Category: frugality
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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…
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Sprue Goo For The Win
Call it what you like – the mixture of styrene chips and solvent is becoming the universal tool for my modelling. Not every kit fits well. Some barely meet where they touch. You can discover sinkholes, cracks, gaps and yawning gulfs. This is where the sprue goo comes in. The joy of it is it…
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Caproni C-311 – Part Two – FINALLY!
Finally I figure out a way to stop being clumsy. I build a great many kits, and find that I like to keep busy in the various stages by doing sub assemblies and finishing them before they are added to the main airframe. It is much the same as was done with wartime factories and…
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Hall Of Fame
I am starting to despair of ever getting into the Modelling Hall Of Fame. No matter how much I desire it, no-one pins a medal on my chest or shakes my hand. The pedantic types point out that I don’t enter competitions. True, but that shouldn’t stop people from praising me. I think I am…
The Little World 