Category: damage control
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Discover the Joy Of…
A recent advertisement on FACEBOOK* told us to discover the joys of building a ship model. Fair enough. There are people in our club who do just that – build wooden and plastic vessels – and it has been a joy to see them at work. Watching them search the grey concrete floor for a…
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LeO 45 – Part Two – This Is Fine…
The initial burst of admiration for this Heller kit has been tempered by building it. The wings are on, and at a reasonable dihedral – set by the internal tab on each wing sliding all the way across to the opposite side of the fuselage and locking itself in place. This is admirable. Less so…
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Forbidden Modelling
What an odd concept. Who can forbid scale modelling? Well, quite a few official bodies, as it happens. Try to fly a model airplane, run an R/C car or boat, or scramble about the local oval with your model tank and see what a squawk it raises. These restrictions multiply when there are clubs and…
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See Sub?
A model submarine in operation is like a smiling Methodist. You suspect they exist because someone told you so, but you never actually see one for yourself. Once it submerges the only evidence most people see is the wake of a periscope or a Harpoon missile broaching the water and streaking off to blow up…
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The Visiting Club
Scale modellers who make plastic kits know that when an exhibition is coming up they need to steel their nerves to the sticking point for two things; the journey there and the journey home. Because the model that you spent three months carefully cementing together has a dozen points of protrusion – plastic guns, pitot…
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Schmattarim
Stop groaning. It’s my model airport and I get to make the jokes. Actually, it’s a museum layout – a very useful way to display a variety of aircraft. In this case they are Israeli, and the idea is patterned on the real IAF museum at Hatzerim. I’ve built enough models to mount two separate…
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Have You Ever Been Tempted…
To chime in at the local hobby shop when you hear someone ask a question of a salesperson? Well, stifle that impulse…unless you are asked a direct question by the staff member, your input is not helpful. You may know the answer, but consider that the answer you know may be one of many. The…
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The Unwritten Rules Of Scale Modelling Competitions
Hah. Fooled ya. There are no unwritten rules. They were going to make some but with the months it took to produce the written ones, time just got away. The sub-committee for underwater vehicles took a very long time to surface and there were real fears. As it is, the printing costs for the rulebook…
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Lid
Or, ” How Not To Flip Yours “… Over a period of years I have been painting with multiple airbrushes – my compressor unit has two output hoses. Starting with cheap kit guns and trigger actions, I have finally settled on two Mr. Hobby Procom Boy units. One is single action – on double. They…
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When You Take The Leap Of Faith
And it works. I tried a new technique in the construction of scale model parts. I needed a hollow engine cowling for a bomber and had a similarly-sized one to use as a master model. A few weeks ago I embedded this master in a casting box made of cheap cardboard and poured two-part silicone…
The Little World 