Category: 1:72 scale
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IAI Kfir C-1 – Part One – The New Lion Cub

My success with the diorama shelves for my IKEA bookcases has inspired me to expand my aero museum theme. I have two shelves set out as Schmattarim Museum and am busy finding Israeli and related middle eastern aircraft to fill them. I suspect I’ll be able to add a couple more before the theme is…
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When Your Little World Blossoms

The Little World is blossoming. More and more models – in this case 1:72 scale – are coming onto exhibition and more and more kits are being discovered. There are three themes current and they can all expand for a number of years. This is all to the good. It’s sad to say, but sometimes…
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Boy, Was Flory Ever Right

And more correct than even he thought. Phil Flory is making some bite-sized videos for modellers to introduce them to basic concepts – and right at the start of this series he has advised people to sit down with the instruction book and plan out their build. Good, good advice, and something that no-one else…
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Douglas Dauntless – Part Four – Old No. 18

Well, the Dountless is done. And a nicer kit I could not have asked for. As the firm that kitted it also makes an Avenger and several other planes, I shall return to the shop where I bought it, chloroform the lone staff member, and run away with them. It’s handy having a source of…
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Douglas Dauntless – Part Three – Perhaps It IS A Dountless…

Maybe they know something I don’t. In my relentless pursuit of knowledge – also known as surfing the net – I discovered that there were quite a few RNZAF Douglas SBD-4 and SBD-5 aircraft used in the South Pacific. There are a number of period photos of them in flight and on the ground in…
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Douglas Dauntless – Part Two – The Hissy Fit

Well, that’s not accurate – this is not a hissy fit – this kit has excellent fit. Whoever really moulded it, they have done a good job. The basic idea of the wing is Douglas all the way – see the general shape of the RCAF Nomad target tug I built earlier. Look at the…
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Douglas Dauntless – Part One – The Core Aircraft

In all my model building career I have never built a Douglas SBD – the Dauntless – not even as a kid when there were Aurora and Monogram kits. For some reason I have held off doing so now. But a visit to Hobby Mania – a smaller retailer here in Perth – ended the…
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Douglas C-47 – Part Four – The Romantic Gooney Bird

Do not adjust your set or your eyes. The green is supposed to look like that. VH – CGQ or ” Honeymoon Express ” was a lot dirtier in her flying days than she appears in the museum. Not a scrap of shine on her in the three photos that appear on the net. I…
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Douglas C-47 – Part Three – One Day

Well, it was a temperate and pleasant summer day and no-one needed me, so I just popped the top on the Italeri kit, washed the sprue trees, and got on with it. The component parts you see here laid out ready for temporary or permanent assembly were the result of about 5 hours of cutting,…
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Douglas C-47 – Part Two – Honeymoon Express

The plane I’m building has a real history – apart from being a special scheme on a set of aftermarket decals. ” Honeymoon Express ” was the lead ship on a paratroop assault on Nadzab in New Guinea in 1943 in conjunction with an assault on Lae. It is a good point of interest as…
