Category: 1:72 scale
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LeO 45 – Part Two – This Is Fine…
The initial burst of admiration for this Heller kit has been tempered by building it. The wings are on, and at a reasonable dihedral – set by the internal tab on each wing sliding all the way across to the opposite side of the fuselage and locking itself in place. This is admirable. Less so…
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LeO 45 – Part One – The French Fish
This title is prompted by the shape of the Liore et Olivier 45 bomber – the last time you will see the entire name in this report. It is a fish – a codfish or salmon, by the look of it – attached to two streamlined wings, two streamlined nacelles, and two inverted rudders. This…
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De Havilland 60 G – Part One – Too Long On The Shelf
Actually, too long on several shelves… This model was purchased at my favourite local hobby shop to rescue it from obscurity on the back shelf. It had lain there – along with a number of obscure Soviet experimental and propaganda ships – for as long as I had been going to the place. Finally they…
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See Sub?
A model submarine in operation is like a smiling Methodist. You suspect they exist because someone told you so, but you never actually see one for yourself. Once it submerges the only evidence most people see is the wake of a periscope or a Harpoon missile broaching the water and streaking off to blow up…
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Historical Friends
I hope that’s right – I tried ” Hysterical Friends ” and the auto-correct passed that as well… One of the groups I belong to is called ” Historical Modelling Friends “. We meet either at the Cambridge Public Library in Floreat or at my studio in Willetton. The sessions are always modelling afternoons –…
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Schmattarim
Stop groaning. It’s my model airport and I get to make the jokes. Actually, it’s a museum layout – a very useful way to display a variety of aircraft. In this case they are Israeli, and the idea is patterned on the real IAF museum at Hatzerim. I’ve built enough models to mount two separate…
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Razzle Dazzle ‘Em
And you don’t even need to use bright colours. This year’s scale model exhibition opened itself to new groups – and in the case of the first stand in the hall it was a wargaming outfit that built a magnificent set depicting something of the Battle of Berlin 1945. The set components were a mixture…
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Do You Advance?
Is each build making you a better modeller? It can, if you let it. If you learn one new technique, or have one new disaster, or accomplish one new task each time you complete a kit, you are on the road to success. Hopefully, you will not reach it – else what’s a Heaven for?…
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Fairey Battle Mk I – Part Six – Jarvis, Ontario
No 1 Bombing And Gunnery School RCAF. The Battle was used extensively in Canada as a training aircraft and target tug. Kept well away from the Luftwaffe, its only enemies on the prairies were the cold, the students, and gravity. Slow, heavy, but a good flier for limited purposes. The RCAF even fielded a variant…
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Fairey Battle Mk I – Part Five – The Hangin’ Tree
I am not a naturally cruel man, though I have trained in the art… Nevertheless there is a certain grimness about constructing a gallows on which to execute a model airplane. You start to think of Sidney Carton or Till Eulenspiegel… The advantage of it all is the ability to spray from all sides in…
The Little World 