Category: 1:72 scale
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Pfalz D.IIIa – Part Two – You Only Find Out By Cutting

Scale model building with a new maker’s kits is really like draining an abscess. You never really know what is going to happen till you plunge the knife in. The Rodin Pfalz is actually quite nice, if you can forgive a few inadvertent flash episodes. The fuselage sides came together after being flattened on a…
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Pfalz D.IIIa – Part One – First Time

I had been watching reports of the Roden scale models for some time and had not been able to come to a conclusion – some lauded and some condemned them for poor moulding and impossible parts. A birthday gift meant I could go to the hobby shop and bring back an armload of inexpensive kits…
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Iron And Steel In The Soul

And let us have more of it. The recent big local scale model exhibition had a surprise near our stand – a model steel furnace. It may have been intended as part of a model railway layout, but could equally be a stand-alone display. It was good to look at from all four sides. Built…
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Italeri F/A 18 Hornet – Part Three – Perkkele!

Not really – I have nothing to complain about. Stay where you are. The finish on this Finnish aircraft is courtesy of the paints that were gifted to me by Warren Jones – I am getting to grips with the business of enamels with lacquer thinners and in many respects they seem to be easier…
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Italeri F/A 18 Hornet – Part Two – The Mock-up That Doesn’t Mock

I’ve given up a lot of things in my old age: marathon running, ballet, and regular bathing. But I have not given up dry-fitting models. As a kid it was a major part of a build, with gradual dry assembly taking weeks before any cementation. I’m faster these days ( no school homework ), and…
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Italeri F/A 18 Hornet – Part One – Who Actually Makes This Thing?

I was nearly going to write ” McDonnell Douglas ” in the title until I saw it was claimed to be a licensed product from Boeing. Whether this means Boeing have bought out McDonnell Douglas, or just the company that makes the cardboard box, is unsure. The kit comes from Italeri, so I’ll go with…
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Quonset Hut – Part Two – One A Week In Bull Creek

The title refers to the current batting average for 1:72 scale models – one a week completed. It’s not a contest, so the only prize I win is a fresh model for my collection or a layout but I can tell you – It’s Satisfying! The Rix Products Quonset is a tough build as it…
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Quonset Hut – Part One – The Tin Of Terror

If you have ever spent time in a Nissen or Quonset hut it is subtracted from your stay in Purgatory… These Corrugated Containers Of Discomfort seem to have been erected everywhere in peace and war. Australia housed service personnel, prisoners, and migrants in them, and still has some left in bush towns. They are still…
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Grumman F3F – Part Four – Red Ripper

Well, that’s what the colour call-out said. VF-4 Red Rippers embarked on the USS RANGER – pre 1941. I have been adding steadily to the Yellow Wing Navy shelf for years. So far I’ve resisted the temptation to paint the scheme on planes that never carried it and I’m glad to see that there were…
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Grumman F3F – Part Three – The Toy Shop

Well, at this stage of the game it looks like this aircraft has been made by Mattel or Fisher-Price. Solid bright colour and basic shapes. But all is well – a careful evening was spent getting the struts to join the wings in a decent fashion. Czech kits have little markings on the wing surfaces…
