Category: Miniature Philosophy
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” Back In The Day”

Just back it right in to my brain and unload. l’ll put the memories away as you bring them out. Do I have to sign a receipt? ” Back in the day ” is a favourite expression of Phil Flory – the English modeller who runs the famous video site. He’s referring to his childhood,…
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Morane Saulnier MS 230 – Part Four – The First Of The Few

The Morane Saulnier MS 230 trainer is ready to fly. The cadets of the RRAAF will finally have their own aircraft. It has been especially blessed by the Bishop of Strelsau – a comfort to the cadets. This was not possible at Hentzau Field, of course, but His Reverence blessed the individual parts as they…
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Aaaaand There It Is…

The error. The mistake. The blunder. The failure. Every build has one, and some builds have many. And there are a variety of them: a. The bad kit. Some kits are bad. Badly designed, badly moulded, badly boxed and badly shipped. In this case you are being beaten up by the manufacturere and the only…
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Douglas DC-3 – Part Five – Et Voila

There is a lesson to be learned with this Airfix model of a DC-3 in Aéronavale colours – and I must compel myself to learn it. It is a lesson of humility. At the start I thought this a marginal model – the sort of ugly cousin kit from an old company that had been…
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Douglas DC-3 – Part One – The C-47

‘Well, duh. Of course it’s a C-47, because it is a Douglas DC-3. And It’s a DC-3 because it’s a C-47. And it’s a Vietnam-era gunship in this Airfix kit courtesy of four Air Force figures and a cargo floor that sports a number of mini-Gatling guns on stands. I’m afraid it holds little place…
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The Bellanca Ball-Ache

I’m being unfair to Bellanca – I could have chosen Beechcraft or Bristol. The alliteration was the thing – a ” B ” aircraft maker was needed. Let’s start out by saying there never was an aircraft called the Ball-Ache. There may have been many that induced the condition, but that is a matter for…
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Federal 2 1/2 Ton Part Three – Classy Chassis

The joy of building Academy vehicles is the precise subassemblies that their kit moulding makes possible. The chassis of the Federal is no exception – in fact it is better than the Army ambulance that they put out. I still have the horrors trying to get all the wheels on the pavement at the same…
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Martin Maryland – Part One – Circling The Shelf

You know that thing – when you visit a hobby shop on a number of occasions and pass the same model on the shelf each time. And you look at it and heft it and put it back for some reason. Then one day you run out of reasons… This kit of a Maryland is…
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15 = 50
If someone owes you $ 50 and tries to pay you off with $ 15, don’t you let them get away with it. That’s robbery. But if you find that you can have the same amount of fun, nourishment, or drunken-ness for $ 15 as you can for $ 50…take advantage of the discount. I…
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Operating Vs Poseable

Also known as detached parts…and what you do with ’em. As a kid 60+ years ago I built Airfix, Monogram, and AMT kits that had working parts. Ailerons, tail surfaces, car bonnets, ship’s turrets, etc. were made with joints and sockets that allowed things to wave, swivel, and retract. This was a major attraction that…
