Category: Czech models
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Martin B 10 Bomber – Part Seven – The Japanese Raider

The original of this Martin B 10 bomber was not a hangar queen. Part of a 10-plane shipment to China, it and one other were the last of their lot as war took its toll. I get the feeling that there were issues with aircraft maintenance, airfield protection, and crew performance that gradually took out…
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Martin B 10 Bomber – Part Six – Far Side Of The Hill

And we know what colour that is because it featured in a folk song… The shade of green that the Martin B 10 wears as a Chinese Nationalist Air Force plane is speculative – there are a number of sources that insist upon olive drab and an equal number that place the hue closer to…
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Martin B 10 Bomber – Part Five – Naked Whale

Well, you can see the corrugated strakes on the top of the Martin, and I assure you they are there on the bottom as well. I’m going to be grateful when it comes to the decals that – unlike the JU 52 – these ripples do not interfere with the decorations. The seams of the…
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Martin B10 Bomber – Part Four – If I Want A Pretzel…

…I’ll go to the bakery. The production of a complex fuselage is…well…complex. And sometimes the strange shape must cause the final product to come out of the mould a little distorted. I suspect this was the case with the Martin B 10. There was enough of a warp to render it impossible to set all…
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Martin B10 Bomber – Part Three – A Split Personality

And split on the horizontal plane, not the vertical. This form of model design is not as common as the vertical, but in this case I think it is perfectly logical. The Martin B10 has a sinuous body – and the proportions remind you of the Handley Page Hampden or the Dornier Do 17-K. The…
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Martin B10 Bomber – Part Two – Parts Not Needed

The advent of the multi-build kit these days is both a boon and a curse – particularly if you are a fussy sort of modeller who wants to get the thing just right – the particular mark or serial number. The maker may have given you just the pieces to do it with, but they…
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Martin B10 Bomber – Part One – The Flying Whale

When I set about looking for the nickname of the Martin B10 bomber I was sent to the Lockheed Martin site. They laughingly admitted that it got this from the press of the time because of the size. However, when you look at some of the corrugated surfaces on the fuselage, they do have some…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Seven – Shangri La

As this is the first Curtiss Helldiver I have built, I could approach it with a fresh mind. The history of the type seems to have been a mixed one – initial failures and disappointments and then solid success against the Japanese fleet. It had its time and place and filled it well. I must…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Four – Euclid Was Never A Scale Modeller

Because he could never get the geometry right… I look fondly on equilateral triangles and acute angles – many of my friends can best be described as angular and obtuse – and I like to see the geometry of the model airplane come out well. I wish this was the case with every short-run kit.…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part One – Airplane Rescue Shelter

Some people rescue puppies and kittens – some people rescue bums. Good on them, I say – they are caring and compassionate souls. I’m not normally this good, but I do have one virtue; I rescue kits. I did not start out to do my modelling this way – like most charitable affairs it just…
