Category: frugality
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Four – Faire Soi-Même

Or you won’t be faring at all. Scratch-building at the order of the kit maker is a strange feeling. I do not shy from it, as I scratch build many of my airport structures, but it still smacks a little of ” don’t care ” when the instructions demand it and there are no parts…
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Gloster Javelin FAW 9 – Part Five – Eighty Three Cents A Day

The Gloster Javelin kit cost me $ 5.00 at a Sunday swap-meet. I built it over the next 6 days. Thus, it cost 83¢ per day. Try getting happy elsewhere for 83¢… I succeeded. The ex-FROG revamped 50’s kit went together logically and easily. The horrors of age were hidden by modern science and devious…
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Gloster Javelin – FAW 9 – Part Three – Trench Warfare

Try as you might to buy kits that need no major work, you are still at the mercy of the moulding shop. Tamiya may be a safer bet than FROG but do not let the tube of putty out of your sight… This was a case of trying the new sprue goo mixture. I finally…
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Workshop – Never Throw Nuthin’ Away

In fact, if they have special on nuthin in Bunnings, buy two extra packets. For my overseas readers, Bunnings is an Australian DIY store. It sells everything that the average man or woman needs to get themselves in big trouble in the home workshop. You can buy poisons, sharp knives, and the sort of machinery…
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S.P. – Part Six – A Dollar

I have never spent my money better. Even if it was only a single coin. The Mirage company may be big or little, but whichever, they make a good product. This unexpected purchase has proved to be successful, and will form the basis of an entire museum. The model is not without flaw. Anyone trying…
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S.P. – Part Three – Chassis

I have to keep reminding myself that I am basically playing with a dollar coin here. The kit is progressing well, with a club day spent making wheel and tyre assemblies and getting the running gear on the chassis. The top casing fits down with perfect precision, so it can be finished separately from the…
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Highly Desirable

And highly detailed. And highly priced. And highly unavailable. Hi-lee-hi-low. Hi-lup-a-pup. And that’s another magazine down the drain. I used to buy modelling magazines when I was a kid. For cars to begin with and later for scale models or military models. Model boats kept me going for years. I would read the how-to-do it…
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WW1 Tank – Part Four – Rust Bucket

Purists will note that there are no unit markings on this WW1 female tank. There’s a good reason for this. The tank has been sold to Ruritania, after completing its time on the western front. The Royal Ruritanian Army has no experience with this new arm and so is cautions about what to paint on…
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WW1 Female Tank – Part Two – Mystery Iron Box

I must say that the classic British WW1 tank is somewhat of a mystery to me. I’ve never seen a real one and the actual topography of it is a puzzle. I know the lozenge shape but that’s all. The basic box hides inside the tread, much like the Churchill tank – another enigma. This…

