The Little World

I thought McDonnell always named their fighters after some form of apparition, ghost, or ghoul – did Douglas make them pull their head in?

Well, whatever – the 1/144 Academy kit has turned out well. And I have been sharply rapped on the nose for indulging in presumption…

The basic assembly of these little kits is one morning’s or afternoon’s work. Other people may spend months detailing cockpits that do not exist, but I have more beer in the fridge than that. The painting may be a couple more days – or just one if you can plan it in a warm workshop. I tried that and got the Model Master enamels to look very good; three shades of grey.

Then when they were all dry I sprayed a gloss coat to help with the decals…and the enamels wrinkled up like the paint finish on a fancy tool box. The varnish had more power than the colour coats!

Well, it was Nagumo Time – when you realise you have made a fatal blunder. But not Yamaguchi Time, when you abandon hope and go down with the ship. I got out the methylated spirits and a scrubbing brush and took off every coat I had just sprayed on. The bits that were too small to brush out were blown out with meths in the airbrush.

Then a hot air dry and back to the undercoating. I followed the previous pattern as well as I could and when it was all finished I opted for Gauzy varnish brushed delicately over the decal positions.

The tiny markings went on fine, and the last coat was a very distant misting with Tamiya Matt from a rattle can. Done discreetly, it doesn’t seem to lift decals, as some have warned.

It was a full day, but the repeat job was done by bed time. The ship sailed home victorious.