Category: French aircraft
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Dewoitine D.520 – Part Three – C’est Fini
And fini’d very well, I might add. The usual number of minor errors and hidden mistakes, but then that is par for the course. The D.520 paint job is not perfect – I was trying the freehand spray technique with the pressure on the airbrush turned down to 8 psi and a very thin mixture.…
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Dewoitine D.520 – Part Two – C’est l’Avalanche
One cannot do a Hobby Boss kit slowly – the very nature of the simple moulding does not lend itself to the dawdler. You either do it in normal speed and accept that you will progress rapidly or lapse into ennui. That is my philosophical explanation for the Dewoitine on a stick that you see…
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Dewoitine D.520 – Part One – Allo, Allo…
I have passed the Hobby Boss Dewoitine D-520 kit on the hobby shop shelves for a couple of years now with no regrets. I’d built a Morane Saulnier and a Caudron and the prospect of an diminutive French plane was no urgent call. But I’ve recently borrowed one of those profile books of WW2 fighters…
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Tail Feathers
I have always been curious about anything connected to the decoration of aircraft. Look out your picture book of WWII aircraft and turn to the RAF section. Note the insignia applied to the average fighter or bomber: a. Two upper wing roundels in red and blue – in some cases quite dark but quite large.…
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Caudron Renault 714 CI – Part Three – The Rocketeer
Well, the Caudron Renault is ready to join the Jagdschwader of the RRAAF armed with the new Ruritanian secret weapon – the rocket. Fussy types will want to know if this is an air-to-air missile or and air-to-ground missile and the answer is yes. After the pilot presses one of four buttons the rocket no…
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Caudron Renault 714 CI – Part Two – Flip Her Over, Maurie
Well, she’s got pretty good seams on the top and bottom of the fuselage, and the wing roots are no worse than an Amodel or RS kit. But oh, Lord the ailerons… It looks as though the mould that was supposed to close up for that portion of the wing shifted in the machine. There…
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Caudron Renault 714 CI – Part One – Yet Another Hill To Climb
I was extremely fortunate to wander into a hobby shop that had just relocated to new premises. They decided to have a sale on plastic kits to gain shelf space and the little Mister Craft Caudron Renault CR 714 CI was on the bargain table. Disregarding the free donations, this is my second cheapest model…
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Sandown Park 2019 – Part One – Silver
Well, there we were, folks – Sandown Park in Melbourne for the 2019 model exhibition. Plenty of parking, real live motor cars circling the track, and a large canteen area set aside for the punters. What more could one want? One of the first tables that caught the eye after I rounded the Wall O’…
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The Royal Ruritanian Army Air Force – Part Three – Build Up To Obscurity
As the war clouds darkened over Europe in the 1930’s, the government of Ruritania realised that the defence of the realm would require additional spending – both for ground and air forces. Fortunately the kingdom is entirely land-locked and has no need for a navy aside from Customs and Excise boats on the lakes to…
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Shaky Legs, Don’t Just Stand There…
And bite that trembling lip. A good idea has just surfaced. Model airplane kit builders can access any number of specialized kits and parts these days. If you find something crude in the box, you just keep shopping until you find a Czech firm that have made a better replacement part for it. Of course…
The Little World 