Category: frugality
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” Just Popping To The Shop, Dear…”

And I’m only going to buy a pot of silver paint for the new model. That’s all. Oh look. I’ve come home with $125.00 worth of new kits and a pot of silver paint. However did that happen? If you would strengthen yourself in resolve, skill, monetary resource, and marital bliss – don’t pop down…
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Quonset Hut – Part Two – One A Week In Bull Creek

The title refers to the current batting average for 1:72 scale models – one a week completed. It’s not a contest, so the only prize I win is a fresh model for my collection or a layout but I can tell you – It’s Satisfying! The Rix Products Quonset is a tough build as it…
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Grumman F3F – Part One – At Long Last

I have been looking for a 1:72 scale model of this aircraft for years – and wouldn’t you know – one turned up at a swap meet sale a few weeks ago. It may not be the Monogram Four-Start Plastikit of my youth, but it is a perfectly good Czech MPM model sealed in it’s…
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Dassault Super Mystere – Part One – A Mystere Indeed

Not the least puzzling aspect of which was the price – 33% of from a dealer’s table at a big local scale model exhibition. Why did people not snap this up before? Well, I was not going to miss out on a new model for my Schmattarim Museum. This was the pick of the weekend…
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SE5A – Part Three – The Roundels Wearing An Airplane

The basic structure of the little ESCI kit for the SE5A was rewarding – things fit and lined up. But that did not make the 30-year old decals any better. I tried, folks. I honestly tried. John France saw me trying and lent me some Micro Sol to try and get the things to lay…
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SE5A – Part One – Is There A Model In There?

A good question – this old Esci baggie was sitting forlorn and unbuilt – and likely to be touched for many a year until the Kit Whisperer found it. I will be frank – I deliberately seek out the most modest of kits to build. The $ 500 aircraft carrier is not for me –…
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Do Not Sell Your Models

Build them. Whether you build them SOOTB, or tricked out with a dozen packets of after-market…build them. Build them painted or plain, weathered or fresh, well or otherwise…but build them. That is why they were made. That is why the designers sat at the drafting board or computer screen until their eyes turned red. That…
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Yakovlev 15 – Stalin’s Stopgap

Don’t panic and start to look for previous posts about this Soviet fighter – this is the one and only mention it’ll get. The PM models Yak 15 was cheap enough by any standards – even in Perth. It cannot be said to occupy many minds nor cause much lust, no matter who kits it.…
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A Little Knowledge Is A Fine Thing

Too much, and they don’t fine you – they throw you in gaol. I had been seeing the word ” washi ” for some time in the modelling press. It was mostly associated with masking tapes for model painting. This is a subject dear to the hearts of all of us – we use the…
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Catalina Mk IVB – Part One – The Legacy Sale

The thought of buying legacy models is somewhat bittersweet. It always means that someone’s dreams were not fulfilled. It can also be rendered more awkward if those dreams were started, rather than just in anticipation. I mean, of course, the kit that has been started. Fate’s led to its abandonment and if you take it…
