Category: frugality
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Boeing Dreamliner – Part One – Relict
An odd thing to see here on my page – given that I am not a fan of Russian products and do not normally model in 1/144 scale. But it is the relict of a good club friend and I’ll build it as much in his memory as in the spirit of adventure. Goodness knows…
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The House Brand
My latest trip to my hobby shop was successful and I am just about to find out whether the business of house brands is a good idea. The shop normally sells Tamiya and Ustar masking tape for scale models…both brands are excellent. In the past it has also sold off-brands that may or may not…
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The Two Musketeers
Dumas became an economical man. And it was just gilding the lily to add an extra hero. Porthos was a nightmare to feed. I often wonder what we would have seen if accountants had as much control over literature as they seem to have over the cinema. Two coins in a fountain? And get a…
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De Havilland Beaver – Part One – Leave it To Me, Wally
Those of a ” certain age ” will get it… Those of that samecertain age will recognize the Airfix Vintage Classic Beaver kit as one of the British Army cooperation planes – but will be surprised when they look at the side of the box – it appears to have been used by the US…
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Stand In Line
Standing in line is Europe’s national sport. Whether it is waiting for pancreas sausage in Poland or boiled tripe in England, you have only to get two people to line up and they will be joined by twenty more. In Perth we line up for cheap plastic. The ( so far ) annual big scale…
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Avia B-135 – Part One – A Semi-Precious Stash Gem
The big annual local scale model exhibition had come and gone – and there was some speculation that it had gone forever.* But I did well. My model Ruritanian airport garnered only slight interest, but the stash sales made it all worth while. This Czech fighter appeared at a very advantageous price and I was…
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The Fifty Cent Fighter Plane
Sixty years on. My allowance in the eighth grade was 50 Canadian cents per week. It was more than adequate for my needs as I was stuck in a construction camp in the Alberta bush with no place at which to spend it. Our one shopping trip a month went to Drayton Valley and by…
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The Corner Of Frugal Boulevard and Tight Arse Lane
The cheap end of town. I got there after consulting the internet and looking at eBay sales items. The prices were high and the shipping costs higher. But I did benefit from the product illustrations – which I could screen save and use for reference. Free information. My project involved making some more buildings for…
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Decal Or Not Decal
That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler to suffer the agonies of masking tape and airbrush or to take scissors and water and end them. I am in the position of Hamlet every time I look a the colour call-out of a kit. I have the decal sheet in one hand and my heart in…
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Beware Simplicity
For it will complicate your life every time. Scale modellers looking at a kit for the first time are all different creatures. One looks at the sprue trees and sees the big parts – another sees only the tiny details. Someone else goes first to the PE fret or the resin blocks. The artistic look…
The Little World 