Category: Collecting
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The Fifty Cent Fighter Plane

Sixty years on. My allowance in the eighth grade was 50 Canadian cents per week. It was more than adequate for my needs as I was stuck in a construction camp in the Alberta bush with no place at which to spend it. Our one shopping trip a month went to Drayton Valley and by…
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Occam’s Razor Saw

Go google up William of Ockham and read the article. Follow a few of the rabbit hole links and then come back. You’ll want a stiff drink now. Don’t try to model as your hands will be shaky. Avoid bright lights. The principles that William seemed to be writing about and that have provided philosophers…
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The Odd Model

Vs the Old Standard. Is it possible to find happiness in the box of your 115th Spitfire if you elect to decorate it in the colours of the Congolese Air Force? Only if the other 114 are in RAF standard Day Fighter green/grey/sky and are distinguishable only by tail code. You started to feel confident…
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Academy SPAD XIII – Part One – Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy

However, I am going to do my best to keep the criminal at bay. My Revell SPAD XIII need not distress itself – this Academy model will look quite different. The model kit itself was a kind gift from a friend and has not been long in the stash before being called forth. I am…
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Don’t Do Anything With Your Hobby…

That isn’t fun. Because then it will not be a hobby – it will be a task – and a burdensome one, at that. Once it becomes work, you become a worker, and then you have to beware of the boss: a. a shop owner who employs you as a salesperson or repairman. Perhaps as…
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The Dinner On The Workbench Idea

No, I’m not talking about a plate of stew in the middle of painting a new model. That will not end well. This is a post about prices. We pay varying amounts of money for our models – Some come free and are all the sweeter for that – some cost a lot. Unless we…
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Pfalz D.IIIa – Part One – First Time

I had been watching reports of the Roden scale models for some time and had not been able to come to a conclusion – some lauded and some condemned them for poor moulding and impossible parts. A birthday gift meant I could go to the hobby shop and bring back an armload of inexpensive kits…
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Do Not Sell Your Models

Build them. Whether you build them SOOTB, or tricked out with a dozen packets of after-market…build them. Build them painted or plain, weathered or fresh, well or otherwise…but build them. That is why they were made. That is why the designers sat at the drafting board or computer screen until their eyes turned red. That…
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Do Not Start Too Small

I met a chap re-entering the hobby recently who was trying to choose his kits to build skill before he tackled the one he really fancied. I thought this was sensible thinking, but I suspect he made a bit of a problem for himself by selecting a 1:144 scale plane. It was charming, but too…
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It’s Not A Stash Sale

If you don’t buy something you don’t need. If you buy something that you don’t want, it ratchets up to a higher level. If it is overpriced, you are moving into the professional league. If you buy aftermarket for it, and build it, you have become a master in the art of Zen modelling. The…
