AIRCRAFT (1) - REACH FOR THE VBCW SKY

A consequence of (1). the cancellation of the Spring Big Game 2020 by reason of Covid-19 and (2). the substitution of the Autumn Big Game 2020 by our "Away Team" support for Tym and Tom's "Evesham Remembered"October VBCW extravaganza in Shrewsbury is that there will (we now realise) be no opportunity for distribution of this year's piece of "cheep Chinese plastic" as part of the 2020 Modelling Challenge - "Aircraft and Anti-Everything"

So, in the best VBCW manner, private initative and self help will have to suffice! Here is the latest Chinese plastic find, still available very cheeply on Ebay:

A vaguely 1930s looking bi-plane, one of a pack of six (yes, six), this
one having the most military colour (a truly puce green)

Same style of plane, different angle and colour scheme.
Clearly one of the "aircraft of the aces". 

Same style of plane again, but this one has to be turned
over as the luminescent yellow is just so ghastly. Still,
a decent shot of the underside. Note the too thick "sub-
Matchbox" wheels that will have to be removed (at least
IMHO) and substituted with something from the Bitzbox.
Ideally, the whole plane should be disassembled to remove
the clockwork-like gubbins within that drive the
same wheels (and incidentally makes a useful basis for
an Anti Tank Gun chassis or similar, but that's a different
modelling challenge). Starting dis-assembly requires
removing the small "nosecone", taking off the
propellor, and then prising the fuselage halves apart -
pretty simple stuff.. The plane is made of 'hard' plastic
rather than the soft 'rubbery' stuff which is the death
of so many 'cheep' projects.

The full squadron of six in all their multi-coloured glory.
Dimensions are as given, which scales the plane nicely
with various 1/72 "historical" types.

Such cheep plastic biplanes are all over Ebay right now (and have been for at least a year) - just search against "plastic toy plane" and seek out your preferred supplier of a squadron (the Chinese suppliers are markedly the cheapest, but delivery is not always guaranteed via the postal service; UK suppliers will be more expensive, sometimes markedly so. Make sure you're buying six and not just one, at least for the best deal per unit).

The really good news is that it is really easy to convert the biplane into a monoplane - the top wing simply lifts off, and the locating pegs on the lower wing are easy enough to cut/grind/sand down. With a bit of sanding and cutting, suitable camouflage painting and, well, squinting, your modelling result should resemble something that could have been used in the VBCW, say a Blackburn Shark (if in biplane configuration), or a cross between a Boeing P26A Peashooter/Severesky P-35/Brewster Buffalo (if in monoplane configuration). Anything with a big radial engine at the front, really. Order and enjoy!