Category: Model building club
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YF23 – Part One – Y-Leftovers

The Box of Possibilities. This box contained two aircraft – I suspect it is the residue of a failed project from someone unknown. Abandoned in the club storeroom, it fell to me after a grand clean-out. This is no new sensation – it often happens here at home when the wife or daughter decide to…
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Modelling True To Yourself

Relax – there will be no hippie touchy-feely stuff. I’ve written before about trying out different types of modelling to see what you most enjoy. A car, a ship, an airplane, a rocket, and a tank give you a broad look at what is out there. Okay, there are trucks and figures and trains as…
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The Plastic Torch?

Is what we do a bit historical – or hysterical? I once bought an armload of 1:72 kits from a very nice chap who visited our modelling club. They were a number of items from his late fathers collection – the man unfortunately passed away far too early to build them. This is sad –…
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The Multi-Talented Modellers

Some of us are good at one thing – some at another. But the infuriating sorts are good at everything. One of the new chaps at my studio club brought along some figures he’s painted for a diorama. They are done very well, which is one point, but they are also printed from 3D files…
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” Adopt And Honour “

A phrase spoken by our club President – Rob – when giving me the Grumman F9F Panther model you see in the heading. It is a product of the late John Evans – a prolific and skilled member of SMCWA for many years. He built any number of USN aircraft, as well as RAAF, RAF,…
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Airco DH2 – Part One – Shelf Lurker

This Smer kit of a 1/48th Airco ( by De Havilland ) sat on the storage room shelf of my hobby club from the day I joined until the day the committee finally were exasperated enough with the mess in there to clear out the dead wood. I am one of the natural sink traps…
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Scaling Up Your Scaling Down

When you are presented with requests. You give positive answers. Someone wanted decals for a model aircraft but couldn’t find them on the net. I did, but that probably wasn’t the question anyway. Fortunately the decal sheet needed was simple and illustrated cleanly in colour. Getting it onto Photoshop Elements was simple. Not so simple…
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The Fifty Cent Fighter Plane

Sixty years on. My allowance in the eighth grade was 50 Canadian cents per week. It was more than adequate for my needs as I was stuck in an Alberta bush construction camp with no shops anywhere. Our one shopping trip a month went to Drayton Valley and by then I’d built up $2.00 pressure…
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De Havilland Kate Moth – Part Two – Bobbing On The Lake

Nothing said sport flying like a Kate Moth on floats. Whether it was in the Yukon or Ontario, the Kate Moth formed reliable transportation for hunters, fishermen, and prospectors. Of course nothing heavier than a dead chipmunk could be flown out strapped to the floats, but these were prized anyway. Red floats are good for…
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De Havilland Kate Moth – Part One – Airfix of Middle Age

Grown old in the mould – but tarted up with a new box. This Airfix model is a 1990 re-box of a series of Moths that originally hatched in 1957. It started in a plastic baggie cocoon but eventually graduated to the small cardboard box. At least that allowed Airfix more surface area to print…
