Category: Model Airplane
-
So Will We See A Flood Of Kits?
Or a drought? The Ukraine War is in full swing, if swing accurately describes improbably heavy armour floundering across muddy fields or running out of fuel on the main road. The Russian Army seems to be a different entity from that presented by the media a few decades ago, and that is a bit of…
-
Handley Page Heyford – Part Four – HP Sauce
I did not even make it to March – the Handley Page Heyford that was to have been the crowning glory of Matchbox March was completed on the evening of February 28. And it was the last Matchbox kit in the stash. I shall do my research to see what other kits Matchbox made in…
-
Handley Page Heyford – Part Three – All The Appeal..
Of a hairless cat… The period between the wars was a time of increased streamlined elegance in the design world. Cars, locomotives, buildings…they all got sleeker and more aerodynamic. How ironic that the HP Heyford – designed to fly through the air – should do so looking like a washing machine. I attached the upper…
-
Handley Page Heyford – Part One – Come On March
I rarely urge the calendar to advance – I am at an age when I appreciate every day – indeed, being retired, I frequently mistake one for another. As long as I can remember scale model club morning and garbage night, the rest of the week can dissolve. But a special month was coming; Matchbox…
-
Nieuport 17C – Part Five – Silver Beauty
I intended this build as a little stop-gap project to fill the time until Matchbox March. It has proved to be a rewarding gem. The Revell kit was unprepossessing enough – indeed most of the tiny WW1 planes from this firm are old kits and you find yourself prejudiced because of it. Of course, if…
-
Nieuport 17C – Part Four – Lumière Frères
The Revell box art for the Nieuport 17C does not match the colour call-out. Which is correct? M. Google, please step forward… And he advances magnificently. On the Wikipedia site, the entry for the Nieuport 17 shows a premier image of a 17 sitting quietly in a field. There are no other aircraft seen, and…
-
Nieuport 17C – Part Two – Old But Good
This very old mould still can teach the new firms several lessons. The first one is that you need not engineer gaps into your parts. They can, indeed, be made to meet all along their surfaces. Unless your firm derives the bulk of its income from plastic putty and sandpaper sticks, providing close-fitting parts is…
-
Nieuport 17C – Part One – 1957 Again
1957 was a big year for me. My dad’s firm failed and we had to move to Quebec for him to continue in the heavy construction business. I had to learn school French – fast. And I got to see a whole new world of scale model kits that never made it out to Western…
-
True Scale No. 2
Second issue of the newsletter for the Scale Modellers Club Of Western Australia. The presses are rolling… Editor: Dick Stein Mild-Mannered Reporter: John France
-
Airspeed Envoy – Part Three – The Governor’s Plane
And not a British governor, either. The Airspeed Envoys that went to China were for the use of Chinese provincial governors. Presumably not of the poor provinces, either. Careful observers will see that a rocker-cover fairing on the starboard engine has been dented. This was in the days before bird strikes could get past the…
The Little World 