Category: Model Airplane
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Fairey Swordfish Mk I – Part Four _ THM
It may seem foolish to bypass much of the effort that Airfix went to when they designed this model. But that is what I did when I started researching the Canadian connection for this aircraft. It would appear that there were a number of them in RCAF and RCN service during and after WW2. And…
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Fairey Swordfish Mk I – Part Three – Wings Over The Workbench
I walk in awe of the people who build scale model biplanes and then rig them. They have condemned themselves to the sort of stage act that used to involve Chinese jugglers, bamboo poles, and spinning bowls…and then added the sort of things that would make a spider burst into tears. I don’t know what…
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Fairey Swordfish Mk I – Part Two – If We Are To Believe…
I am often asked to believe – but I pause before I do. It is not that I think people duplicitous – it is just that I know there are only limited methods of actual proof – sight, touch, smell, etc. Thus I regard the colouring instructions in model kits with care. Do the writers…
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Fairey Swordfish Mk1 – Part One – Wheels At Last
And not before time. I made a model of the Fairey Swordfish from the new Airfix mould some time ago and promised myself to do another on wheels – this time with torpedo armament. The previous one was on floats and in pre-war colours. This was so pleasing that I have decided the new model…
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The Glaring Omissions
In hobby shops full of Messerspitstang kits and the space ships of the latest franchise movie, it is actually painful to stride the aisles looking for the missing links. I concentrate most effort on 1:72 scale aircraft and have long built the standards. I’ve built the semi-standards, and a fair few of the obscurities as…
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Get Right Back On The Horse
The iron rule of horse riding is that, after a fall that has not killed you, you get right back on the horse. This has the effect of showing your moxie to the other riders, quelling your fears, and giving you a chance to show the horse that you mean to be the master or…
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Mig 23 Flogger – Part Two – Homeland Defender
I have gotten jaded in my old age – the effect of having internet images to turn to. I no longer follow the maker’s colour call out slavishly if there is another scheme that attracts the eye. The fact that the decals may not be exactly right is of little consequence. Don’t judge me. Thus…
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MiG 23 Flogger – Part One – Swinging Wing Again
From what I read, the MiG 23 was a bit of a Soviet bust…nowhere near as successful as the previous MiG 21 on the world market. Not my problem. This 1/144 model was kindly donated and looks like it will build up well. It has the swing-wing feature of the period, and in this case…
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General Dynamics F-1 – Part Two – Viper!
Well, I have decided to go with the Air Force crews and call this the Viper. I am also less than impressed with a company the calls itself by such a generic name; General Dynamics. Sounds as if they could be making light switches or selling time-share weeks. I think they should change the name…
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General Dynamics F-1 – Part One – Falcon?
Not, apparently, to the people flying them. They call them ” Vipers “. And they ought to know… This is my third F-16 - two others having been completed in 1/72 for the USAF and the IDF. I am starting to like the type a lot. The Academy kit is simple, small, and well-moulded. The only…
The Little World 