Category: design
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Republic P-47D – Part One – Show Surprise

I was astounded when presented with this Hasegawa P-47 at our recent scale model show. It was not a prize for competition – just a kind gift from an official. I hope the end result will adequately express my gratitude. There are several other P-47’s in the collection in USAAF markings so this time I…
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Eco-Friendly Virtuous Modelling

Become One With The Modelverse. A new contest is about to be announced by the BGA for scale modellers who wish to become legends, icons, or be included in the Hall Of Famousosity. The 2025 Greta awards are going to be for the best scale model made with traditional materials by modellers who are attuned…
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I’m From Missouri

Show me. If you recognise that phrase, you’ll know it embodies the scepticism and practicality of the Missourian. It must be hard to sell used cars in Kansas City… But the miniature builder can satisfy even the hardest prairie mind – because the miniature builder need not be restricted to where they are or when…
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Define Nostalgia

Easy to do for yourself – hard to do for others… The theme for some of the displays seen at the WAMA exhibition revolved around nostalgia. The vague meaning of the word – a pain for the past – may be a lot more apposite than you’d think if your past was a pain. Some…
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Where Do You Live?

In a house? In a suburb? In a certain time? What if you could create your own little world? Some scale model railway makers do that – and their layouts can be as bare or as detailed as their resources and imagination may dictate. Scale model diorama makers as well – they have little slices…
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If You Build A Mustspitschmitt

You have to build it in the largest possible scale. Anything less would be a waste of time. Disregard the fact that you could show as much or as little skill in the smaller size as the larger. Set aside the cost factor and the encroachment on domestic space after it is completed. This is…
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Aichi B7A2 Grace – Part One – Plastic Baggies Have Changed…

Remember the 50¢ Airfix baggie of 1959? Your whole allowance gone but you could build on it for a week. This Fujimi kit has also come to me in a plastic bag, courtesy of a stash sale, but it is considerably in advance of the ’59 kits. It’s come at the price of pint of…
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Airfix Auster – Part Two – One A Week In Bull Creek

The Auster is going well. The build is not taxing, as sight of the sprue trees probably suggested. It is going well enough, indeed, to suggest that it might be a good return build for another form. One doesn’t get a great deal of detail, but then I don’t think Auster or Taylorcraft put a…
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Airfix Auster – Part One – Vintage Classic Day

My vigil at the hobby shop was rewarded – the re-issue of the Vintage Classic Airfix kit came in. And went out again, under my arm. I did not know in what form it would finally be assembled, but since I had such success with the similar Airfix Beaver, I was confident. The kit is…
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We Regard You As Innocent

Until someone suggests you could be guilty. A big local scale model exhibition seems to have attracted a very unusual visitor: A 1:1 scale replica of a motor vehicle from 80 years ago. It was parked in the front of the Cannington Exhibition Centre on the second afternoon of the show. I did not see…
