Category: Decals
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Is There A Worse Feeling?

I mean a worse feeling than seeing someone succeed brilliantly with a model kit, material, or technique that you have failed in. Not bad enough that you threw your model against the wall, but the other person has managed to win a medal with theirs. Jealousy is a green-eyed monster in many fields; love, business,…
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MiG 21 – Part One And Only – The Buffer Zone Interceptor

We often forget that there was more than one side to the Cold War. West, East, and Neutral. And Neutral broke down to Undecided, Uneconomic, and Uninterested. The DDR were trusted by their Soviet masters more than you’d think. The Russians were no fools – they knew the quality of the East Germans and had…
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Sopwith Triplane – Part Three – Black Maria

As a straight-out-of-the-bag build I could not have asked more of the Revell Sopwith triplane. It cost me nothing, it delivered a lot of pleasure. The plastic parts fitted as well as any baggie would…but yielded well to the cut and sand that you normally expect to do. The interior is a seat and a…
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Sopwith Triplane – Part Two – The New Techniques

I have decided to risk navigating this PaulPlane in only two uncharted waters: the use of the new decal technique and a new finishing varnish. The third experiment – the plastic rigging – will be postponed until a slightly larger model offers. It’s nice stuff, but a little thick for this job. The decaling system…
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All Your Problems Will Be A Thing Of The Past

Leaving time and energy for your new problems. Whenever you meet with an obstacle in your road to scale modelling you must stop and try to figure out what went wrong. Go to reference works – whether they be on-line or in magazines – and then talk to other modellers who have had the same…
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Gloss, Semi-Gloss, Semi-Satin, Satin, Semi-Matt, Matt, Flat

And all on the same model. Aren’t we a special modeller, then, eh? And these can all be produced by one spray-gun or brush. The most exciting times are when you try for one and get another. This is the point where your education comes in…because that is what has given you your vocabulary. If…
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Hawker Demon – Part Three – I Was Right

Well, it had to happen some time, eh? The Airfix Vintage Classic Hawker Demon is a colourful gem. The decision to pair it with the Bristol Bulldog was brilliant; it is every bit as good. The building fit was straightforward – once the sinks and posts had been dealt with. Very little filling needed on…
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Hawker Demon – Part One – VC Airfix

That’s ” vintage classic ” as it says on the box, but the VC connotation is not at all inappropriate for many of the re-issued Airfix kits. They can really be prize winners. This was a kit that nagged the eye in the shop for a number of months until I had completed the Airfix…
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CAC Boomerang – Part Four – Green And White

Readers of this column may be wondering why I build so few Australian aircraft. It is not that I dislike them – it is just that I know so little of them that I fear making errors. I know that other modellers are much more accurate and I respect their judgement. Yet I would not…
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My New Air Friend

I have had a number of air friends in the past; The RCAF, the IDF, and the Ruritanian Royal Army Air Force amongst others. They feature largely in my collection, and more examples of aircraft will be added as the years go by. But I have a new friend, and it looks like I’ll be…
