The Little World

This older Phantom came as a part of a legacy sale.

It is a Series 3 Airfix kit – boxed, and from 1965. Even if the actual production of this box was in later years, that’s a long time, and the instructions, decals, and moulding are bound to have suffered.

Since then, of course, many more Phantoms have been kitted by other makers, as well as Airfix themselves – and the level of detail and precision has risen accordingly. So has the price – and the chance to get this one inexpensively was a decided attraction. After all, I built a Blackburn Buccaneer kit for Airfix that was creakingly old, and ended up with a delightful model.

The white moulding is actually a help, as it will have a white underside anyway. There are a few ejector pin marks, but little flash and no sink holes.

The instructions are monochrome print, of course, and are particularly plodding when describing where to paint the different colours. These may not have been all that accurate for the actual aircraft of the period but the point of this build is that they are accurate for this kit. I shall be substituting Mr Color lacquers for Humbrol or Airfix enamels, but should be able to follow the prompts anyway.

The decal sheet is intact, but yellowed. It will be taped inside the lounge room window for a week to see if there is going to be improvement. I suspect there are a lot of after-market sets for Phantoms, but that would spoil the purpose of the build.

If the smell of nostalgia is too strong for you, open a window and sniff a PE fret.