Airfix 1/72 Aichi Val

I know this is not the answer you are looking for, but I recommend you just go out and buy the 1/46th scale Revell kit if the Val is your favorite subject.

Tom

Tom,

I chose the Val to re-enter the world of plastics because I have an RC 1/9th version half built and thought it would be a good way to get ideas for detailing the big bird. My collection of kits, built and unbuilt, is pretty much all 1/72nd scale because of display space limitations. And with all the stumble thumbs I am having with this kit, the smaller the better; that way I can say with a straight face that I'm only making little mistakes.

I understand, I went throught that too when I re-entered scale plastic models. It can seem intimidating, but honestly, since getting "up there" myself, I find the 1/72 stuff much more tedeous then the 1/48th and larger.

You see, when we were younger, along with our bodies, which included sharper eyesight, our hands and fingers were smaller and so the 1/72 things didn't seem so bad.

I do think if you have a favorite subject, it is good to do a 1/72 kit first, just to get the feel, but you will find on the 1/48th and larger, it is easier to do fine details and fixes without messing them up, since everything is bigger, hence not so critically tiny.

On the other hand, I would start by taping the decals to a south-facing window pane to bleach them if you want (I never do, since the worst I have seen is white going to a slightly dirty off-white, which is more like field conditions anyway). I just soak them longer (basically till they start to float off the paper by themselves), and am more careful not to pull or crack them if they are somewhat brittle (which decal softener helps). Or you can get somebody's 1/72 Zero kit (like Hasegawa's) and use any spare decals you might find in it.

The irony is that a good Hasegawa Zero kit in that scale is only about $5.00 cheaper then the 1/48th Revell kit, which of course has much better detail then the old Airfix.

Hope that helps.

Tom