"You know, I have the most terrible craving for a piece of fried lavatory paper."
Well, Telford has been and gone and I didn't get any of my planned non-Spitfire whifs done at all, largely due to running out of time and the Spitfires having higher priority. I was somewhat restrained in my buying, knowing what I was looking for and I got pretty much what I went for apart from the two from S&M that Mel Bromley didn't have with him (his new Canberra and the resin Hastings) but on reflection, that's saved me a hundred and fifty notes.
One thing I did get that was looking for - and a pair at that - was the Revell/Monogram F82 twin Mustang, because I liked the one that was posted on site a few weeks back (
http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,44270.msg781729.html#msg781729) because it was a new twist on an existing twin design and I wanted to do something similar.
Now, that's quite odd, because those of you who know me will I don't like twinned aircraft of any sort, because I've always felt that they were lazy whiffing for those challenged in the imagination and intelligence department who wanted to jump onto the whiff bandwagon without thinking though the reasons why such twins were created in the first place. There was a rash of them about a decade or so back and even the good ones bored the hell out of me.
Anyway, having two of the F82 made me think about what I wanted to do with them and because I'd like to keep them within the scenario, although with a different squadron and a reason for the RAF getting them - perhaps the Beaufighters of 45 sqn had the same issues as the 8 Sqn Brigands with crystalization of metal and the wings falling off or the props shedding blades. I'm quite happy doing one "straight" but decide to do a second, possibly with Griffons rather than Merlins. Looking at the fuselages, what would be the best fit? An MB5 cowling looks about right so where can I get a spare to recast? The AZ MB.6 "Ferret" and that's something that is really annoying me.
Why? Because they've taken their own MB 5 kit and modified it with parts on a new sprue for a completely fictional variant and I feel this is dodgy ground to be treading. Why is this? Unlike their Sea Baker (and I wasn't keen on that either) - which was just a slightly modified part on their existing kit - ithe MB6 was a wholly new release of something which appeals only to a small niche market, wasting manufacturing time and energy that would have been better spent doing a kit of something yet to be kitted in injection which would have more appeal to more markets than just the Whiff crowd. Say for example a Hawker Henley or a De Havilland Don. Neither have been kitted in injection, the Henley having been the subject of a vacform and a pair of resin kits and the Don only getting one resin kit. Whiffers could have been treated to a boxing of either in operational colours and the mainstream gets a kit of something which only served in second line units and yet to be kitted properly.
But you're a whiffer, I hear you cry, you should be backing this. Yes, I am a whiffer, I'm fiercely proud of that and I have been for many years, pushing this side of the hobby a lot more than many here have and backed that with my own time and money too. And whilst it's pleasing to see this happening, I still feel that it's the wrong move. But Revell and Dragon have kitted various Luftwaffe 46 types, I hear you cry. Yes, they have but these are designs that actually existed, not the work of one guy on a forum making things up.
No doubt the guys at AZ have got a kick out of doing it and they know that they'll make their costs back but we would have been better served with something as yet unkitted.
So, I got a Ferret, but not out of any real need or want or even loyalty to AZ or whiffing in general. Yes, it looks to be a nice kit - hopefully the canopy will fit better than the one in the standard MB5 did. I'm probably going to struggle to find a use for it. Malaya possibly, going with the F82K.
But somehow, I don't think it'll be a kit I'll enjoy.
Comments on this thread - that is if anyone is actually reading it and can be arsed to reply - go here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35118.0.html