Category: frugality
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Westland Whirlwind – Part Two – Building Someone Else’s Memories
This Westland helicopter model of the late 50’s from Airfix seems to figure largely in the memories of other people. Everyone I have shown the box to seems to have built it back in the day and are scathing about it. I am fresh to the neighbourhood and am starting to feel somewhat wary –…
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Westland Whirlwind – Part One – A Green Stranger
The Vintage Classic shelf again – this time something I have never built before – the Airfix Westland Whirlwind HAS.22. In reality, it was a Sikorsky S-55 sold to the Royal Navy. The original kit is apparently of late 50’s vintage though I never saw one in shops in Canada. Basic, as you would expect,…
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The Royal Fly-Under
At the recent coronation of the British king we saw a fly-past by the RAF. Helicopters first, for some obscure reason, then the Red Arrows trailing multicoloured smoke, then a Royal anthem, and then nothing… The RAF may have been booked elsewhere for the day. At least the Royal Navy did them proud. As the…
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It’s Only A Stash Sale…
If you buy something you will never build and sell something you really need to keep. There is no middle ground. You’ve been coveting one particular kit for decades and loathing another for even longer. The stash sale o’ doom is where these two emotions are both in play. You will pay an inordinate price…
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Vultee Vanguard – Part Three – Hate, Loathe, And Despise
If I told you I hate, loathe, and despise kits that have separate blades and hubs for their propellers you might get the wrong idea. Many 1/72 planes have this feature and the two, three, or four-bladed props sandwich in between a hub and a spinner and end up looking fine. I reserve my negative…
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Vultee Vanguard – Part One – Stash Sale Star
The acquisition of a Vultee Vanguard was one of those serendipitous moments – a stash was being thinned, the sales day was ending, the owner was marking things down, and I had $ 15 left. Now the painful part – the decision whether to assign this one to the USAAF, the RCAF, or the Nationalist…
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Polikarpov I-1 – Part One – One Tin Fighter
Captain Frugal here. I have been given an ICM kit – or I may have bought it…I cannot really remember. But it did not cost as much as the examples on the shelf of my local hobby shop. It is, however, every bit as good as the higher-priced spread, and good for me, too. The…
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The Sparkless Stash…
Or the stashless spark. Is it better to have no kits but brilliant plans, or plenty of kits but no interest? There are any number of people with big stashes who lack the motivation to build anything. They look listlessly at the shelves of plastic in boxes and nothing at all calls to them. It…
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Roland C II – Part One – Unwanted Baggie
If you wanted to know what the box art for this 1987 Airfix Roland C II looked like, see the heading image. It was one of the sad rejects in the club junk bin. Box long gone and no future for it. These were the Humbrol years for Airfix – spiralling down into a mess…
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Fiat BR.20 – Part Four – The One And Only
My Nationalist Chinese Air Force is growing like Top Tze. Another bomber to join the Martin B10. Talk about strategic command of the air… This Fiat BR.20 was originally sold to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force as part of a couple of stopgap squadrons until a native-built bomber fleet could be completed. It saw…
The Little World 