The Little World

Just seeing the kit parts in the cardboard box doesn’t prepare you for the shape of the Bristol 170…it is too unbelievably boxy to exist.

Yet, it did. And my wife was a passenger on a number of flights on Bristol 170 air ferries between Lydd and Le Touquet. So the RCAF conversion has been shelved in favour of family nostalgia. Hopefully Oxford Die Cast will make a 1959 Vauxhall that i can repaint. I’ve watched Marty’s Matchbox Makeovers often enough to know how it can be done.

The dry fit is a 60’s Airfix experience. Had there been more detail it would have been cruder but as it is there is enough to make a good impressionistic work. Sink holes exist but thin Sprue Goo dealt with them overnight. The prominent rivet patterns meant seam sanding will be kept to a minimum. At least the square windows went on firmly and were well-fitted enough not to require PVA re-enforcement. But we’re talking 60’s fit, Folks…

The wings and tail will be a new experiment – they will be painted before they go on the fuselage to allow more working space to mask the livery. The British airline flying the ferries was represented in some other kits as ready-made decals, but this one has the French and Belgian patterns. It’ll be done with painted colours and small inkjet decals.