Category: American aircraft
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A Thousand Pictures Are Worth A Word
And that word is generally : ” inaccurate “… In a world awash in internet images, the scale modeller could be forgiven for thinking that they’ll never have a problem with colour again. All they’ll have to do is google up an image of the prototype they’re building and copy the picture. This is as…
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Swiss F-5E – Part One – Another Odd Buy
I make snap decisions when I am in the aisle of a hobby shop. These involve kit choice, paint colours, and must-have tools. They are nearly all bad. Later, when the fever passes, I look at the purchases and wonder where I’m ever going to use them. Some sit dormant for years, and then become…
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General Dynamics F-16 – Part Three – Surprisingly Handsome
I view some modern NATO aircraft with trepidation – there are so many variants that every time I glue on a bomb or a tank, I’m sure it’s in the wrong place. But what can you do in the absence of a concrete example parked at the local air museum? Well, you can start down…
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General Dynamics F-16 – Part Two – Having A Grey Fit
Like a pink fit, but more gentlemanly. You can clip a Hobby Boss kit together at nearly any stage of the build. I’d painted the wheel wells on the F-16 prior to trying the ordnance onto it and was curious to see whether there would be much filling and sanding needed. None at all if…
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General Dynamics F-16 – Part One – The John Plane
Making friends with other model builders is a good idea – they sometimes have large stashes of kits that they bought a long time ago…but have forgotten. They may have changed scales in the meantime. Then they remember you and the scale you build. And make you a wonderful present of an unbuilt kit or…
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Convair F-106 – A NORAD Quickie
I have taken to an amusing game when I photograph dancers at their concerts or for portraits – when they ask me the cost of the finished files or videos I tell them about my model airplane hobby. I ask them to pay their bill by purchasing a 1:72 scale model airplane kit that I…
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Lockheed Vega Model 5 – Part Two – Sleek And Simple
The mental picture of the 1930’s airliner can sometimes be very complex. One thinks of some of the French or British airlines that operated out of Hendon or Le Bourget and sees large biplanes or sesquiplanes with dangling nacelles, spatted wheels, and flying wires everywhere. Yet here is a 30’s ship that is the epitome…
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Lockheed Vega Model 5 – Part One – Legacy Stash
John Evans bought this model from Stanbridge’s model shop may years ago. Unfortunately neither John, Jack, nor the shop still exist. But that doesn’t stop us from remembering them fondly. My part in this will be to build up the MPM model of the Lockheed Vega Model 5. I suspect that John planned it to…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part Nine – Northwest Air Defence
I had no idea as a kid. ( I don’t have much more sense now. ) But I sure wish I had known about the F-82 Twin Mustang long before my old age. I might have been able to see one in real life – because they flew from an air base near to a…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part Eight – No. 92
A slight pause in the proceedings to praise a paint maker. GSI Creos in Japan are in deadly rivalry with Tamiya for the hobby painter’s dollar or Yen. I am not a zealot – I use paints from both of them. But I always turn to Mr. Color No.92 when night falls. It is listed…
The Little World 