The Little World

Not ” or ” as it happened…” and “…

This aircraft – airframe W5390 – started out from RAF Pocklington near York on the night of April 4, 1942 – heading for Dortmund. This city, close to Essen, Duisberg, and Dusseldorf was very heavily bombed…nearly all the time.

Well, W5390, wearing LQ*X code and flying in 405 Sqn RCAF ( Vancouver ) only made it a one-way trip. She radioed for help at 5:18 but that was it. However, the CASPIR site records that all five crew members survived and were made POW’s.

The purists may decry the clean appearance of the model – they want it weathered and weary. I get enough of this appearance looking in the mirror of a morning, and prefer my scale aircraft models fresh, even if they may not be colourful. Only two decals had to be inkjet-printed as all the rest were lurking on spare decal sheet.

Full marks to Airfix for this new standard of construction. the turrets pop in after the rest of the build is done and you can preserve the delicate gun barrels. the clear cockpit canopy is slid back to show the pilot. in the final display I will have the crew ladder down and there may be someone boarding it.

Tip for other builders:

If you leave bomber turrets off front and back until the very end, any parts that drop down into the fuselage can be rattled out of the open holes. Ask me how I know this…