Category: Decals
-
Have You Found Your Oeuvre?
Or your œuf? Is your modelling pressing you toward one coherent thing, or are you flailing in all directions? Perhaps flailing is your destiny, and you are fulfilling it. Do not despair. Leonardo Da Vinci was nearly fifty years old before he built his first model of the MISSOURI. And look how he flourished in…
-
Avia B-135 – Part Four – One Time Lucky
But there’s more than one kind of luck… Sold to Bulgaria by the Czechs, relegated to training duties even in that air force, and out for a four-plane mission in 1944 when American B-24 Liberators approached Bulgarian air space after attacking Ploesti. They were unable to catch most of the bombers but at least one…
-
Shinden – Part One – Out Of The Mould
And into the mould. This kit has been invaded. Not by aliens…mould spores are definitely from here on Earth. And this Hasegawa kit has met them. Perhaps from time spent in Japan in humid weather or out in the sheed during the winter.. The condition of the box, instructions, and decals shows fair deterioration, though…
-
Decal Or Not Decal
That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler to suffer the agonies of masking tape and airbrush or to take scissors and water and end them. I am in the position of Hamlet every time I look a the colour call-out of a kit. I have the decal sheet in one hand and my heart in…
-
The Odd Model
Vs the Old Standard. Is it possible to find happiness in the box of your 115th Spitfire if you elect to decorate it in the colours of the Congolese Air Force? Only if the other 114 are in RAF standard Day Fighter green/grey/sky and are distinguishable only by tail code. You started to feel confident…
-
Heinkel 51 – Part Three – A “Civil ” Heinkel
I have chosen this title as a nod to the paint scheme on this Heinkel. I am pretending it was a civilian aircraft. Anyone familiar with the history of Germany at the time this was flying – mid thirties – can draw their own conclusions about what was a civil aircraft and what was a…
-
Heinkel 51- Part two – A Sunshiny Grey Day
And as the house-keeping has been done for the week, there is nothing left but the Heinkel-keeping. You are never going to be doing all that much to an early Hasegawa kit – a little filling and sanding where the ejector pins were aggressive, but there is no overweening detail to dismay you. You are…
-
Heinkel 51 – Part One – An Unexpected Subject
As most know, I do not, as a rule, model Axis subjects. Oh, I have done so where historically appropriate to tell a story, or as captured aircraft, but few in their own livery. The recent completion of a Heinkel 70 G-1 Blitz was an exception – it forms part of the civilian scene at…
-
Academy SPAD XIII – Part Three – Not Goin’ Nowhere
And not surprising – it’s 38º C outside and 43º C in my work shed. I shall be lurking near the beer cooler and doing the final assembly and decal work inside. I praise the luxury of the choice. The ticklish job of assembly with a bi- or tri-plane is the stage at which you…
-
Airfix Boomerang – Part Four – Classy Vintage
Well, if the Airfix 2023 announcements are anything to go by, it is going to be a good year for Vintage Classics. And if this kit is a sample of what will come along I shall buy the entire range. The result at the end of the build has been all I could ask for…
The Little World 