Category: damage control
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No Kittens Were Harmed In The Making Of This Kit

But it was not for want of trying. Pets and scale model kits would be a combination made in Heaven, if Heaven involved a great deal of inconvenience and anger. Anyone who has seen a long-haired cat walk over a half-rigged biplane will know exactly what I mean. If you factor in the static electricity,…
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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…


