Category: American aircraft
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Consolidated B-24 D – Part Two – The Toxic Rivet
Or should that be noxious? Whatever, the exaggerated rivet detail on this old Revell kit is probably what causes it to be rejected by the modern builders. Yet, under the spotty exterior is a pattern of decent engraved panel lines. I researched other’s efforts and found one ambitious chap who sanded the rivets off entirely.…
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Consolidated B-24D – Part One – The Unloved
It started as a bit of a joke amongst club mates. One chap had been given a Revell model of a B-24D made sometime in the 1980’s and everyone who saw it condemned it as unbuild-able. He was so discouraged that he was going to bin it. But then offered it around the table for…
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FROG Stash Avenger – Part Three – The Avenger Meets The Blob
Sounds like the title of a Marvel Comics movie, doesn’t it? The problem was there to be solved – and it is one that has occurred on previous models of the Grumman TBF. The .50 machine gun needs to be installed in the turret and the turret installed in the fuselage before you close it…
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FROG Stash Avenger – Part Two – A Fine Frog
The reputation of older kits is low, but I think this can be undeserved judgement. This FROG moulding is all that one could decently want for the original cost and hits well above its weight at the stash price. The seams have met my expectations – and more importantly, the other parts they were designed…
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FROG Stash Avenger – Part One – Inadvertent Baggie
Got for a very low price in a plastic freezer bag, this FROG Avenger of 1973 is going to be a beautiful model to build. The parts photo shows some work already done at the SMCWA clubrooms: cutting and sanding plus Sprue Goo filling of numerous FROG sinkholes. The week’s interval between club dates means…
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Douglas Skyray F4D – Part Three – Good For One Thing
And very good, at that. The Douglas F4D Skyray was built to intercept Soviet bombers as far away from American aircraft carriers as was possible. This was in the mid 1950’s when the threat from manned aircraft was at its height. The airframe – derived no doubt in some wise from a Lippisch design –…
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Douglas Skyray F4D – Part Two – Peacetime Colours
Or at least as peaceful as a Cold War aircraft could get… I am always happy to see military aircraft in bright colours – the yellow wings of the pre-war US Navy – the dazzling squadron codes of the pre-war RAF – the bright stripes of the pre-war Italians. Because brightly coloured aircraft are not…
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Douglas Skyray F4D – Part One – Unloved Tamiya
Don’t raise your eyebrows and make that noise – this Tamiya kit was half the price of other 1/72 models from the same maker in their Warbirds range. That tells me that it is not a big seller – rather like the Japanese submarine seaplane in the same line. People concentrate on the famous fighters…
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McDonnell Douglas F-15 – Part Two – Where Are The Spooks?
I thought McDonnell always named their fighters after some form of apparition, ghost, or ghoul – did Douglas make them pull their head in? Well, whatever – the 1/144 Academy kit has turned out well. And I have been sharply rapped on the nose for indulging in presumption… The basic assembly of these little kits…
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McDonnell Douglas F-15 – Part One – Big Little
I was amazed to see the size of the F-15 when I built it in 1/72 – and this little scale is equally interesting – it bulks over the other models on the shelf. I guess this is because of he engines and the amount of flying an air superiority fighter needs to do; shoot…
The Little World 