Category: Model Airplane
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Caproni C-311 – Part One – Tropical Splendour
Not that this aircraft is tropical in any way – it’s just that the kit has come from Singapore. A gift from a friend who took a holiday there. I always welcome Italeri Italian aircraft, because I know they do them well; it’s a matter of national pride. The parts fit, the moulding is free…
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Boeing X-Plane – Part Four – Long Range Bird On Spindly Legs
I wonder what the US Navy might have nicknamed this Boeing fighter/bomber if it had ever proceeded into service? There had been few Boeing fighters before this – I can only think of the P26 ” Peashooter ” that the Army flew. Not a very prestigious name but fairly apt considering the tiny size of…
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Boeing X-Plane – Part Three – Big Donk
This is the biggest small piston engine in my collection – until I locate a 1/72 B-36… The four-row piston engine – 28 cylinders and I suppose 56 spark plugs – was a massive effort to put more power into the air. It was so powerful that it needed to be split between two contra-rotating…
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Boeing X-Plane – Part Two – Mind The Gap…
I was greatly encouraged while during open stage of fuselage construction by the fact that the two halves fitted together almost perfectly. And the big, sturdy wing halves did the same – even the wing tips had minimal ledging. This can be a real problem for some kits as there is little to fill or…
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Boeing X-Plane – Part One – The Nearly-Rans
I am no great fan of ” what-if ” modelling. Much of it is speculative and not a little disturbing. I see attitudes in the builders that are not supportable in real life. But I will admit aircraft and other items that were actually built to try to win government contracts. Even if they did…
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There’s No Such Thing As A Biggest Model
There’s only the biggest model…yet. For everyone, whether they be manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, or builder, there is never an end point in the progression of the scale model kit. The factory may start out making 1:144 scale models of Piper Cubs, but if these sell they will be onto the next larger prototype for the…
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Progressive Cementation
Sounds like a political party that’s going to lose their deposit, eh? Well, it’s a good idea for scale modelling when the makers of our kits decide to care less about them than we do. When they mould things too fast and the plastic warps out of the blocks. When the parts only fit where…
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MiG21R – Part Three – 006 On The Line
Along with my reputation, which is also a tarnished relic. I don’t mind – it saves a lot of fussiness. The real Mig 21 that was pinched got a thorough working analysis from the IAF before being consigned to Hatzerim. It wore several liveries after the Syrian brown camo was scraped off – some of…
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Mig 21R – Part Two – I’m Gonna Sit Down
And shut up. The judgement that I made about the Condor people making agricultural models is all taken back. They do good work. The basic structure of any kit is…well…basic. I have purchased kits that have been moulded with dismay and disappointment in every seam. Fortunately the seams are also moulded so wide open that…
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MiG 21R – Part One – Who Condor?
Who, indeed. When I encountered this model of a Mig 21R at Hobbytech I wondered at it. It was a slow day and I wanted a new kit and I was prepared to buy anything cheap…without really knowing what I’d do with it. Turns out Condor is a Ukrainian maker who specialises in agricultural-grade models…
The Little World 