Category: frugality
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Soviet Hound – Part One – A Working Dog

The Mil Mi-4a Hound seems to have been a general-purpose worker for the old Soviet Union from 1960 until the late 70’s. It is boxed by Trumpeter in a larger scale but Hobby Boss offer it for 1:72 in a very precise moulding. Four sprue trees, a colour call out sheet for the USSR and…
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The Richest Kid On The Block!

Possibly in the whole town! I’ve got 27 model kits ready to build. They came from friends, family and pocket money. I’ve got enough cement for all of them, and enough paint. School is out, and has been since 1972. Employment is done, and has been since 2016. I do not have any homework due.…
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Stupid Science Theatre 3 – The Proof Of the Pudding

In our case the pudding tastes like old paper and turpentine. Like cooking with the stuff I find in our pantry… The problems in order: a. Yellowing of the decal and surrounds. This one is easy to cure: tape the sheet to a window that gets sun most of the day. Let it sit for…
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Stupid Science Theatre – Dead Decals

The intrepid SST team attempted to raise the dead…and apply the resultant zombies to scale models. We have all had the disheartening experience of buying a bargain kit at a stash sale…only to discover that the decals have died long before the rest of the kit. They are yellowed, cracked, and possibly covered with the…
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A Kit Too Far

If you are observant at stash sales you can tell which models will be coming onto the table at a good price. Not initially, perhaps – we have all seen the ambitious price tag on a scale box. Sometimes it is high enough to over-run new kits currently available in the shops. This can be…
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Queen Mary – Part Three – Hughes Transport

Or what to do with a wartime leftover… If it is a plate of powdered egg scrambled with Spam, consider how many decades have passed since VE- Day,,,If it is an old QMT, also consider what time has done to wartime metal construction – particularly British metal with British engineering. The QMT trailer is marked…
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Queen Mary – Part One – ” Can You Use This? “

Whenever someone says this to you, reply ” Yes, please…thank you. ” . It doesn’t matter whether they are offering you a gold Rolex or a tin of condemned beef – take it. You can decide what to do with it later – the offer and acceptance is the fulcrum of friendship. This Queen Mary…
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Stand Off!

It looks as if the warning sign idea for exhibition tables is a success – at least in the making. The wood was purchased at the Big Clawhammer but the rest of the materials were all to hand in the workshop. Even the red and yellow paint. The later is a mix of all the…
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Scratch-building Pack

We often encounter notes on short-run kit instructions that tell us to scratch-build some part. It may be a strut or part of an interior. Perhaps a flap or plate or even part of the undercarriage. Indeed there can be kits where the parts are provided but are of such poor quality that you are…
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Hawker Typhoon 1B – Part Three – Bombphoon

The Best That Could Be Done. There are some kits that you can build to the max of the craft. Others are on a lesser level – they can be to the max of your skill or the max of their limited potential, As long as you get to one of these points, you have…
