Hasegawa 1/72 Heinkel He 51
When I were but a wee lad I used to build primarily 48th scale models. I think it was Monogram's super duper Black Widow kit that first turned me on to that scale and after that it was "the bigger the better" for me. Yep, size mattered, baby....
Not sure why but I decided I liked 1/72 better around my late teens/early twenties and it's been my favourite scale ever since. This Heinkel was one of my first efforts in 72nd and although I like to think I've come a long way since then I'm still quite happy with this one.
Built pretty much straight out of the box, I originally rigged this with invisible sewing thread which I didn't like for two reasons: 1) It was too thick, and 2) It needed painting. Not having an alternative at the time however I let it be. A couple of years later during one of my frequent moves, a poorly packed tennis racket - obviously frustrated at its lack of use - wreaked coldly calculated vengeance upon me and completely destroyed the unwary Heinkel. Why a dedicated couch potato like myself actually owned a tennis racket in the first place is one of life's mysteries, but I suspect it had something to do with the fairer sex ;-) . Anyway, when I finally got around to rebuilding the He 51 I rigged it with stretched sprue and was much happier with the result. I've used it for rigging ever since.
I was amazed to find that this model survived the treacherous voyage from Canada to the mother country completely intact - rigging and all. The racket, I might add, didn't live to see if the next girlfriend looked as good in a short tennis skirt as her predecessor did....
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