Shell Oil Lockheed Vega

This is the old AMT/ERTL Winnie Mae, re-issued in glaring yellow plastic with vivid red trim, as flown by Jimmy Doolittle in his prewar civilian job. You can do lots of different things with this Vega, and modelers of the interwar era should be cheered that it is readily available. The kit's best features: the engine and the prop, and the cabin windows that can be installed from the outside after all the building and painting is finished. Two simple fixes will help the look of this model: 1) Shorten the oleo struts by about 1/8 in. 2) Thicken the wheel pants by 0.060 to 0.100 in. before mating them, and sand the new, fatter shapes. As kitted, the skinny wheel pants are the model's worst feature. You may or may not find a use for Wiley Post, the pilot in the kit. Civilian suit, eye patch, full head of hair, average height and build: he looks nothing like Jimmy Doolittle.