Category: 1:72 scale
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Swedish NA-16 – Part Three – Dr. Phil

Not the TV chap – I’m thinking this kit should have been built by the famous Irish dentist: Dr. Phil McCavity. Six separate applications and removals of two grades of putty plus a styrene sheet fitted to the worst of the gaps. All done in a cheerful frame of mind and without the aid of…
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Swedish NA-16 – Part Two – The Plastic Mangler

I would have written ” wrangler ” but you wouldn’t believe this kit. The fuselage halves are two different sizes. Not by much, but by enough. I reduced them somewhat upon a sandpaper sheet taped to a flat surface, and then attacked the thicker half with a Dremel tool, The centre seam doesn’t fit, but…
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Swedish NA-16 – Part One – The Beechnut Models Company

You’ll want to remember that name – in case you are ever faced with one of their kits. If so, you have choices: a. Buy it, spend days of your life coping with its awful nature, and eventually turn out a masterpiece. Then die. b. Save time. Fall to the floor grasping your chest. c.…
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The Freedom To Explore

Includes the opportunity to achieve great things. And to fall down holes. If you can do this cheaply you are all the better. I use the opportunity provided by donated model kits to try out fresh ideas. Being honest, some of them are thrust upon me by the nature of the kits – and they…
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If You Didn’t Build It Then

Build it now. If you couldn’t afford it then, but can now – build it. If you can’t afford it now… Build something else. If you tried to build it then, and failed…if it was a bad kit then…if you were worried that people would think you were just a geek… Build it now. If…
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Aero Vodochody Delfin – Part Three – Uganda

How could you not love an air force that puts a chicken on their roundel. After the Entebbe raid in the 70’s Uganda got a transfusion of ex-Soviet and Warsaw Pact aircraft including this Czech L-29 Delfin. The net says that it was used as a training aircraft with occasional military operations. Whether that meant…
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Aero Vodochody Delfin – Part Two – If You Call For Your Czech Early

You don’t have to leave a tip. A morning at my scale modelling club begins with 45-60 minutes on the road – coping with a series of traffic lights and a clogged-up river bridge. It is wearisome but I figure you have to pay for your pleasures somehow. The comes up to 3 hours of…
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The Box Diorama

I’m a sucker for boxed displays – I spend more time over them at a museum than the open equipment. Call this a peculiarity of the scale modelling mind, if you will, but I think it is because the box-builder has more control of the subject. Lighting is the key for a lot of things;…
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Hawker Hunter FGA 9 – Part Five – Singapore 1962

A squadron brought into Singapore for ground support in what was to become a confrontation of the Cold War. This one was with Indonesia – at that time backed by the USSR and Communist China. The Hunters worked with spotter aircraft to deliver effective air support for Commonwealth and Malaysian troops on the ground. The…
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Hawker Hunter FGA 9 – Part Four – Clearing The Air

Or ” Glossing Over All Problems “. Hey, it works for federal politicians – it should work for me. However, it can sometimes be harder to do than you’d think. I have invested in more types of varnish than you’ve had hot dinners. From bottles of clear lacquer to gloss coats in alcohol solution to…
