Category: Model Airplane
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What’s In This Stuff, Anyway? – Part Two – Decal Solutions

If I want to enjoy myself in the Little Workshop I can either fasten decals on a freshly-painted model or hammer nails into the back of my hand. Some days I am torn in an agony of choice… It was never like this in the old young days – I just found the place on…
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What’s In This Stuff, Anyway? – Part One – Paint And Cement

An inveterate visitor to hobby shops in my old age, I am now also a sucker for little vials of chemicals. Whether it is glue, paint, liquid mask, thinners, retarders, or clear coats, I never seem to leave anywhere without bearing away another expensive bottle. And i do mean expensive – At the bottle shop…
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So Why Does One Model Tank?

And another become a classic? I’m not talking about 1/35 scale armour here. I mean why is one model kit a success and just keeps on selling, and another ends up in the auction house for unsold kits within the first six months? a. Is it a bad model? Badly conceived, badly moulded, poorly packaged.…
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The Annual Gluefest Finished Cheerfully

And not a sticky fingerprint on any of the plastic parts. At least not on the competition entries. It was my first little venture into showing a plastic model and I played it safe – I just put it into the general club display on the table and didn’t ask for any judgement. There may…
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MiG 15 – Part Eight – Is Ready For Uszhitmi Air Show

The Uszhitmi Air Show has always been the premier display of Soviet – and laterally Russian – air power since the early 20’s. Starting as it did with flying tractors and merry peasant dances on the tarmac between crashes, it progressed to formation passes made the giant creations of the 30’s that were ever larger…
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MiG 15 – Part Seven – Supercheap To The Rescue

Do you remember my series of tests done to find out which acrylics, enamels, and lacquers would spray best? And the subsequent quest for clear coatings that would let me do decals and then protect the models? Well I looked out my sample tablets today and reassessed them. The local version of a floor polish…
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MiG 15 – Part Six – Was That The Mr. Whippy Van?

And was it playing The Internationale? I don’t normally pay attention to conspiracy theories, but there seems something suspicious about this. Normally we get soft serve, sundaes, and double cones with a Flake bar stuck in the middle. This seems to be a new one… I wonder what flavour – Borscht? Caviar? Fish canned in…
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MiG 15 – Part Four – Seams To be Working

The anhedral of the MiG 15 wings… -3º…was cranked into the build today and I like to think it was successful. You’ve seen the jigging in the last post. The cementation was Mr. Cement Deluxe smeared on both the wing and the fuselage. It sets up pretty quickly and goes hard enough for jazz well…
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MiG 15 – Part Three – You Have Chosen Wisely, Grasshopper

The MiG 15 is somewhat of an iconic aircraft – albeit Soviet, derived from German research. It lasted well after contemporary Meteors and Sabres were shuffled off to client nations and thence to museums. Indeed aircraft of this era are now only found as museum exhibits – flying or otherwise. Oh, and a Canadian private…
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MiG 15 – Part Two – Bring On The Clowns, Popov

Well, I stared and stared at the colour call-out and decal sheet for the MiG 15 and just couldn’t get excited. The entire outside of the airplane was aluminium colour – with only a little red or blue on a tail or nose. I am not against aluminium colour per se but I’ve recently built quite a…
