Category: Model Airplane
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Seahawk HH-60H – Part Two – Crows Nest Pass

It’s about as close to the sea as Kalgoorlie… But when the military sell off their old aircraft, the local fire authorities get a chance to pick up some useful heavy lifters for the fire fighting role. Queensland has them – so to other states. Why not sell a few to Alberta and strip off…
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Seahawk HH-60H – Part One – The Wounded Box

Hard to say whether the original owner of this Italeri kit sat on it or rolled over it…but the effects were slightly dire. The windscreen is cracked and a couple of parts missing. Someone thought so little of it that they put a $ 5 red sticker on it and our committee cleaning out the…
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How Many?

And how would one ever find out? I have been amazed at the number of firms that make plastic scale model kits. I knew of perhaps eight when I was a kid – and some of them have long disappeared – but they have been replaced in the shops with what may be hundreds more.…
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Équipe Super Mystère – Part Two – Fleur de Lis

Well, what else would it be for French aircraft… The concept has become reality. Three Heller kits, a base from Spotlight, and a length of 3mm brass rod. The kits are of a period and at a low price. I am grateful that the ancient Heller decals worked perfectly and that the factory moulded guidelines…
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Équipe Super Mystère – Part One – L’idée Dormante

For years these Heller kits have lain on the shelves. Ignored, discarded, unconsidered. Rather the story of many lives, eh? Well the reforming zeal of the SMCWA committee swept them from the storeroom and into my stash cabinet. Whence they have flown to the workbench and photo table. They are 1:100 scale – not a…
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CAC Winjeel – Part Four – FTS 1

Point Cook, Victoria. SOOTB rendition of this Winjeel and I don’t think I could be happier with the result. It will form the starting point of a number of RAAF training types – with the occasional side-excursion to an aerobatics team aircraft or the FAC service livery as used on ADF exercises. You have to…
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CAC Winjeel – Part Two – High Planes Surprise

It is a mistake to judge a book by its cover or a scale model kit by its sprue tree. In both cases appearances can be deceptive. The first glance at a High Planes product is not conducive to confidence – the trees seem crude and you wonder whether it is worthwhile going on. Have…
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CAC Winjeel – Part One – The Native Name

Air forces all over the world have code name families for their aircraft. Thus you get fighter plane names that project power like the USAAF Thunderbolt and Lightning or training names like the RCAF Yale and Harvard. In Australia there is a tendency to apply aboriginal native names to aircraft Like Boomerang and Wirraway. The…
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Tupolev TB-3 – Part Five – An Ephemeral Chinese Bomber

Ephemeral? Well look at the guns, antennae and landing gear of this Soviet design. This model will be lucky to make it to my display shelf without these breaking off. The pictures you see in this post may be the last complete images of this ICM product ever shown. I am not unhappy with the…

