Category: finances
-
Percival Provost T Mk1 – Part One – The Box In A Box
I was delighted when my friend Warren presented me with this Matchbox Percival Provost – inasmuch as it has passed through three sets of hands for free I hope to make mine the last ones before it becomes an airplane. It was found inside another model box purchased at a secondhand arms and militaria fair…
-
The Scale Modelling Culture
Or ” How I learned to cut throats on a green plastic mat “. As scale model builders we mess with the ideas of popular culture all the time. The vast majority of the population who have never built anything smaller than an IKEA bookshelf have no idea what closely focusing on a fresh kit…
-
Airfix Mosquito – Part One – The Free Skeeter
Is there any nicer word in the English language than ” free “?* I was attracted to this Airfix model of the Mosquito NF MkII when I saw it on the free kit table of the Model Car Spectacular earlier in the year. If you put in an entry you got a number that was…
-
Not Quite So Many Paints
Well, another day and another visit… I strolled down the paint aisle today to discover the SMS paints that I had reviewed yesterday gone from the shelves – an empty paint rack with their name on it where they once were. Leading me to a series of speculations: a. Did they not sell? They were…
-
Boxing Day Is Only Good If You Need Boxes
And I do. In my cases I need boxes with plastic model airplane kits in them. This year I opted for the do-it-yourself-later option. I asked for gift vouchers for the local hobby shop. The good family delivered as requested and I am now cashed up for the next few months – whenever I need…
-
Tool Time – Part Five – We’re There
Here’s what the Ustar people packed into their mini modeller’s tool kit – the kit I bought for the pair of plastic nippers inside. I’ll show you why today was a good day. The heading image was inside the cardboard case. That’s a 100mm x 200mm cutting board and sealed plastic box. Let’s tally up…
-
Tool Time – Part Four – What Happened Next
Never glance. Glancing is dangerous. Either look deliberately or put your head down inside your shirt collar and see nothing. I know this because I glanced… To my left, as it happened, as I went to the till at Hobbytech to purchase the set of Ustar plastic nippers. I went past the rack that has…
-
Tool Time – Part Three – The Choices On The Racks
I’ll confess it – I’m at a loss when I go to many retail outlets and look at the variety of goods on offer. I might go there with some problem in mind, but I fall apart when I see that the shop has half-a-dozen different solutions to it and a further half-dozen brands of…
-
Tool Time – Part Two – The Positive Break
I thought it felt a bit odd. The nippers I keep in my travelling kit to separate plastic parts from sprue trees felt strange while biting into a kit. No-wonder – the coiled spring wire that separates the blades had fractured. Pretty good for a tool that was less than a year old, eh? It’s…
-
The Two Fingered Salute…
Actually, that should be two-pronged, but I wanted to grasp your attention quickly with a slightly risqué title. I was going to add something about Mae West or Sabrina but the younger readers wouldn’t have any reference points… The business of painting bombers and transports is a little tougher than fighters. To start with, they…
The Little World 