Category: airliner
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Siebel Si 204A – Part One – The RRA’s New Airliner

The Royal Ruritanian Airways occupies and envied position in European aviation – it has never had a crash landing. This is not to say that there have never been hurried ones, or landings that haven’t strained the oleo struts to their squeaking maximum – but so far every touchdown has been on the tyres –…
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Heinkel He70 F-2 – Part Two – Methinks I Doth Smell A Ratte

And it may be a Ukrainian ratte at that. The kit has just been started – the cockpit tray completed and some preliminary wing work to box in the wheel wells – and already I am suspicious that this kit has Eastern European origins. Or at least Middle Europe. Middler than Germany, at any rate.…
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De Havilland Twin Otter- Part Six – Alta Oil CF-ALO

The Twin Otter lives again. And with a fresh coat of gloss paint, too. CF-ALO is now ready for delivery to Alta Oil flying out of Wet Dog Regional in Alberta. Her skis are stored in the hangar against winter and the wheels are in use today. WRRegional doesn’t really like pilots fitting them until…
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De Havilland Twin Otter – Part Five – Any Colour You Like

As long as it is white. Henry Ford is spinning in his grave. Civil aircraft all seem to start life as brides in white. From the factory demonstrator to the feeder-line delivery, they all get a gloss coat of white paint. I suspect it is cheap, durable, and meant to be highly visible. As well,…
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De Havilland Twin Otter – Part Four – They Said It Couldn’t Be Done

But they didn’t say it to me. When I saw the separate wings for the Twin Otter with no tab to fasten them back onto the fuselage, I started to worry. I know modern cements can do a great deal to weld plastic surfaces together but those long, thin wings stretch out quite a distance…
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De Havilland Twin Otter – Part Three – The Airliner Window

Airliner windows are a nervous part of model building for me – at least in 1:72 scale. You see, it is too small to make them easy to handle and too big to get away with decals or painted dots. The first time I tried putting individual plastic panes in was on a Northrop Delta…
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De Havilland Twin Otter – Part Two – ” I’m Melting…! “

That was the catch cry of the Wicked Witch Of the West in the Wizard Of Oz when Dorothy threw a bucket of water on her. I’m here to tell you that this was just fiction; I tried it on one of the in-laws and all I got was yelled at. No melting. Next time…
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De Havilland Twin Otter – Part One – Old Recalcitrant

No, I am not referring to the Prime Minister of Lamaysia. I’m sure he is a very biddable old buffer – as long as the right approach is taken. What I mean is this Revell kit of the De Havilland Twin Otter aircraft. It’s Revell Germany, so it may have been sourced from another maker*…
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Sandown Park 2019 – Part Seven – The Great Grey Elephant On The Table

As Ray Stevens might have said…” Well, I seen it. ” It was the 1:72 scale components of a Saunders Roe Princess flying boat produced using some sort of 3D printing machine…and cello-taped together as a teaser at the Sandown Park exhibition. No-one around, but enough literature left as a clue to allow me to…
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Sandown Park 2019 – Part One – Silver

Well, there we were, folks – Sandown Park in Melbourne for the 2019 model exhibition. Plenty of parking, real live motor cars circling the track, and a large canteen area set aside for the punters. What more could one want? One of the first tables that caught the eye after I rounded the Wall O’…
