Category: damage control
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Boeing Clipper 314 – Part Five – A Soul At Rest
It took an extra week, but the time was worth it. The aggravating mistakes of the first Boeing Clipper 314 have been corrected. The mental image I had of the result has come into focus. I can rest easy. The duraluminium surface has been all I could ask for – taking decals perfectly and keeping…
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Boeing Clipper 314 – Part Four – The Horse
When we fall off a horse we are counselled to get right back on – before we develop a fear that would paralyse us. Sound thinking, and as I was unhappy with the finish of the Boeing 314 DIXIE CLIPPER I considered it advisable to go out and buy another kit…and finish it to a…
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Sit Up
Beg. Roll over. Die for the Queen. Good modeller; here’s your trophy. Now go lie on your mat and chew it. Perhaps it’s not really like that. Maybe the scale modelling contest is an instrument of culture and craftsmanship that rewards excellence and encourages the development of skills and good moral tone. Perhaps the committee…
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What’s The Biggest Headache In Model Aircraft Kits?
Is it gaps in the joints? Impossibly big sprue feed gates? Dodgy decals? Nope – the worst thing about a model aircraft kit is the landing gear. Unless you’re building a flying boat ( and they have their own problems ) you will encounter your worst moment with the legs. Your problem will be balanced…
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De Havilland Kate Moth – Part One – Airfix of Middle Age
Grown old in the mould – but tarted up with a new box. This Airfix model is a 1990 re-box of a series of Moths that originally hatched in 1957. It started in a plastic baggie cocoon but eventually graduated to the small cardboard box. At least that allowed Airfix more surface area to print…
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The Search For New Plastic
Are you at an impasse? Have you built yourself out of a hobby? Are you standing in the hobby shop but not feeling the buzz? Relax – it happens to all of us one time or another. The people who have a lot of spare hobby money to burn have it happen a lot more…
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You Can Save Yourself Into The Bin
Or the poorhouse. The first comes about when you decide to buy raw materials to bypass the commercial products. If you have been used to using a rattle can for spraying undercoat or varnish, you can replace this consistent and successful method with a single-action airbrush, little pots of clear lacquer, and a great deal…
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The Monument To Discouragement
Sits sad and alone in the public park. No-one visits it…willingly. Sometimes you arrive at a point in the building of a model kit when it makes you sad. It might be the bad fit, the broken parts, or just the lacklustre nature of the prototype. It might be the advent of a much better…
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If You Went To The Theatre As A Drama Critic
What would you do if the show was good? Bet you would be torn by the temptation to slam it anyway. After all, that is what you are paid for and you have a reputation to uphold. The fact that you might do so by blackening that of others is beside the point…and Pierrepoint the…
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The New Kit Box
You do not have to be an 18th century rake… To recognise the experience of being captured by the appearance of a smartly-dressed courtesan with a painted face and patches on her cheeks. The ample bosom and the curled hair may be missing, but the end result – bitter horror at the raddled creation encased…
The Little World 