Category: die cast
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Modellers Need A Holiday
Or a festival. Not sure which would be better, but it needs to be a day that can have good things to eat and drink. I’m talking a regular, yearly holiday that can be gazetted in the Western Australian calendar the same as ANZAC Day or Easter. A day that you get off work, if…
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Why No 1:64 Planes, Then?
If you were a kid in North America in the 50’s you basically had a choice of three scales for electric trains: 1:48 Lionel, 1:64 American Flyer, and 1:87 HO made by Varney, Athearn, and lots of smaller firms. The 1:87 HO has stayed with us – just as 1:76 has stayed with the British…
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1932 Chrysler – Part One – Trepidation
I’m not normally nervous when selecting a model kit to build…but I’ll confess to feeling that way about this one on the hobby shop shelf.. Why nervous? Because I used to have an extensive collection of die-cast model cars in 1:18 scale that I used as props for tabletop photography. They were sold away, and…
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The Big Local Scale Model Exhibition – Part Four – The Mysterious Models
I use the term ” mysterious ” here in a purely personal sense. The subjects that are covered by many modellers and gamers are out of my experience, and I can only gaze upon them with wonder. I hope they will do the same for me – even if it is just wondering if I…
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” It Looks Like A Die Cast “
A well-known contributor to a modelling You Tube site has often remarked that painting a model without weathering it extensively makes it look like a die cast. I think he’s right and I’m ever so grateful to him for the hint. I still do weather some models lightly, but knowing that they will look good…
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Matchbox Helldiver – Part Three – The Hubley Kit
If you are from North America you’ll recognise the name Hubley. They were a die-cast toy maker of the 40’s and 50’s who made larger size offerings. I owned a Hubley Bell telephone truck with working winch and pole trailer – surely an odd choice of prototype even for the times. I observed other kids…
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Selling The Farm
Would be a darn sight easier than selling completed scale models. I am about to confirm this as I have put some 1:18 dioramas up for sale. It’s a couple of months away from the annual scale model car show and rather than haul the dioramas to the show and try to sell them there,…
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A Childhood Ambition Realised
No, I will not be a fighter pilot, or a movie star, or a rich man. But I think I can say that I am acheiving a childhood ambition with my aero modelling. Not flying models, you understand – scale plastic models that sit on a shelf. My experience with flying models was and has…
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“ Toy-Like “
A well-known set of modellers discuss their builds on the internet regularly and show how they apply weathering, washes, oils, staining, filters, and a whole armoury of pictorial effects to their models. The results are indeed grimy and realistic – one has to applaud them for that. Yet, they fall into a habit of describing…
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Federal 2 1/2 Ton Part Three – Classy Chassis
The joy of building Academy vehicles is the precise subassemblies that their kit moulding makes possible. The chassis of the Federal is no exception – in fact it is better than the Army ambulance that they put out. I still have the horrors trying to get all the wheels on the pavement at the same…
The Little World 