Category: Collecting
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Where Do You Live?

In a house? In a suburb? In a certain time? What if you could create your own little world? Some scale model railway makers do that – and their layouts can be as bare or as detailed as their resources and imagination may dictate. Scale model diorama makers as well – they have little slices…
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Good Shows Need Not Be Frantic

It is not necessary to have rock music and explosions. Sometimes quiet beauty and good crafting skills are all that is needed. A case in point is the annual Western Australian Miniature Association event held at South Perth Civic Centre. It is a gem. The venue is on a quiet street – which helps to…
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Fokker D.XXI – Part Three – 1939

Ist Fighter Squadron, De Kooy, Netherlands. Autumn 1939. Den Helder was the location and the Dutch had about 30 operational Fokker D.XXI fighters at the base. They were used in May 1940 as defence against the Luftwaffe and the official history records some remarkable successes for the type. It was more manoeuvrable than the Bf…
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Fokker D.XXI – Part One -SOOTB Fighter

I have so few Dutch aircraft in my collection that this stash buy is a real asset – Let us hope the kit is up to MPM standards. New MPM standards, I hasten to add. The canopy is clear injection and there is only the wretched resin propeller boss and separate blades to gloom the…
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The Commander Of Leftover Air Base

The home of the 103rd Tactical Kit Boxes. Our motto: ” What The Heck Is This? “ It is a heavy responsibility to be the grate at the bottom of the scale modelling drain. To be the hobbyist that follows the parade of kits with a broom and a shovel. To be the person under…
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So Good That…

That the makers of 1:64 scale cars and trucks don’t make their construction equipment in the same scale. That the cars they do make are nearly always brightly coloured race cars and rods. So useful for normal dioramas. That the die cast factories employ pantograph design machinery to produce the same thing in three scales.…
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What Does A Free Model Teach You?

If chance brings a free model kit to your bench, what should you do? a. Thank the donor profusely. b. Bear it away unopened and when alone, look inside. c. Whatever the state of the contents, do not panic. There might be gold or iron pyrites in there, and you may have to actually build…
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Grumman Tracker – Part Three – A Bonnie Aircraft

Bonnie, but not magnificent… The Idea Model Company Grumman S2F-1 model that came to me at a low price has proved to be an excellent bargain. It might not have the precision of a Hasegawa or Tamiya product, but it is here, now, and has built up to a good stand-off model. The Royal Canadian…
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Extraordinary Models

Out of the ordinary. Unusual. Remarkable. Etc. The devil is in the etc. Manufacturers of kits are sometimes thrown to the edge of the cliff when it comes to the selection of a prototype for their latest kit. In their various divisions they have usually fallen back upon a well-known kit to get quick money.…
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What Do You Do With The Leftovers?

If they are corned beef or meatloaf I embark on a glorious week of sandwiches. If they are scale model kits or model paints there are other procedures. Check me out against your own workshop. a. The parts of a kit that are not used – the extra canopies, wheels, snow skis, or armament –…
