A Very Small Christmas

Building Small... REALLY Small!

As nobody sent me the ultimate Christmas present of an insanely priced Ban-Dai Perfect Grade Millennium Falcon for $600+, (I’m joking of course as I would never expect that!) I decided to treat myself to a quick Christmas build-up of the smallest model kit I have in my possession. This is the LS brand 1/72 scale kit of the BD-5J mini jet as seen in the James Bond film “Octopussy” during the opening sequence. The kit was originally issued in 1983 and has been re-popped under other brands since. Yes, it was actually a real jet except for some necessary special effects shots and mockups that portrayed the aircraft in ways the real aircraft could not perform like folding wings and rear-screen shots with close-ups of Roger Moore in the cockpit and so on. I don’t know about what the record is nowadays, but at the time, this was the smallest actual flying commercially available real jet aircraft ever built. It stands to reason that it’s one of the smallest commercially available aircraft kits available too. The model’s wingspan measures just over 2-3/4 inches and is one of the smallest models I’ve ever built to date. (Opposite to my namesake I generally prefer larger models as my aging eyesight isn’t really suitable for these really tiny things anymore!)

I started building this model on Christmas eve 0f 2022 and finished it on Christmas day. The model only consists of a few parts and would have taken only a few hours to build except that one must wait for things like glue, putty, paint and decals to dry between stages of construction. As it is, it’s likely one of the quickest builds I’ve ever done of a model kit. One thing that took me a bit of time is finding a pilot figure to put into the cockpit to simulate James Bond in the film as the kit did not come with a figure at all, so I had to hunt through my stash to find a reasonably suitable substitute. It turns out that most 1/72 scale figures I had were far too large to fit so I used one of unknown origin and unknown scale that roughly fit the kit’s cockpit, so I roughly painted it up to look like Bond during the film sequence and I guess it somewhat worked. Just don’t look too close, as this model is far too small to scrutinize anyway.

As far as I know, this is the only model kit ever produced of a BD-5J. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

A small stand was included with the kit which was designed to be plugged into the bottom between the wings in level flight, but I modified it so the model could be displayed as shown in the pictures below. When making some models (of jets especially), I find that supporting the model from its tailpipe with a nose-up attitude looks a lot more dramatic and pleasing, and often allows it to be rotated to different positions to display it better. So when possible I do just that. The kit was also designed to have the landing gear extended so I had to modify it for retracted gear in flight. The pitot (pronounced “PEE-toe”) tube on the nose was too flimsy and too short in plastic so I substituted a ground-down section of a common straight pin which I glued into a hole I drilled using a pin vise.

Anyway, this is how it turned out. Enjoy the following pictures, and I hope you have a happy new year.