Category: Miniature Philosophy
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Vought Corsair F4U-1 – Part Two – Which Came First?
Well, which came first; the chikin or the tamago? Did Tamiya get a good reputation by building precise model kits or did they build precise model kits because they had a good reputation? At what point did they say to themselves ” We must make excellent products above all…”. Did they have a modelling adolescence in which…
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If You Build A Barber Shop, They Will Comb…
If you wish to give yourself a treat – for about $ 40 a throw – go down to the hobby shop and look at the OO/HO building kits. You’ll find them for British, North American, and European buildings, and there is hardly anything that you can imagine that cannot be bought. If you stray…
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Grumman Widgeon – Part One – The Small Goose
The Sherriff’s Mini Cars shelves had some of the best and oddest kit shopping I have been able to do for some time. Stashes had disgorged treasures and/or trash and they were sensibly priced for all that. I have no idea how new the Widgeon is, not how long it may have mouldered on the…
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Why The Devil Am I Writing This All Up?
You may find yourself asking this question when you read this column – or any of the other fine bits of sticky literature* I write. The humour column, the camera column, or the commercial photo column. The last named is, of course, written for money…I’m not ashamed to get paid for typing. But what of…
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Boxing Day Is Only Good If You Need Boxes
And I do. In my cases I need boxes with plastic model airplane kits in them. This year I opted for the do-it-yourself-later option. I asked for gift vouchers for the local hobby shop. The good family delivered as requested and I am now cashed up for the next few months – whenever I need…
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Tool Time – Part Three – The Choices On The Racks
I’ll confess it – I’m at a loss when I go to many retail outlets and look at the variety of goods on offer. I might go there with some problem in mind, but I fall apart when I see that the shop has half-a-dozen different solutions to it and a further half-dozen brands of…
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Tool Time – Part Two – The Positive Break
I thought it felt a bit odd. The nippers I keep in my travelling kit to separate plastic parts from sprue trees felt strange while biting into a kit. No-wonder – the coiled spring wire that separates the blades had fractured. Pretty good for a tool that was less than a year old, eh? It’s…
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Tool Time – Part One – Not All Tools Are Equal…
We all use tools, and if we are in the dating market occasionally they use us. Some tools are good – some bad. Some are expensive, and some cheap. If you go into the wrong bar you will get the latter types exclusively. Sometimes you’ll be in the same dilemma at your hobby shop or…
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The Blood Sacrifice
The medieval costume club I once belonged to held regular workshop days in which they made swords, armour, and all the various accessories of historical life. They were brilliant blacksmiths, metalworkers, tailors, potters, etc. and they all suffered for it. There was a phrase that was used to describe the phenomenon – ” The Blood…
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Lockheed F80C Shooting Star – Part Two – The Smooth Bullfrog
No, it’s not a Frog model – it’s still the bargain Airfix kit. But the more I look at the basic shape of the Lockheed F80C in the grey primer, the more I’m reminded of an amphibian. You have to admire Clarence Kelly and his designers for making such a sleek thing using an engine…
The Little World 