Category: 1:72 scale
-
Vought Crusader F-8 – Part One – Iconic
As a young person, this was the naval jet aircraft I was most impressed by. It seemed to encompass all there was about flying. Yet I never possessed a model of one until now – and for years the Italeri kit had been offered on the shelves without getting a nod. I cannot explain the…
-
The No Step Two Step
Or how I stencilled myself into the asylum. As a kid facing my first decal sheets, I was blazingly confident. Allowed to use water and scissors…what could possibly go wrong? After all, Aurora moulded the position of the USAF and the insignia right there on the top of the wing – all you had to…
-
The Arrogant Strut
Those who saw Mussolini were impressed with the way he strutted. Likewise with Al Jolson and Kaiser Wilhelm II. However, none of them were as arrogant as the Airfix company when it comes to strutting…as witnessed by their production of a 1:72 Bristol F.2B. They have produced a kit that is nearly impossible to assemble.…
-
Trying To Get That Exclusive Prototype
And hoping that it is one that everyone secretly always wanted to build. This can be the only explanation for a number of short-run kits that flow out of Eastern Europe. There can be only a few individuals on the planet that dream of building failed designs that are both ugly and insignificant. Even driven…
-
Is Your Rainbow Biased?
Relax. Not going all political on you here. But do you have better results with certain colours? Not certain paints – that’s a different debate – I mean a certain hue within the paint range you use. I rarely paint dark sea blue or coal black, but when I do, it is nearly always a…
-
Little Christmas World
Not every Little World has fighter planes and tanks – some are dedicated to far more peaceful pursuits. Take for instance the annual Christmas layout a friend and her daughter construct – I should have written daughters, as there are three, but two are now residing elsewhere and I think the constructors are down to…
-
To Paint Or Not To Paint
That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler to coat the photo etched brass parts of your kit with the same paint as the injected plastic ones and let them sink into oblivion or to leave them unpainted and declare your skill and investment to the world. For those of my clubmates who might feel I…
-
It’s Fun To Be Ignorant…
Until something even more fun comes along. For years I have avoided building in scales other than 1/72 and 1/76. My model airfields were this size and I needed goods for them. I could shop in the OO model railway shelves and the plastic model shelves for a long time. Then shopping got harder as…
-
Boeing Dreamliner – Part Two – Dry Fit Wonder
I started this kit with some misgivings but they are rapidly evaporating. The only flaw I have detected so far is the loss of two engine fans. Whether they were wrenched off by the previous owner or never cast is unknown – I have just had to search the spares box and make up a…
-
The Broken Model
Few accidents distressed me so much when I was a child as breaking a scale model. It happened occasionally when building, and then on during the display life of the item…we moved house frequently and you can imagine the toll this took on any collection I tried to build up. I came to appreciate Dinky…
