Category: Czech models
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SNCAN Martinet – Part Four – Swedish Spy

That might seem a bit harsh, but the decal on the side of the fuselage and the Wikipedia entry both identify this post-war aircraft as part of the cartographic services if the Swedish government. They may have flown over Sweden mapping, but they could also have been taking vertical pictures elsewhere. There are several internet…
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SNCAN Martinet – Part One – A Siebel By Any Other Name

Christmas was coming to the hobby shop and it was time to choose my present. In this case before the actual day, so I got a fresh choice. The SNCAN Martinet was a Siebel 204 produced in France during the occupation and afterwards. It was used by the French air force and then sold on…
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Timing…

A ticka, ticka, ticka…Good Timing. A tocka, tocka, tocka. If you model by the clock you’ll never go wrong…until Daylight Savings starts or your Big Ben falls off the bench. Then you’ll be back to counting up to one thousand before letting go of the cemented parts. The intrusion of time into a hobby is…
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Of Course It Doesn’t Fit

It never fit in 1959, when the kit was released. It didn’t fit in 1989 when Revell bought the mould and re-issued it. It will not fit when someone east of the Urals finally gets the worn-out blocks and injects reindeer poo into them to claw back some rubles. It’s not about fit. It’s about…
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Fiat CR.32 – Part Four – Under A Chinese Sun

The Fiat CR.32 is now ready to fight off the hordes of invading Japanese bombers from the Xú Jichâng airfield. The period of time between the last post and this one was spent painting the wheel sub-assemblies – an easy task – and putting them on the fuselage. This was also an easy task, giving…
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Fiat CR.32 – Part Two – Rosatelli Rocket

I had never heard about Celestino Rosatelli before I read the instruction sheet for this kit, but the story there was enough to send me looking at some of his other designs. They were mostly successful and few of them looked like clunkers, but as with most of the designs of the period I long…
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Fiat CR.32 – Part One – ” Chirri “

Not just the bare bones, but the entire animal! A nationalist Chinese fighter of the 1930’s straight out of the box! And it is one I haven’t built before. How could I refuse the email lure from Metro Hobbies? And it’s an AZ model from the Czech Republic so I know it’ll eventually be good.…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Eight – Air France Libre
My first aircraft model with the Free French cross of Lorraine and it has been quite an experience. The Farman in warpaint would have been simple enough to do, and the camouflage would have disguised many of the difficulties encountered, but the appeal of the ivory paint and those FF insignia won out in the…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Seven – L’Éminence Grise

By the time a large scale model gets to the Mr Surfacer 1000 stage I no longer have any authority over it – the command structure is reversed. In a way, it is comforting to surrender the initiative in this way. Oh, there will be patching and sanding and other attendances but the die has…
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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:…
