The Little World

I am often asked to believe – but I pause before I do.

It is not that I think people duplicitous – it is just that I know there are only limited methods of actual proof – sight, touch, smell, etc. Thus I regard the colouring instructions in model kits with care. Do the writers know what they say is true? Have they tasted a Fairey Swordfish?

This was the position I found myself in when reading the Airfix instruction sheet for the Swordfish. Most of the call-out was routine and I recognised the need for semi-gloss black, RAF cockpit green, etc. But what was I to make of a Humbrol number for the inside of the cockpit walls that translated to ” Flesh “.

Slightly creeped out, I tried the Mr Color paint that is also called by this name – and found that when it was applied over the inside of the fuselage, it formed a sort of a raw cloth colour. Perhaps it is linen.

The rest of the cockpit went together very well – this new mould is precise to the point of requiring careful sanding of mating parts to exclude paint layers. Detail, but just enough to reward a day’s effort.