Category: design
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Boeing X-Plane – Part Three – Big Donk
This is the biggest small piston engine in my collection – until I locate a 1/72 B-36… The four-row piston engine – 28 cylinders and I suppose 56 spark plugs – was a massive effort to put more power into the air. It was so powerful that it needed to be split between two contra-rotating…
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Boeing X-Plane – Part Two – Mind The Gap…
I was greatly encouraged while during open stage of fuselage construction by the fact that the two halves fitted together almost perfectly. And the big, sturdy wing halves did the same – even the wing tips had minimal ledging. This can be a real problem for some kits as there is little to fill or…
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There’s No Such Thing As A Biggest Model
There’s only the biggest model…yet. For everyone, whether they be manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or builder, there is never an end point in the progression of the scale model kit. The factory may start out making 1:144 scale models of Piper Cubs, but if these sell they will be onto the next larger prototype for the…
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MiG 21R – Part One – Who Condor?
Who, indeed. When I encountered this model of a Mig 21R at Hobbytech I wondered at it. It was a slow day and I wanted a new kit and I was prepared to buy anything cheap…without really knowing what I’d do with it. Turns out Condor is a Ukrainian maker who specialises in agricultural-grade models…
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Nieuport-Delage 622 – Part Three – On A Wing And A Half
If you don’t have enough materials to make a complete lower wing, just shrink it a bit and no-one will notice… The sesqui-wing is a much-maligned design. I count several in my collection and they are nearly all sleek things. They lower wing is functional to some extent – much like the small wing that…
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Nieuport-Delage 622 – Part Two – Canadian Club
I have chosen this title because of the shape of the Nieuport-Delage 622’s fuselage and sesquiplane lower wing. It reminds me of a baby seal. Coming from the Frozen North as I did, some things are ethnographic… Stop shuddering. If you can eat Vegemite on toast within the sight of decent people, you can stand…
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AI And The Scale Modeller – Part One – Write It Down
The brouhaha about AI seems to be heating up, which is fine if you are in Australia in the middle of winter. Frankly, any warmth is welcome. For scale modellers it will make no less of a difference than it will for photographers, gossip column writers, or people who clean drains. We will explore the…
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I’m Not Fussy
Really I’m not. You would be convinced of this if you saw some of the clothes I wear and some of the people I pal around with. There is a lot of slack there, and most of it is me. And I am getting a lot looser with what I build as a scale modeller.…
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Sherman Tank – Part Four – Aha, A Flaw!
And I did not think I would find one in this Zvezda kit. One of the mufflers is missing. The plastic stock box yielded a bit of Evergreen tube and its end was sealed with Milliput. Simple. Every other blessed part fit perfectly – and spending a day making the bogies was a real pleasure.…
The Little World 