Category: History
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Airspeed Envoy – Part Three – The Governor’s Plane
And not a British governor, either. The Airspeed Envoys that went to China were for the use of Chinese provincial governors. Presumably not of the poor provinces, either. Careful observers will see that a rocker-cover fairing on the starboard engine has been dented. This was in the days before bird strikes could get past the…
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The Rise Of The Decal
Once upon a 1950’s time, when all good boys deserved models, there were large airplanes with small sheets of decals. Then times changed and the proportions reversed. As a 1:72 builder I am dealing with the small end of the market…small as to individual size but large as an overall genre. It is ideal for…
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Lockheed Vega Model 5 – Part One – Legacy Stash
John Evans bought this model from Stanbridge’s model shop may years ago. Unfortunately neither John, Jack, nor the shop still exist. But that doesn’t stop us from remembering them fondly. My part in this will be to build up the MPM model of the Lockheed Vega Model 5. I suspect that John planned it to…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part Nine – Northwest Air Defence
I had no idea as a kid. ( I don’t have much more sense now. ) But I sure wish I had known about the F-82 Twin Mustang long before my old age. I might have been able to see one in real life – because they flew from an air base near to a…
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F-82 Twin Mustang – Part One – SOOTB Interception
I had no idea I needed it… Until I stated googling the business of North American air interception in the late 40’s. I identified an interceptor base near to where I once lived and looked over its roster. I was amazed to find the F-82 and to read that it was an effective unit. Then…
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Bristol Beaufort Mk I – Part Six – OTU Queen
The receipt of Mk I Beauforts by the RCAF in the early 40’s must have been a sort of a mixed blessing. They had been used on North Sea and Norwegian strikes, and then later in the Mediterranean by specially-trained squadrons of the RAF…often with Canadian crew members aboard. They had their share of successes…
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Curtiss Hawk II – Part One – The Evolution Of A Goshawk
With the recent announcement of new land division within the Republic Of China – the Generalissimo commanding Swuping province has mandated the formation of an air force. Generalissimo Stein Kai Shek is up to date with all the latest methods of defence, as seen by his formation of an Armoured Women’s Dance Corps, a Terrestrial…
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Aichi Val – Part Three – Stripe Tail
I have often remarked the stripes that appear on the horizontal stabilisers of WW2 Japanese aircraft. They are on the upper side and form a fan radiating outwards from the front of the vertical stabiliser – some tails have them in white – some in yellow. This Aichi Val tail has them in red. They…
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Beaufighter TFX – Part Three – Lights, Camera, Ection Already
The Israeli Beaufighter you see here – D 171 – was part of a group of five planes that were purchased in the UK in the 40’s by Israeli agents. They were supposed to be used by a film company in Scotland to make a documentary on Coastal Command. They were given permission to fly…
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The Easternisation Of the Hobby
When I first started building plastic models in the 1950’s there were few Soviet-bloc models to be found. A few oddities, like the Aurora MiG 19 which proved to be totally imaginary…or the Airfix MiG 15 which was somewhat better. And a lone copy of the Bison bomber that Revell put out in the 60’s.…
The Little World 