DeHavilland Comet
Yes, before the more famous DeHavilland Comet became the world’s first jet airliner, there was the 1934 DeHavilland D.H.88 Comet Racer, built to contest the MacRobertson Air Race from the UK to Australia.
There were three planes built for the race, and a further two afterwards. The one pictured, Grosvenor House won the race. Funnily enough I saw it many years ago in a display at the Shuttleworth Collection.
Airfix made a kit of Grosvenor House and I more than once thought about buying it as a kid. I suppose the seductive delights of WW2 aircraft kept my attention from buying it.
Well, The budget supermarket Lidl have had a deal in the last couple of weeks whereby Airfix have produced 6 different starter kits for them, with paints , glue and brush contained within the kit, for £6.99 which is a price too good to refuse, especially when the DH88 Comet is one of them.
It’s probably the easiest and most basic kit I’ve ever made, even if the decals of the stripes on the fuselage did rip up under my sausage fingers. Oh for the fingers of my 10 year old self.
Most definitely NOT the simplest and most basic kit I’ve ever made is the 1910 type B Bus. I put between 15 and 20 hours into it – and horrors! The Dewars Whisky decal broke. What you see on the bus in the photo was one I made using the PC and printed. The colours ain’t spot on but it’ll do.
