Category: Model Airplane
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Silberner Blitz
There are some models that you build with polystyrene cement – others with wood glue. And yet others that are joined with anxiety. This is one such model – it was a superb bargain buy at a stash sale morning – and never better timed. I was on the lookout for 1930’s European airliners for…
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The Gantze Megillah
When someone recalls the entire service history about something of which they have made a plastic model kit. It is a charming procedure, roughly as much fun as a prostate examination. It is not a surprise, considering the detail some modellers go to with their kits. You can buy magazines that show you how to…
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Should Tiny Models Have Lighter Paints?
I don’t know, but I intend to experiment. Most of my aircraft building is in 1:72 scale, with the occasional foray into 1:48 when someone donates a kit to me. I tend to use lacquer paints and keep the colours strong and pure. The fact that this renders the models somewhat toy-like is a positive…
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Airbus 320-200 – Part Three – Safely Flying
I was going to title the wrap-up post ” Safely Landed “, but then I realised that the gear was up… At the outset I must admit this kit surprised me. I expected little, but got a lot. There have been moments, but these were predictable, and the difficulties were surmounted. Difficulties? Not the fit…
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Airbus 320-200 – Part Two – A Curate’s Egg
And parts of it are excellent. So far the only cavil is a few lumps in the line of the engine mounts and a short-shot in a trailing edge. Sprue Goo takes care of the latter and a filing stick the former. The fuselage sides are a commendably close fit, and the clear cockpit windows…
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Airbus 320-200 – Part One – Box Scale
Here we go – doin’ things I said I’d never do again. Box scale, and a factory that has turned out some awful junk before… Be fair, me. It has only turned out junk when the moulds they bought from former moulders were time-expired. Some of them were junk in their first iteration, so they…
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Spend Half Your Time Learning How To Do It Right
Then spend the rest learning how to recover when it goes wrong. All kits have flaws…if not in the box, then in the buyer. Something will go awry in the build. If you are fortunate it will be small and early, and you can fix it before you go on. These are the times that…
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The Old Kid Modeller
As a young kid, your scale model building is limited by one thing: money. You have little of it and are largely dependent upon birthdays and Christmas to supply you with your kits. You may have desires, but you recognise that you’re going to be building whatever you are given. If you are articulate and…
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Vought Crusader F-8 – Part Four – In The Med
And fresh as a daisy. I was delighted to find very clear photographic support for the French naval air service on the web. A number of the Vought Crusader aircraft that operated from the FOCH and CLEMENCEAU were photographed from the islands of those carriers while taking off or landing – and these evolutions were…
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Vought Crusader F-8 – Part Three – Between Thinners
I was torn between thinners for this Crusader. I had enough Light Gull Grey to do the upper side easily – and a new bottle of semi-gloss white for the under side. But one was a water-based acrylic and the other lacquer based. Would it matter? Was there going to be a fizzing explosion along…
The Little World 