Category: 1:72 scale
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De Havilland DH.100 Vampire – Part Two – Czech Out The Cockpit – It’s Got Steppes…

Note: There are going to be a lot of Vampire posts in this column. If you are chiropterphobic look away now. As another modeller noted in his daily build column, the quality of fit on a small-run cockpit can be a variable matter. I approach all cockpit tubs, floors, or structures with trepidation these days…with…
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De Havilland DH.100 Vampire – Part One – Going A Little Batty…

I’m told I was scared by the De Havilland Vampire at an early age – my folks took me to the Calgary Stampede one year when I was about 3 and my dad had me perched on his shoulders when a flight of these new acquisitions to the RCAF flew low over the crowd. Apparently…
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So Many Paints. So Many Choices. So Little Time.

I found myself agonising again in the paint aisle of Hobbytech. Not at prices or the paucity of paint – far from it. The prices are reasonable enough but the range of paints available is far greater than my discriminatory mechanism can cope with. I am past spoilt for choice – I am made anxious…
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When The Only 1:72 Game In Town…

Is: Reputed to be bad. Long sold out. Never seen locally. Not supplied by anyone else… …you are entitled to scuff your feet and make growling noises. I have been reviewing the chances of getting a 1:72 model of the Avro CF 100 Canuck interceptor and it would appear that this aircraft in model kit…
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North American P-51D – Part Three – Giving It The Hatzerim

Go look it up on Google for yourself. The IAF keeps a museum out in the Negev at Hatzerim AFB and parks their exhibits out in the sun. Which then gives them a unique sort of finish – kind of like sandblasting and a UV bake. ” Bozzy “, or old 41 – the P-51D…
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North American P-51D – Part Two – Silver Boss

The Hobby Boss P-51D has proved to be the perfect build for my current project. It is inexpensive, precise, and perfect. And I’m so glad I was able to make another mistake while painting it. I should have thought I was in an alternate universe if I’d gotten entirely through the build without one…that sort…
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North American P-51D – Part One – Spoiled For Choice

Let’s face it – if you want to make a model of a Mustang, Spitfire, Messerschmitt, or Focke Wulf fighter plane, you are not going to be denied the chance by any scarcity of kits. Every major manufacturer of plastic models seems to have these as their basic stock – often in multiple variants and…
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Ptui On The Pitot!

Particularly the plastic pitot. That final touch on your model airplane that is carefully cemented on and then just as carefully broken off again. Repeatedly. And then repaired until the leading edge of the wing has a quarter inch of dried superglue on it, looking like a snot nugget. I researched what pitot tubes are…
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Boxing Day Is Only Good If You Need Boxes

And I do. In my cases I need boxes with plastic model airplane kits in them. This year I opted for the do-it-yourself-later option. I asked for gift vouchers for the local hobby shop. The good family delivered as requested and I am now cashed up for the next few months – whenever I need…
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Curtiss P-40 – Part Three – Ready For Alaska

It seems no time at all was needed to mbuild the new P-40’s for the Northwest Staging Route. They are already sitting on the hardstand at RCAF WET DOG jostling for space with all the other planes heading for Ladd AFB. I have taken advantage of the additional fuel tanks as ferry tanks but opted…
