Category: American aircraft
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Sandown Park 2019 – Part Eleven – What’s Big And Pink…?
And full of high explosives? Why Strawberry Bitch, of course. Not a popular airplane in Romania, though it did visit there some years ago. Not that it hung around – just popped in, dropped something off, and popped out again. Sort of like a pastel-coloured courier van. No-one signed for the parcels… The real SB…
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Sandown Park 2019 – Part Eight – Chop Till You Drop
I really must make more of a study of model helicopters – having built four of them for my own small airfields. Thankfully, the kit industry has as much affection for them as for fixed-wing aircraft and there seem to be varieties from every country on offer. If you were a dedicated helicopter modeller you…
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The Royal Ruritanian Army Air Force – Part Three – Build Up To Obscurity
As the war clouds darkened over Europe in the 1930’s, the government of Ruritania realised that the defence of the realm would require additional spending – both for ground and air forces. Fortunately the kingdom is entirely land-locked and has no need for a navy aside from Customs and Excise boats on the lakes to…
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Grumman Avenger – Part Seven – A Calm And Serene Day
The last day of a model build is either going to be Shangri-la or Stalingrad. Either you are merely dusting it with a feather or grinding the tailplanes off with a chainsaw. In the case of the Avenger it was all peaceful. Well, peaceful after I glued the fake .50 into the turret. I am…
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Grumman Avenger – Part Six – Hande Hoch!
Und if you do not obey ziss varning – zere vill be conzeqvences… The consequences will be fingerprints in the clear varnish on the model. I know – I’ve been here before and done this very thing. And had to discipline myself not to do it again. The Mk III jig helps – I got…
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Grumman Avenger – Part Five – Half-Dressed
It is unfair to take a photo of a lady when she is only half-dressed…unless she specifically wants pictures of herself in that condition. I was reminded of this when I thought to picture the Avenger TBF-1 in her masking tape. But as this is a new departure – a three-level USN paint scheme –…
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Grumman Avenger – Part Four – The Quaker
Well, the obligatory problems have arisen. No kit ever gets finished wthout them and you might as well get them over early. The radio mast on the tail has broken off – but this is neither unexpected nor a big deal. The idea of a plastic manufacturer moulding a scale aerial on one half of…
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Grumman Avenger – Part Three – The Economy Kit
I have discovered a few reasons that the Academy Grumman TBF-1 was so cheap: a. The age of the mould means that while the fit and finish are fine, the amount of detail they were prepared to make in the casting – ie time taken to inscribe things – was limited. Either that or they…
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Grumman Avenger – Part Two – Bathed And Naked
Settle down, class. You’ve seen uncovered airplanes before. No need to get excited. The preliminary researches on the TBF for the USS BUNKER HILL all point to the same visual conclusion; the colour scheme that the box art shows is accurate enough for a direct build. Perhaps a little modification of the yellow nose around…
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Grumman Avenger – Part One l- Birthday Surprise
I passed a very pleasant birthday in a couple of hobby shops – I had time and I had money. I was prepared to spend the former asset freely but my very nature compelled me to conserve the latter. I want value for money, eh? Well, value was there – in one hobby shop that…
The Little World 