Category: Canadian aircraft
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De Havilland Beaver – Part One – Leave it To Me, Wally

Those of a ” certain age ” will get it… Those of that samecertain age will recognize the Airfix Vintage Classic Beaver kit as one of the British Army cooperation planes – but will be surprised when they look at the side of the box – it appears to have been used by the US…
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Catalina Mk I – Part Five – Z 2138

Well, THAT was a series of good lessons – well learned. The half-built PBY-5A I purchased from the stash stack has been revamped extensively and has emerged onto the hard stand as a Catalina Mk I – Z 2138 of the RCAF. Stationed at Botwood, Newfoundland in April 1943. No, I have no idea what…
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Catalina Mk 1 – Part Four – Flat Out

Not so much like a lizard drinking- just flat out like thin paint. The two colours of the Coastal Command upperwoirks are now down on the Cat – both courtesy of the fine set of paints gifted to me. The experiment of using Rapid and Regular Gunze lacquer thinners on the Model Master paints seems…
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Catalina Mk 1 – Part Three – See What I Did There?

Lost three marks along with the wheels. My RCAF Catalina has now reverted to the first mark acquired – a patrol aircraft used off the maritime provinces. I’ve a profile book on it and it is a shame to waste such specific research and drawing. The colour scheme is very British with a little less…
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Bellanca Pacemaker – Part Five – Wop May

Wilfred ” Wop ” May apparently had the distinction of being the target that Baron von Richthofen was chasing when he was shot down. There is a perpetual controversy about who did that shooting, but I’ll bet Wilfred was glad of it anyway. He went on to form a bush-flying company out of Edmonton that…
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Bellanca Pacemaker – Part Four – PE P/O

Or what to do when you cannot get your hands round the throat of the person who designed the kit. I make no complaint about the mould-cutting shop. Or the injection plastic line. The design department are mostly blameless as is the decal office. My venom is reserved for the acid-pocked faces of the photo-etch…
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Bellanca Pacemaker – Part Three – Seams We Need To Fill Something

If you paid more to read these posts, the jokes would be better. The fuselage on the Dora Wings is a model…of course it’s a model…of sturdiness. Once the sides and top come together with some liquid cement and dry for a night the whole is greater than the parts. But there is a discrepancy…
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Bellanca Pacemaker – Part Two – Windows Of The Soul

If this were an Academy kit it would be windows of the Seoul. Thank you, thank you. Here all week. Try the veal. The missing windows ( a puzzle in philosophy – if windows are missing portions of the fuselage but they are not missing, are they missing? Answers third tub left in the Agora.…
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Bellanca Pacemaker – Part One – Or Is It?

I have become suspicious about this Dora Wings model of a Bellanca CH-300 now that the box is open and I can see the instructions. They refer to it as a ” Peacemaker “. Was I meant to have a B-36 in the box? Never mind – I’ll build what I found. And what I…
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Who Decided My Childhood?

No, I don’t mean my parents or the school teachers or the rock and roll industry – I mean who decided which prototypes to make into the plastic models that I built? Bear in mind it was a childhood in a part of North America that was under both American and British influence. Airfix, FROG,…
