Airfix 1/24 Autogyro "Little Nellie"
By Drew Bartlett
Still on a break from my stalled FW-190 project I figured this little kit would be a short fun build. How wrong was I! Turns out that for my shaky hands and poor eyesight it is a fiddly little bleeder that requires to be painted and decaled before assembly... and then, when assembly starts is a fragile kit that lacks suitable holding positions... i.e. you can't place it upside down on a box lid for example whilst you work on the underside. Still, gripes aside (I like to whinge in my senior years), I have honestly enjoyed building it and am pleased with the result... although I think Airfix should up the skill level from 2!
Another problem area I had was my decals. Not sure if it was due to the age of them or something having been spilt on them by the previous owner but they would just not separate from the backing paper and required a lot of coaxing to remove them. Additionally, I was aware that their thinness would mean the white was translucent - so during the build I first sprayed the white areas and then masked them off before painting the yellow and silver. This seemed to do the trick - although I'm sure more competent builders would probably do away with the decals and just use masks instead.
Adaptations from the box kit were:
- Replacement rocket tubes from Evergreen styrene tube and rod
- Replacement AA missiles from Evergreen styrene rod and sheet
- Replacement machine guns made from brass tube
- Seat belt made from masking tape and wire
- Fuel and brake lines from fishing line
- Spark plugs by AnyZ
- Spark plug cable and control cables from varying gauge wire
Enjoy!
© Drew Bartlett 2024
This article was published on Friday, August 30 2024; Last modified on Sunday, September 01 2024