Category: American aircraft
-
Packaging Part One – The Gallery Of The Shelf
I go to art galleries in the various capital cities I visit on a regular basis. Some, like the NGV in Melbourne or the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney get a visit whenever I’m in town. Others, like the various modern art galleries or smaller dealer’s galleries might get a hit every two or…
-
” Is This Paint Gluten-Free? “
Don’t laugh too much. You never know where the trail of discovery will lead. I have been pondering this in my local store – Hobbytech – as I wander the paint aisle. It is much the same when I go to the big DIY chain store – Bunnings – and try to make sense out…
-
The Kids In The Candy Store
For a number of years I avoided going into hobby shops. Whether I thought they were passé or whether I thought I was more sophisticated…I don’t know. The result of this was I missed out on some of the really great hobby experiences – things that came and went while I was somewhere else. Now…
-
When In Doubt…
When in doubt, do it the way the original was done. There was generally a reason for this and you may have stumbled upon it again. Case in point: doing the second blue paint coat on the PRU Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The first coat had cured for a day, and the second one was due…
-
The Kiddy Model And the Adult Modeller
Sometimes it’s hard to resist being a kid – particularly when you are in a hobby shop that also sells toys. You know you’re in there for a serious adult purpose ( like buying toy airplane kits ) but part of you is still a child and wants to buy toy airplanes… I mean it…
-
Modelling To A Theme – Building For A Purpose
I have a confession to make. I have a mental condition that permeates my life. It has affected me ever since childhood and makes itself felt in everything I do. It is sometimes a good thing and sometimes bad…but I have come to realise what it is and to accept it. It is the need…
-
Lockheed P-38 – Part Six – The Dirty Bluebird
As I’ve written before, every new build is a chance to have a new experience. This one has been my baptism in how to change horses in mid-stream, how to concentrate the mind, and how to make a deliberately dirty mess. I hasten to add that I already know how to make an accidentally dirty…
-
Lockheed P-38 – Part Five – The Wild Blue Yonder
What do you do when you discover that you are going the wrong way? If you are Douglas Corrigan you just keep on going and hope to hit Ireland eventually. If you are me, you stop and see if you can turn around. I stopped after I did some more research on the RAAF’s only…
-
Lockheed P-38 – Part Four – The Drive Shaft
The Hobby Boss model of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning has something I have not seen before on any plastic model airplane – it has a driveshaft. Or put more accurately, it has two. All the other models I’ve encountered have had just the opposite – a precise hole in the crankcase or nose where a…
-
Lockheed P-38 – Part Three – Every Plane You Build…
Every plane, train, car, and structure you build in scale makes your brain better. The act of turning over the parts, relating them to the instructions, fitting them together, and observing the relationships between the surfaces teaches you far more about the particular full-size object than any photograph or screen representation ever can. And if…
The Little World 