Category: American aircraft
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Eleven Shades Of Grey
Or is it gray? I can never be sure, and I’m sure I don’t care…but I do care about getting the right shade when I start to paint an aircraft. The colour I want right now is the paint that they sprayed on the underside of USAAF planes. The famous Neutral Grey. Creos GSI list it…
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The Rack And The Gallows
If you are expecting Torquemada I must disappoint you – I reserve those sentiments for my ” Here All Week ” column. See below. The rack I refer to is my new Little Workshop plane jig. It is made by Scrap Bin Pty Ltd and has three adjustable plane rests as supplied. You can get…
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Bell P 39 Airacobra – Part Four – The Northwest Staging Route
You might wonder a bit at the presence of a Bell P-39 Airacobra with red stars in a white circle appearing at an Alberta RCAF station in the 1940’s. The explanation is simple – the Northwest Staging Route flowed right through RCAF WET DOG as soon as Lend-lease was established and there were enough aircraft…
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Bell P-39 – Part Three – Weight A Minute
Or forever sit on your tail. I applaud the tricycle landing gear for aircraft – in the case of civilian airliners it allows a steady takeoff and landing – I would not want to spill my champagne. On military planes it probably allows the pilot a lot better view of the field or carrier deck…
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Rain, Rain, Went Away
And the humidity dropped and the sun came out. Shows you that sacrificing virgins really works, eh?* Having secured the Mandate Of Heaven…or at least the mandate of the Meteorological Department, I mixed up 50% Supercheap clear acrylic lacquer and 50% Mr. Color Levelling Thinner and started spraying. The mixing was done in a large…
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Rain, Rain, Go Away
Come again after I have sprayed the clear lacquer. I have been glaring at the sky all day for the temerity it has shown in clouding over and raining. This is not convenient, and I demand that it stop. If not, there will be trouble. Actually, I have been avoiding trouble all day. The seven…
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Batch Processing*
I have spent the last three days batch processing US Army fighters, attack planes, and bombers. It started as a whim, became an experiment, and is looking to be a darned good technique for the future. It started with an idea – in my case these may be vast ideas or half-vast ideas, but you…
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The Return Of The Chinese Junk
When I was a kid in the 50’s there were dime stores that sold goods cheaply. In some cases they were cheap goods – particularly if they were plastic toys from Hong Kong. There was a particularly brittle form of plastic that was used in toy factories that was moulded into all sorts of workable…
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OD’ing On Olive Drab
Is it just me or is it hard to find The True Meaning Of Olive Drab? I need to paint a number of USAAF planes and I am going to avoid the flashy multicolour of nose art and loud decals. I just want cooking quality Army ships for a diorama. You’d think that Olive Drab…
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Walk In Or Walk Out?
And we’re not talking about wing walks either. I want a kit. And a specific kit – having done my research in regard to it. Its the best for my purpose – and good news – it was a new Airfix release late last year and has been seen in the local hobby shop in…
The Little World 