Category: American aircraft
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Lockheed F80C Shooting Star – Part Two – The Smooth Bullfrog
No, it’s not a Frog model – it’s still the bargain Airfix kit. But the more I look at the basic shape of the Lockheed F80C in the grey primer, the more I’m reminded of an amphibian. You have to admire Clarence Kelly and his designers for making such a sleek thing using an engine…
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Lockheed F80C Shooting Star – Part One – When Men Were Men…
And boys were boys…and kit manufacturers were not afraid to put silver colour into the plastic models. This old Airfix Shooting Star was in the $ 10 rack at the Sandown Park model show and as it was complete, I couldn’t resist. Even if it did not strike my main chord as a jet ,…
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Seriously Old Decals
By a serious old modeller. I seem to be turning into the olde cheape modeller these days…and loving it. The number of older kits that have fallen into my hands lately suggests that I am either dumpster diving for my hobby or other people are not recognising the value of their own possessions before they…
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Good Morning, Walter – Part 15 – Aluminium Overcast
Walter, the term ” Aluminium Overcast ” has been laughingly applied to a number of large aircraft in the past. But I think the only true claimant is the Convair B-36 ” Peacemaker ” bomber of the 1950’s. The heading image is of a Revell model of the 1955-57 period. The scale is anyone’s guess…
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North American Sabre – Part Two – Two Evenings
I settled into a pleasant routine of an day – since the weather has turned hot I have decided to adjourn at 1:00 PM to the indoor modelling desk and complete small tasks. If these are brush painting or cementing jobs I can do them in comfort – the Little Computer room has an air…
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Green Is The Colour Of My True Love’s Cockpit…
And it would appear that I must needs have many loves. I have two pots of paint in the Little Workshop stocks at present – both green – that I use to paint USAAF aircraft of the WW2 period’s insides. One is a custom mix zinc chromate and the other a Testor’s cockpit green. Neither…
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Douglas A-20 Havoc – Part Six – A Pleasant Surprise
After the trauma of the undercarriage construction on the Havoc, I was not looking forward to the assembly of the rest of the nacelle. I had done some preliminary dry fitting and trimming of the housing – noting that the aft fairing was going to need either a great deal of putty or forgiveness. As…
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Douglas A-20 Havoc – Part Five – Just Because Someone Was A Fool…
…Doesn’t mean you have to follow them. This might be the phrase best suited to the stage of building that we are up to today – the landing gear on the A-20 Havoc. It is tricycle gear and the original designers of the ship wanted to make the wheels and tyres disappear from the airstream…
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Douglas A-20 Havoc – Part Four – I’m Starting To Like…
Well, I am starting to like the Havoc. And not just the plane itself, but the new materials and techniques I’m using on it: a. The plane itself is interesting – the pronounced dihedral and the cant of the tailplanes looked to be daunting when seen in plans, but the makers of the kit have…
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Douglas A-20 Havoc – Part One – Search The Sprue
I’m starting to know how to play the game – at least recognising some of the new rules. It’s changed since the 1960’s… Back then, plastic model kits gave you only a very few choices – the AMT 3-in-1 cars had extra parts that you could glue onto them to make racing cars or customs.…
The Little World 