Category: Civil aircraft
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The Light Plane Kit Vacuum
And I don’t mean vac-form either. I mean, where are the light plane kits in the scale modelling world? You can buy as much armour as you can carry, and as many fighter planes, bombers, and battleships as you might get through the front door – but if you want to have a shelf full…
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Northrop Black Widow – Part Five – Yellow Widow
Well, I like it. It has flaws, but then so do most of the things I love. The prototype for this build was apparently bought by Ranchers, Inc. in Boise Idaho in 1963 and converted to a water bomber – or fire tanker in the North American parlance. It did not last long, stacking it…
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Northrop Black Widow – Part Four – White Widow
Before you think this has gotten political or I’ve lost my mind, let me assure you that there is a very good reason for painting the P-61 Black Widow white. Before I go into that, notice how smooth the basic structure ( despite the rivets ) is. There was surprisingly little putty needed – or…
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Northrop Black Widow – Part Two – Hot Weather Modelling
I’ve grumbled before about the limitations of scale plastic modelling in very hot weather – and a fat lot of good it has done me. So, rather than sit and moan, I have decided to sit and cut plastic. Inside – in the A/C at my Saturday afternoon group. I can’t paint but I can…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Six – Praise Courageous Me
Thank you, thank you. I fully deserve your applause – I have made propellers and engines the HARD way. Not that I had any choice in the matter. The parts were there and the instructions were uncompromising – ” Do as we say or die “. Or, in the case of the engine mounting struts:…
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Farman – NC 223.3 – Part Five – Almost A Sailplane
Well, you could be fooled into thinking that if you just saw the fueslage and wings, couldn’t you. Angular, but sleek. No-one in the SCNAC stayed sleek for long – eventually their Gallic desire to attach a strut, a window, or a café awning and chairs asserted itself and before you knew it you had…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Four – Faire Soi-Même
Or you won’t be faring at all. Scratch-building at the order of the kit maker is a strange feeling. I do not shy from it, as I scratch build many of my airport structures, but it still smacks a little of ” don’t care ” when the instructions demand it and there are no parts…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Two – Short Run Need Not Be Vile
I think Forrest Gump would have enjoyed short-run Czech kits – he had a philosophy that would have coped. I may send my next Prague bomb to Tom Hanks. The fuselage halves of this angular bird could have been a disaster – no locating pins and a very long run for twists and warpage. But…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part One – A Packet Of French Letters
Specifically, SNCAC NC 223.3 B.N.5. Hereafter referred to as the Farman – it’s the only one in the stable so I don’t need to be specific. This Azur kit promises to be several weeks worth of advanced building – it is definitely short-run but of the better sort. There are only the vaguest of interior…
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Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 – Part Five – Three Cheers For The Transport Service
And their new SM.81 general service aircraft – set to deliver the liquid products of Ruritania as far away as Switzerland and Holland. The converted 1930’s Italian bomber that has just joined the RRAAF in the Transport Service started life with 6 machine guns and two bomb bays. It now has two bottle bays (…
The Little World 