Category: 1:72 scale
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Five – Wild Blue Yonder
And off we flaming go… Someone at Tasman was enamoured of the vacuum moulding machine – the one they used for clear canopies – and of the possibilities that it presented. So they made a decision to try something that is – so far – unique in my model-building experience. They vac-formed the canopy a…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Four – While The Goo Sets…
Busy your hands, to stop your mind from screaming. The engine cowlings on this model have become a standard mark in my workshop. They form the nadir from which anything else is better. I have joined the halves and lit a votive candle. The interior is bare, but surprisingly neat. It is simple, of course,…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Three – Oh, Just Grit Yer Teeth…
Pull up your Big-Girl panties, and get on with it. It’s not going to make itself. The first thing that has to go is the upper turret. Tasman have made a decent job of it, and the whitemetal gun mount will be saved for the future, but the aircraft I’m modelling has no turret. so…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Two – The Apology
At least Tasman Models are scrupulously honest. They recognised the problems of short-run manufacturing and the times when it just doesn’t come out like a Disney movie. The under-wing parts of this model apparently were consistently short-shooting at the wing tip. They realised it , modified the panel on the mould, and added two extra…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part One – Agricultural
New Zealand is a superb agricultural country. Their wool and meat, dairy and fruit, and all things related are absolutely first-class. Their 1:32 scale model kits – when produced in China to NZ designs, are also world-beaters. Their 1:72 kits moulded in Rollaston, near Christchurch are an experience. I have made one before – a…
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The Disappointment
I read a review once in a modelling magazine that was quite scathing about a brand of short-run kit: Merlin. I don’t pay too much attention to this sort of bagging as I have made quite decent aircraft out of kits that other people would avoid. The garage kit may look bad to start with…
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Do We Have A Trade War With Japan, China, Or The Czech Republic?
No? Goodoh. That means we really should be able to order kits and supplies from these countries free of any interference from the Petulant of the United States, Ronald Grump. I have been looking at the kits I build and the goods I want and am a little saddened to see that some of the…
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Lockheed S-3A Viking – Part Three – I990’s
The chief raison d’être for the S-3A was hunting Soviet submarines in the 1970’s and 1980’s. With the 1990’s and the Reds beaching most of their fleet. the plane was reconfigured for surface surveillance and attack and garnered war honours in several conflicts. The ability to haul bombs and rockets as well as targetting gear…
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Lockheed S-3A Viking – Part Two – Cut And Glue
And really – that is all there was to it for the day. Some jobs are too hard and some too easy. The Hasegawa Viking fell into the space between these two extremes, and I am not complaining one little bit. When surfaces fit without fettling, when there is enough space for the nose weight,…
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Lockheed S-3A Viking – Part One – Price?
So Why So Cheap? How come a perfectly good Hasegawa jet is about half the price you’d expect to pay? Perhaps I am looking a gift horse in the molars, but I do puzzle at some of the pricing in some of the shops. The Hasegawa S3A Lockheed Viking was under $40 in a rack…
The Little World 