Category: damage control
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Consolidated B-24 D – Part Two – The Toxic Rivet
Or should that be noxious? Whatever, the exaggerated rivet detail on this old Revell kit is probably what causes it to be rejected by the modern builders. Yet, under the spotty exterior is a pattern of decent engraved panel lines. I researched other’s efforts and found one ambitious chap who sanded the rivets off entirely.…
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Consolidated B-24D – Part One – The Unloved
It started as a bit of a joke amongst club mates. One chap had been given a Revell model of a B-24D made sometime in the 1980’s and everyone who saw it condemned it as unbuild-able. He was so discouraged that he was going to bin it. But then offered it around the table for…
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Morning Sickness In The Model Workshop
You’ll know you have it when the smell of fresh thinner makes you ill. It will probably not be pregnancy, particularly if you are a member of the local Men’s Shed. Few of the chaps over 60 in my club fall pregnant in the course of a year. It may be one of a number…
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No Is As Good An Answer As Yes
As long as you are asking the question of yourself. One of my hobby clubs has opened a new sales cabinet at our rooms in which shops and individuals can put kits they wish to sell. The shops are wise if they put otherwise unsalable stock in at a hefty discount – the private sellers…
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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…
The Little World 