The Little World

The 1/144 scale kit for the B2 bomber and the F-117A fighter snuck up on me at the modelling club.

Rick Slattery presented them to me as a gift – he usually concentrates upon larger scales – and I was delighted to take them. I am starting to appreciate this simplified scale as a way of getting to build larger aircraft that still fit my shelves.

There are a couple of conventions I employ: the models are depicted in flight with their wheels up, and they sit on home-made stands.

This kit is intended for kids – Kitech seem to have aimed at an entry to the market – but delightful nevertheless – it will be a good canvas to try out paint technique without complicating the build. I note from the net that the firm also produces kits of quite rare prototypes…that makes me suspect they are either re-pops or back-engineered copies of other maker’s material.

I am not going to be snide, as several of their models are ones I desperately want for my collection. I understand gift horses and can tell from which end to observe them.

The assembly was easy – the moulded doors were cut off the 117A and sheet plastic substituted. The big moulded stand hole was left as is – it will match my own stands.

The decal sheet is simple, and probably crude. I just hope it is not too wrong for the build – if so, I may have to tone it down later with an over-spray. In any case the lining will be done as a spray job – decals would never be small enough.

Oh, the wonders of the Kit Whisperer approach to scale modelling. You go where the wind blows…