F-4 that seemed to get all the superlatives when I was a teenager.

This Academy kit was a kind gift from a friend who had started it already. The basic fuselage, cockpit, and wing were assembled and he had done a very good job. Everything was plumb and true and there was only one discrete cement fingerprint. Relax, John, I buffed it out – the FBI will never identify you via a plastic kit…

The decals are good, but I found the box art and the colour call-out did not agree.

The canopy had a VERY GOOD IDEA moulded into it – the frame lines were recessed, instead being proud bands. thinned paint could be penned into them and in this small scale the framing was perfect without being hard to do.

The basic build was just a few hours.