Category: design
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Potez 540 – part Six – Acqui De Espero!
I think that lost something in the translation… Or maybe it was a famous battle cry. Or a caption on a poster. Whatever…it translates as a bare ” here I wait “. Honest – it googles up as an advertising phrase for a hotel in the Canary Islands… Don’t ask why it appears on the…
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Potez 540 – Part Four – IKEA Day
The day I assemble the fuselage from the flat pack with a little hex wrench. I almost seemed like that was going to be the case when I first saw the way the aircraft had been sectioned. But Heller was wise – if the Potez was rectangular in cross section there was no point in…
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The Bellanca Ball-Ache
I’m being unfair to Bellanca – I could have chosen Beechcraft or Bristol. The alliteration was the thing – a ” B ” aircraft maker was needed. Let’s start out by saying there never was an aircraft called the Ball-Ache. There may have been many that induced the condition, but that is a matter for…
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Martin Maryland – Part Two – FROG Spawn
Well, I wasn’t wrong about the origin of the model – but I noted some interesting features on the sprue trees. Some were perfect and some were not. A Forrest Gump box of chocolates, indeed. The fuselage and wings are wonderful. The tail plane likewise. The design features a set of long tabs that lock…
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Prop Washing
Well, you don’t want a dirty propeller, now do you. Sign of a badly-maintained aircraft, that. All greasy around the spinner, like… Actually, I got to wondering at who decides what colour the propeller on an aircraft should be, and why. Some reasons seem evident, but some are obscure. a. American aircraft prior to WW2…
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Dassault Ouragan – Part Two – Taming The Pit
I must complement Valom. They are not terminally annoying. The fuselage halves for the Dassault Ouragan fit with few gaps. The wings go together sweetly – very little fettling in the landing gear well. The nose intake splitter and tailpipe are paragons of precision. Then there is the cockpit… It is well-moulded and reasonably proportioned…
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Operating Vs Poseable
Also known as detached parts…and what you do with ’em. As a kid 60+ years ago I built Airfix, Monogram, and AMT kits that had working parts. Ailerons, tail surfaces, car bonnets, ship’s turrets, etc. were made with joints and sockets that allowed things to wave, swivel, and retract. This was a major attraction that…
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Mitsubishi Ann – Part Six – Smooth, Grey, And Vulnerable
Well, this little Pavla kit was fun to do. it has everything fastened now – PE dashboard, pilot, PE machine gun, and pitot tube, and the nicest pair of spats you’ll see outside of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. And I’ll bet they fell like autumn leaves, too. Sleek, smooth, underpowered, and dead meat in front…
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Mitsubishi Ann – Part Two – A Simple Story
If you have a good story to tell, tell it simply. No need for magic tricks, special effects, or complex plot lines. If your story has any merit to it, the simple approach is fine. People will be interested. They will also be grateful. Likewise a model airplane kit. If you have a simple plane…
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Lockheed Electra Junior – Part Three – The Bare Torso
The two colours of plastic in the Lockheed kit were startling on the sprue trees but have become less so when assembled together. As they will shortly disappear under an undercoat and then silver they are of no consequence. Of greater import is the splendid fit of the structure. Making up the twin-rudder tail separately…
The Little World 