Category: Model Airplane
-
Potez 63-11 – Part Two – Having A Fit

A tight fit. The Azur model of the Potez 63-11 is probably fairly old in the Czech modelling world. I think the firm that makes these models has retired the name in favour of their ” Special Hobby ” marque. This one is from the multi-media days of styrene/resin/brass. So far the fit of the…
-
Potez 63-11 – Part One – Smooth Potez

As opposed to lumpy Potez. The designs of interwar and early-war French aircraft form a fascinating subdivision of aeronautical insanity. From the angular designs of the late twenties and early thirties to the sleek over-designs of the forties, they seem to have decided to over-run the buffer stops every time they drew up to the…
-
US Navy Carrier Deck – Part Two – Ready To Launch

As soon as I find some deck crew and a mule tractor. And I am looking – the Italeri kit has turned out a beauty, a one-day build, of course, and I got to use some of he enamel paints that were kindly given to me. The intricate blast shield mechanism came out perfectly. As…
-
US Navy Carrier Deck – Part One – Building The Stage

This kit was a stash buy – Otherwise I would never have contemplated getting one. But I can readily see the usefulness – particularly for a small-scale photographer. I am hoping there will be enough surface area covered by this kit to let me take usable shots. And it will be a matter of a…
-
Koolhoven Fk 58 – Part Four – Quick Change Artist

Sharp-eyed readers will notice something unusual about this small Dutch fighter of 1939. It is undressing… Or rather, it is caught in between one set of colours and another. The real planes were delivered to the French air force from the Rotterdam plant of Koolhoven just prior to war with the diplomatic ruse of painting…
-
Koolhoven Fk 58 – Part Three – When Disaster Strikes

Don’t roll over – Strike back. Firstly, don’t panic. Nothing that you can do to a plastic model kit will kill anyone or bankrupt you. You can lay the worst result down in the rubbish bin, walk away from it, and go with new knowledge that could not be got any other way. It’s like…
-
Koolhoven Fk 58 – Part Two – Ease Of Construction

Whenever you make a scale model kit, someone is going to be lazy. It’ll either be the designer or you. In the case of the Azur Koolhoven Fk 58 the designer has done the hard millimetres so I can cruise along. The cockpit pan holding all the detail parts can be inserted after the fuselage…
-
Koolhoven Fk 58 – Part One – One Of The Few

Not the RAF Few – the Dutch few – few made and few supplied. An export order from France. This Azur kit has fallen into my eager hands through a stash sale and is everything that the proper Czech short-run kit should be; obscure, and composed of styrene plastic, acetate, brass and polyester resin. The…
-
I Can Quit Any Time I Want

But building model airplanes is a cultural activity. And good for the economy. And, and, and… Don’t go in there; that’s the stash room. If you open the door the sealed atmosphere will be contaminated. Where was I all day? In my workshop or at the club, of course. Clubs, actually. Uh, workshops, as well,…
-
The Home Printer

A guide for the scale modeller. I have long come to grips with the business of home printing. It started in the dear old darkroom days of film photography and locked the family out of the bathroom/darkroom many a night. Now we are digital, they can get in at any time, and I just sit…
