Category: frugality
-
Martin Canberra – Part One – Old Italeri

I am always on the alert for Italeri kits – I find them an ideal blend of simplicity and precise moulding. This Italeri No 144 box was no exception – it was half-way down a pile of unwanted kits at a recent stash sale for the very reasonable price of $ 20. I balanced my…
-
Could You Deliberately Retro-Build?

I’ve been looking at a website that refers to itself as Dem Brudders; it deals with reproduction and re-issued kits. A number of small makers have ended up with moulds from major American firms; Revell, AMT, Aurora, Monogram, etc. The smaller speciality moulders have re-issued some of the classics that were favourites during the 50’s…
-
Čmelák – Part One – Oh, I Don’t Know

” I’ve never built an Eduard kit – I might as well… And here are two versions – the Profipack and the Weekend. Three dollars difference in them…but I suspect that the dearer one would have photo-etch that I hate. Why not save a few bucks? Looks like I get four choices of Czech markings…
-
Bristol Belvedere – Part Three – The Mehcopter

Cue enthusiasm…reboot…reboot. I think this is the first of the Airfix Vintage Classics that has disappointed. It is undoubtedly what it was in the original release, but like the original Blackburn Buccaneer, the Hovercraft, the Fairey Rotodyne, and the prototype Harrier, it strangely fails to please. Perhaps Airfix were precipitate in issuing something that was…
-
Bristol Belvedere – Part One – Dire Warnings

And why I never heed them… This kit appeared in my local hobby shop before I read a review of it. It was reasonably priced, a Vintage Classic, and a type I had never built before. I forked over the cash and took it home. The review was not mealy-mouthed; it said this was the…
-
Economodelling

Cheap, Cheerful, And Proud Of It We all like to brag about how much money we have to spend on our hobbies. Just ask the average Olympic skeet shooter what their shotgun costs…but sit down before you do. However, we can also puff out our chests when we are in exactly the opposite situation –…
-
Stealth Aircraft – Part One – The Unseen Gift

The 1/144 scale kit for the B2 bomber and the F-117A fighter snuck up on me at the modelling club. Rick Slattery presented them to me as a gift – he usually concentrates upon larger scales – and I was delighted to take them. I am starting to appreciate this simplified scale as a way…
-
The Hobby Shop For Other People

I visited a hobby shop in our metro area today in the search for any interesting new kits in my preferred scale – 1/72. It has a big supply of goods in there and I can see where people who are into other aspects of the Little World would enjoy themselves. Some hobbies are catered…
-
Carrie Nation’s Guide To Airbrushing

Stay away from Mick, John, and Dick. They have dangerous ideas. A recent discovery of a cheap Canadian whiskey on our local market led to speculation about paint thinners and prices. We looked out bottles of Tamiya X-20 and X-20A at the club, and noted the recent price rises. It’s now $ 15 – $…

