Category: 1:144 scale
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Too Hard?

Possibly. But remember that clean joints and clear canopies were too hard when you were 11 years old. You are now 67, and all the joints are good and all the canopies are clean. Life has progressed, and so have you. If the scheme on the colour call-out looks impossibly complex, do not worry. Take…
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Pre-Coloured Model Kits

We already see some surprisingly precise model kits in the 1:144 scale that have been pre-painted or colour printed. They are generally the tinier fighter planes and the schemes are simplified, but for all that, the kits go together well and the end result looks at least as good as a a die cast example.…
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YF23 – Part Three – Trial Duo

Well, it didn’t get the contract. Despite the design and the twin engines of this McDonell Douglas/Northrop, the ultimate choice for the air superiority fighter went to the YF – later – F-22. The two test aircraft were relegated to museum pieces. I suspect that this Trumpeter lkit – a 1999 product – was drawn…
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YF23 – Part Two – Scale Effect?

I have watched videos explaining the idea of scale effect upon paint schemes. They seem to make a great deal of fuss explaining that you mix grey, yellow, or white into darker colours when you are painting smaller-scale models. This is in direct contrast to many manufacturers of trains and cars who want the exact…
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YF23 – Part One – Y-Leftovers

The Box of Possibilities. This box contained two aircraft – I suspect it is the residue of a failed project from someone unknown. Abandoned in the club storeroom, it fell to me after a grand clean-out. This is no new sensation – it often happens here at home when the wife or daughter decide to…
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Modelling True To Yourself

Relax – there will be no hippie touchy-feely stuff. I’ve written before about trying out different types of modelling to see what you most enjoy. A car, a ship, an airplane, a rocket, and a tank give you a broad look at what is out there. Okay, there are trucks and figures and trains as…
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Scaling Up Your Scaling Down

When you are presented with requests. You give positive answers. Someone wanted decals for a model aircraft but couldn’t find them on the net. I did, but that probably wasn’t the question anyway. Fortunately the decal sheet needed was simple and illustrated cleanly in colour. Getting it onto Photoshop Elements was simple. Not so simple…
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Boeing Clipper 314 – Part Four – The Horse

When we fall off a horse we are counselled to get right back on – before we develop a fear that would paralyse us. Sound thinking, and as I was unhappy with the finish of the Boeing 314 DIXIE CLIPPER I considered it advisable to go out and buy another kit…and finish it to a…
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Boeing 314 Clipper – Part Three – President’s Plane

When Only The Best Will Do. This aircraft – DIXIE CLIPPER – flew Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Casablanca Conference in 1943. He maintained a Douglas for Continental flights – the SACRED COW. This build fell together but as usual it also started to fall apart as it progressed. The Mr Color 2028 Duraluminium went…

