It's either 'waiting for a good reference pic of the cockpit' or 'trying to find some appropriate decals' or 'got to re-scribe it all and it's such a big aircraft!!!.......' I'm sure many other modellers out there might have the same problems and all of this got us talking about 'the good old days' when a kit was bought in the morning, built by lunchtime and painted and decalled by night time. I know that for Mal when he was a kid, it was down to the local 'Woolworths' with his brothers to buy an Airfix kit. For me it was my local post office, where I'd cycle down and purchase a Matchbox aircraft kit for 99p. Oh, happy, carefree days!
Because of this, Matchbox kits have always held a special place in my heart. So, when I saw a Matchbox P-51 on E-bay for 99p I just had to put in a bid. Now thie kit was missing a canopy, which was great, because I had one that was missing it's spinner! Problem solved! I won the kit (for 99p!) and awaited delivery. It duly arrived, and I decided it was going to be built straight out of the box, no extra details added, just the way Matchbox intended them to be built!
It was one of the most enjoyable modelling experiences I have had for a long time. So the seat looks like a bench with a back...who cares? So the panel lines were either raised or a scale depth of three inches....who cares? I just built the thing as I would have done all those years ago, albeit with a little more care (and filler) and thoroughly enjoyed doing it. That's what it's all about to me. Enjoying it. I know that there are dozens of Mustang kits out there that are miles better than the Matchbox one, but it was just nice to take a little step back in time to when modelling was a little more carefree.
To be honest it was also a chance for me to experiment with 'Klear' floor polish which Mal has been on at me for ages to try. I'll never look back! Wonderful stuff! Anyway, here are the pics.
Happy modelling everyone!
Harri

