The Little World

Remember the 50¢ Airfix baggie of 1959? Your whole allowance gone but you could build on it for a week.

This Fujimi kit has also come to me in a plastic bag, courtesy of a stash sale, but it is considerably in advance of the ’59 kits. It’s come at the price of pint of beer in a fancy pub, but with no box art to assist in visualisation.

No matter – the internet is awash in drawings and photos of the aircraft in the 1940’s. The tiny decal sheet is well-printed and the colours are a matter of record anyway.

Fujimi are not new to me, though my last encounter was not quie as precise as I would have expected. The Aichi Val I built needed soem deft filling to appear well. This kit seems to have delicate panel lines and good moulding, so I will reset my mechanism and approach it with an open mind.

I was particularly taken with the canted wings of the prototype. Not as deeply bent as a Stuka or Corsair, but Grace-ful nevertheless. Good big engine and prop.

The other attractive feature of this kit that I must preserve is the option to open the bomb bay and display the ordnance. I have Japanese torpedoes unused in the spares box as well as the bombs provided in the kit. The metallic blue-green colour in that big opening will be the highlight of the paint scheme.