Category: design
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Caudron C-445 – Part Two – The Expensive Seats

Well, that decided it. The interior of the Caudron C-445 shows it to be an officer’s toy – not a hospital transport. There are six seats in it – two for the pilots, one for the radio operator in the front. One for the secretary and one for the aide de camp in the back.…
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Caudron C-445 – Part One – The Metro Trawl

I don’t know whether Metro Hobbies in Melbourne lie in wait for me or if it’s the other way round. As the flow of money goes east and the flow of plastic comes west, it doesn’t really matter. I tend to shop in three modes: Cheap, Curious, and Canadian. Some say that this is tautology,…
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The 1/35th Scale Holy Grail

Or ” No glue-sniffing in church…”. I have recently joined a Facebook group associated with 1/35 scale model tanks. It’s a large group and many people send in wonderful pictures of their kits and builds. It has several members besides myself here in Perth. I sent in three posts this last week revolving around amour…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part Nine – Northwest Air Defence

I had no idea as a kid. ( I don’t have much more sense now. ) But I sure wish I had known about the F-82 Twin Mustang long before my old age. I might have been able to see one in real life – because they flew from an air base near to a…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part Seven – Long Dong

All right. We might as well get this over with… Those of you inclined to ribaldry may dissolve into laughter at the thought of the Long Dong radar pod joke. Elbow each other in the ribs and snort. The rest of the readers just be patient. The Monogram F-82 is proceeding wonderfully well, with no…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part Six – Afternoon, All…

Just sat me down to the Monogram night fighter kit and have progressed well. Progressed by dint of the simple moulding and precise fit of the parts. Make no mistake – when the classic kit makers were in their prime they could turn out some precise work. There might be raised panel lines, but the…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part Five – The Black Twin

Lo and Behold. A dear old Monogram F-82 kit at a swap meet. The price of Hobby Boss click-together. What’s not to like! The kit is complete – the decals are reasonable, the canopies are all there. It is out of fashion as an older mould, but the raising of the panel lines has lowered…
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Bristol Beaufort Mk I – Part Six – OTU Queen

The receipt of Mk I Beauforts by the RCAF in the early 40’s must have been a sort of a mixed blessing. They had been used on North Sea and Norwegian strikes, and then later in the Mediterranean by specially-trained squadrons of the RAF…often with Canadian crew members aboard. They had their share of successes…
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Bristol Beaufort Mk I – Part Five – Engine Night

The hot weather returning compelled me to wait until after dark to do spray painting in my workshop, but this was no bad thing. It meant the previous day’s cementation had a good time to set and would not be breaking loose unexpectedly. Engine Night, and a lesson in careful attention to detail. Not that…
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Bristol Beaufort Mk I – Part Four – A Dirty, Dirty Business

But that was life at Doukhobor Bay in the old days. Baths once a month and toothbrushing every second week… The interior of the Bristol Beaufort is pretty well complete and has received a coat of filth. Fortunately it will be hard to see inside the fuselage once it’s closed up. Just as well, it’s…
