Category: British aircraft
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SE5A – Part Two – Plain As A Pikestaff

As admirable as I may find the WW1 British designs for their aircraft – and I do like the SE5A – my admiration doesn’t extend to the War Office and their parsimonious attitude to paint. In short – their aircraft schemes are dull. I have seen some colonial examples that looked sharp, but apparently were…
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SE5A – Part One – Is There A Model In There?

A good question – this old Esci baggie was sitting forlorn and unbuilt – and likely to be touched for many a year until the Kit Whisperer found it. I will be frank – I deliberately seek out the most modest of kits to build. The $ 500 aircraft carrier is not for me –…
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Squadron Leader Blimp

Ah Haw, Ah Haw, Ah Haw…what? I am not sure if he is a Squadron Leader, Wing Commander, or Air Marshall…but Blimp is alive and well. He has lost the walrus moustache and rarely reeks of gin, but he’s still haunting the clubs. It is cruel to bait him…but fun nevertheless. And so tempting –…
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RAF BE2c – Part Three – Sky Rocket

Ten of them, to be precise. And probably as likely to set the BE2c alight as to down an enemy zeppelin. I have a weakness for sky rockets on aircraft ever since my Aurora 1:48 scale Nieuport 11 model back in 1957. They seemed such dramatic weapons. I have yet to read an authentic account…
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RAF BE2c – Part Two – Club Work

And not the sort on an ice floe in sealing season… The BE2c is a Mens Shed model, which means the build is stretched out over a number of weeks – building interspersed with painting followed by more building. It is not a bad way of enforcing a sense of rhythm and giving adequate time…
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Royal Aircraft Factory BE-2c – Part One – New Airfix

Old aircraft. But rather than being an old 50¢ baggie, this one comes in a proper box with new moulding and several build choices. And best of all – a set of in-kit jigs to allow the slanted inter-plane struts to be set evenly. This is one that I saw in a modern model magazine…
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RAF Wellington – Part Five – Desert Heavy

Well, not that heavy – remember that this bomber is twin engined to a pre-war design. But the theatre at the time saw few combat aircraft much bigger. The Vickers Wellington Ic is decked in a Western Desert night scheme drawn directly from the instruction call-out. The odd wavy top edge to the coal-black under-colour…
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RAF Wellington – Part Four – ” I Think You’ll Find…”

Rack off, anorak. I found the colour call-out sheet with this MPM model very pleasing and I am going to follow their instructions. I also found a number of images on Google that told me about details of the real thing. They are not in colour, but the tones of the photos are accurate. The…
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RAF Wellington – Part Three – Bow Pen For The Win

If you do not have one, get one. Get two. Get several. You can never have enough bow pens. I have three – one from a drafting set my Grandfather used – one from a set my Father used, and one from a cheap eBay buy. The first two are best, the last adequate. Whenever…
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RAF Wellington – Part Two – The Inside Job

I am starting to model in four dimensions. Outside for length, width, and height. Inside for detail. Of course the general viewers will never know what’s inside, but I will. I will treasure the vision of a jewelled interior telling intriguing stories. And I will have beaten the old Airfix/Revell/Aurora monster of the hollow fuselage.…
