Category: Collecting
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A Kit Too Far
If you are observant at stash sales you can tell which models will be coming onto the table at a good price. Not initially, perhaps – we have all seen the ambitious price tag on a scale box. Sometimes it is high enough to over-run new kits currently available in the shops. This can be…
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Pilatus PC-21 – Part Five – RAAF Roulette
The Pilatus PC-21 were ready to fly – the next batch of pilot trainees due to make their solos. One of them was the son of my niece. I have a short reel of him flying that first solo taken by a squadron mate. It is detailed enough to make out the number of the…
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Making A Public Exhibition Of Yourself
This is not as dire as it sounds. Of course the upright, uptight, upper class Victorian would never do it…but then they never did. They reserved their showing off for a funeral cortege and a statue in the local gardens. I plan on two show-off shows this year; one at the annual scale model festival…
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JAS 39 Gripen – Part Two – Loaded For Bear
Quite literally – whether on the ground, in the air, or on the sea. This Gripen is painted as a demonstrator model for an air show – no unit mark, no wear and tear, but a full load of missiles, tanks, and a designator pod. With a load-out this intense, I think its greatest feat…
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JAS 39 Gripen – Part One – The Export Model
That’s good enough for home. This Italeri kit is probably based upon an early model JAS 39 Gripen. Since its introduction into the Swedish Air Force it has been sold to the Czech Republic, Hungary, and South Africa. Did you wish to add a modern aircraft to your collection for these services, there are decals…
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Pre-Coloured Model Kits
We already see some surprisingly precise model kits in the 1:144 scale that have been pre-painted or colour printed. They are generally the tinier fighter planes and the schemes are simplified, but for all that, the kits go together well and the end result looks at least as good as a a die cast example.…
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When You Rethink…
And you do it for yourself – free of any prompting from necessity, or advertising, or other people’s opinions… You step up to the bridge of life and take command. You decide the course and the speed. You decide the cargo and the loading. You take the risk and make the profit or loss. It’s…
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Ural Starter Truck – Part Four – Arctic
My decision to paint the Ural starter truck in yellow-orange was initially based on a picture from Taganrog in Russia. As it is, this truck will be on the hardstand at Wet Dog Regional so the winter yellow is perfectly appropriate. The aircraft at Wet Dog are exposed to cold just as intense and Russia…
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Ural Starter Truck – Part Two – Straight Into It
And likely to remain straight, as well. The designers of this Ural kit are smarter than the average bear. The moulded the basic frame as one piece with springs attached and a number of extremely precise location holes throughout it. This meant that, even in the hurley burley of a club morning – with the…
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The Makers Of The Kits Do Not Make Them For Your Pleasure
They make them for your money. Anything downstream of this is just an extra. Remember this when you look at the Verell kit that costs $ 35.00; the 1:53.5 scale one that has “ 1951 ” moulded inside the wing. It has been returning cash to the pockets of Verell for 75 years and pretty…
The Little World 