Category: 1:72 scale
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RAAF Spitfire Mk Vc – Part Five – Dawn
Australian historians of the RAAF, of WW2, of the Spitfire, and of No. 79 Sqn should have a field day with this Italeri model. They can spend hours finding faults in it and listing them, from the failure to have the exact wing to the lack of seatbelts to the inclusion of the Maytag washing…
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RAAF Spitfire Mk Vc – Part Four – Where You Can Stick It
On your underside… On the workbench – in the spray booth. And with the comforting knowledge that it won’t fall off. I have tried a dozen different ways of holding scale model aircraft during the painting process; by the tail, by the nose, with a stick up the jet pipe, etc. All have their uses,…
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RAAF Spitfire Mk Vc – Part Three – Peg ‘0 My Heart
I love you… Okay, there is an earworm for you. If you are too young to know the tune put your cap on backwards, go away, and stare at your mobile phone. I am the strange old guy in the supermarket that looks at clothes pegs. Or the weirdo in Bunnings that tests out every…
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RAAF Spitfire Mk Vc – Part Two – The Universal Kit
Universal if you want to make a Spitfire, that is. Not a lot of good if you are trying for a ’59 Ford Anglia… This Italeri kit comes with more parts than you’d think. I note the wing tips are flat with a key-slot and you can join rounded elliptical tips or clipped square tips.…
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RAAF Spitfire Mk Vc – Part One – A Plane Chasing A Decal
The impetus for this Spitfire build came from a recently-completed model of a High Planes Wirraway. It went so well and the Czech DK Decals sheet for it was so easy to use that I glanced down to discover there was a full Spit layout on the sheet as well. A White-tail too, which I…
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Don’t, Don’t You Believe It, Girlie…
Whenever someone tells you a kit is unbuildable, doubt them. Ditto when they tell you it is the best thing since sliced styrene. People’s opinions quickly convert to folklore and just as rapidly to gospel truth. There are scale model flat earths all about us. A case in point was given to me by a…
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The Famous Aircraft Number
Quick – what was the registration number of Louis Bleriot’s plane that flew to England from France? And no prize for saying FROG-1. How about the Spirit Of St Louis? Or the Southern Cross? Bet you can look those up… But what about the 13th bomber in the 394th in 1943? You’ve got a kit…
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Curtiss Model 75 A-4 – Part Five – Jean Tulasne
It must have been difficult for the French Air Force to realise that they were beaten. And beaten before they started. Handicapped by their government’s penurious attitude to developing new aircraft – coupled with the vicious labour infighting that crippled their factories so often – they started WW2 with few planes and fewer good ones.…
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Curtiss Model 75 A-4 – Part Four – Ugly Duckling
The painting stage for some models can be a beautiful and uplifting experience. Car modellers may experience this as they apply colourful and glossy finishes. Railway modellers also have bright colours in the liveries. In the case of this Curtiss 75 the chosen palette seems to contain nothing but expired motor oil and dirt. Of…
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Curtiss Model 75 A-4 – Part Three – Wings Over The Workbench
I was right – a model with no filler needed. Not to be sneezed at, even with Spring bring hay fever. The minute shaving and sanding of the wing roots has resulted in no gaps. The tail likewise, though this has been pinned for strength. This is not to praise inordinately. The achievement of a…
The Little World 