Category: frugality
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The Arrogant Strut
Those who saw Mussolini were impressed with the way he strutted. Likewise with Al Jolson and Kaiser Wilhelm II. However, none of them were as arrogant as the Airfix company when it comes to strutting…as witnessed by their production of a 1:72 Bristol F.2B. They have produced a kit that is nearly impossible to assemble.…
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Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter – Part Three – Up and Flying
The 1/144 scale model is a wonderful thing – but you have to remember that it is an abstract of a thumbnail sketch of a miniature painted on ivory. The average person will not be able to rig the hydraulic hoses in the wheel wells. The person who can do this is watched carefully by…
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Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter – Part One – First Of The Fifty Cent Series.
First cab off the rank is the Academy Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter. The tiny box contains three tiny sprue trees – two in hard grey plastic and one clear. There is no flash whatsoever and no sinkholes are evident. Surprisingly, there is room in the cockpit for a separate seat and instrument panel. The canopy is…
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Boeing Dreamliner – Part Three – Mask And Re-Mask
Just when you think you are done with the paint scheme you realise that there is another stripe… Well, that’s civil aviation. The graphic designers get let out of the dungeon and chained to the drawing boards and new corporate liveries are born. This El Al scheme is to be a retro salute to the…
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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…
The Little World 