Category: Model Airplane
-
Sprue Goo For The Win
Call it what you like – the mixture of styrene chips and solvent is becoming the universal tool for my modelling. Not every kit fits well. Some barely meet where they touch. You can discover sinkholes, cracks, gaps and yawning gulfs. This is where the sprue goo comes in. The joy of it is it…
-
Do Not Start Too Small
I met a chap re-entering the hobby recently who was trying to choose his kits to build skill before he tackled the one he really fancied. I thought this was sensible thinking, but I suspect he made a bit of a problem for himself by selecting a 1:144 scale plane. It was charming, but too…
-
Never Too Late
Except if you dined at an Ethiopian restaurant the night before and feel you might need to seek a toilet. No matter how fast you are, you will never be fast enough. And there is no point in getting up and thinking you’re done. You might as well settle in for the day. In the…
-
Caproni C311 – Part Four – Fly RT-ITA To The Sun!
Who said Ruritanians are sour drunks living in a postage stamp kingdom? Well, everyone, actually, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting to go South for a holiday. The sudden availability of used Italian bombers after 1943 was a gift to the Ruritanian royal airline. Prior to this the only passenger carriers were two-seat mail…
-
Caproni C 311 – Part Three – Civilian Conversion
The conversion of old military aircraft to civilian mode was quite a thing back in the late 40’s and early 50’s. There were a great many spare aircraft left over from the conflict – despite the fact that so many were shot down and wrecked. Careful buying by Ruritanian agents in Europe brought a number…
-
Caproni C-311 – Part Two – FINALLY!
Finally I figure out a way to stop being clumsy. I build a great many kits, and find that I like to keep busy in the various stages by doing sub assemblies and finishing them before they are added to the main airframe. It is much the same as was done with wartime factories and…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
The Little World 