The Little World

And off we flaming go…

Someone at Tasman was enamoured of the vacuum moulding machine – the one they used for clear canopies – and of the possibilities that it presented. So they made a decision to try something that is – so far – unique in my model-building experience.

They vac-formed the canopy a long way fore and aft of the clear cockpit section – and the entire nose of the aircraft in another clear drawing. They arranged with the mould maker for the fuselage to cut back the front section to take the clear parts – and presented the modeller with several long join lines – with a material that doesn’t like to join evenly.

This is not a hobby for the weak of heart, though the weak of mind do very well here.

The instructions about cutting out the canopy were quite specific – and sensible. I followed them and the result came off the matrix very cleanly. The result was glued onto the fuselage with a combination of Micro-Scale white glues – the regular clear one and the Micro-Tape sort that remains tackier longer. While both nose and cockpit went on well, the moulding of the fuselage would not allow a perfect mating.

That meant a certain amount of stoic acceptance…

It is a design choice I hope no-one else copies – and I would look carefully at the Tasman kits in the future to see which ones repeat it, I quite like vac-form canopies in their place, but not as a large feature.