Category: American aircraft
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Douglas B-18 Bolo – Part Two – Mr Color Super Metallic
I mentioned that bottle of silver last post. The Mr. Color Super Metallic that has just appeared. Well, I bought a bottle because that’s what you do when you take off your blinkers in the paint aisle of the Hobbytech shop. It’s a fatal move, as you will always see something new that you haven’t…
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Douglas B-18 Bolo – Part One – The First Idea Was The Right One
Readers of this column will have seen my report on the Special Hobby 1:72 Douglas Digby Mk I – the RCAF version of the USAAC B-18 bomber. I was thrilled to find that kit and quite enjoyed the building experience – even though some parts of it went down the silly rabbit holes of too…
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Republic Thunderjet – Part Three – Polish-ed Silver
They said it couldn’t be done. They said it shouldn’t be done. But I did it. Now tell me why I did it…because I am not that convinced that it was a good idea. I have completed as much work as I intend to do on the Mister Craft Republic F-84G Thunderjet. It is stand-off…
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Republic Thunderjet – Part Two – ” Warsaw, We Have A Problem…”
When I introduced this Mister Craft model last post you may have gotten the impression that I was making fun of it. Nothing of the sort. I am coming to the conclusion that there is no fun to be made with any part of it. The good news is the wing top and bottom halves…
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Republic Thunderjet – Part One – Polish Thunder…
Grom, Grom, Grom… I set out this morning to find a Hobby Boss kit of the F-84 Thunderjet to build as a companion to the Boeing KB-29B tanker that is taking shape. Inspired, as usual, by a Squadron profile book that showed just this combination linked together in flight. I’d researched the HB kit and…
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Breaker, Breaker. We Have A Breaker.
Have you ever noticed that some model kits are never destined to stay together? There are certain models that have been made to such fine – or such crude – standards that they can be assembled with however much care one can muster…but will fragment continuously ever after. They are destined to fall apart repeatedly.…
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Grumman Wildcat – Part Four – Neutrality Patrol
This colour scheme on the Grumman F4F Wildcat is apparently real – it was seen in 1941 in the Atlantic aboard the USS RANGER conducting something called a Neutrality Patrol. It’s the standard US Navy Yellow Wing scheme adapted to the eastern seaboard. Neutrality? Was the USA expecting attack from the British or Germans or…
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Grumman Wildcat – Part Three – Nodecal
Nodecal – the pill that makes you a better modeller. One review of this Hobby Boss Wildcat kit bemoaned the fact that there were no decals for the wing or fuselage bands. The review also went on to complain about the proportions of the tail and the scribing in the wing surfaces.Now, I’m not a…
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Grumman Wildcat – Part Two – Four-Part Harmony
In each of the two pictures on this post there are four plastic parts. They’re glued up and setting overnight. The time taken to get to this point, including the washing of the parts, was about one hour. I’ve spent longer in the barbers. This would be a terrible thing for some modellers to contemplate.…
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Grumman Wildcat – Part One – Hello Yellow
My friend Warren once pulled up a Hobby Boss kit of the F4F Wildcat in early colours and it set me investigating. This plane turned up in one of the profiles out of a modelling magazine – I can’t tell you if the kit makers made theirs from the illustration or if the illustrator drew…
The Little World 