Dusty Projects XVI; Lindberg HE-100 1/72 scale

       About fifty years ago I struck a deal with my cousin John, who was almost exactly a year older than I. We would buy each other the coolest World War Two airplane model that we could find for our respective birthdays, which were a mere six weeks apart. I took my lawn mowing money (which was paid at the princely sum of twenty five cents a job) and walked the mile and a half to the local K-Mart where I laid down almost forty cents for a model HE-100 for him. K-Mart at the time was a proper Department Store and had a Models and Hobbies section managed by a WW2 vet who was also a modeller. In return my cousin got me a HE-162 Volksjager model. We were both delighted with our gifts and promptly shot them to pieces with our BB guns. 

       I was, however, struck by the sleek lines of the HE-100 and resolved to get one as a "keeper" (i.e. it would be spared the ravages of the Red Rider and have a coveted place on the display shelf in my room). For reasons that escape me now this never came to pass, that is until a few years ago when I drove past a garage sale that was displaying a sign that said simply "Old Models", intrigued I stopped and took a look. Among other treasures I found myself a Lindberg HE-100 kit. I promptly made it mine. It had sat unattended in a box in The Vault ever since, until last week when my endless hunt for the errant Airfix Mayflower turned it up. I paused for a moment and then set it aside to build.

 

priced at four dollars I thought it was a steal

the same box as I gave my cousin

 

not great but much better than the pilot that came with the Claude model

 

despite the nearly half-century waiting to be built the parts fit was superb!

 

it is an incredibly simple model with raised detail 

 but the fit and finish is excellent

 

wing-root gaps, the bane of many airplane kits, were nearly non-existant

 

this really took me back to my childhood

 

the kits certainly captures the look of the prototype

 

although the total lack of wheel well detail made me think that I should have built it "wheels up"

 

look carefully above the word TOYS and you can see the thirty-five cent price

ahh, the good old days when a 1/72 scale model cost just over an hour's pay

 

primed white you can see just how good the parts fit is, 

I used no filler anywhere on this klit

 

base-coated in green

then the German Medium Green

 

followed by the dark green

 

glossed up for decals

 

decals with this kit were simply horrid, way off center and very thick

 

half a century of storage had left them badly yellowed as well

 

I tried to trim the decals back into register but I am way out of practice at that 

it seems I may have done more harm than good

 

the finished model

 

a sleek looking bird

 

Vallejo Matte Spray takes ages to dry but gives a beautiful finish

 

yeah, I probably should have built it as a flying model 

those wheel wells look like wounds