Category: Modelling materials
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RCAF Avro Lancaster – Part Two – Whole Lotta Plastic Goin’ On

I am never so inspired or terrified as when I open a new model box and look at the plastic sprue trees. In some cases there seem so many of them – in others so few. The Airfix Lancaster is in the first bracket. However, this is a new-mould kit and the parts look to…
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The Perils Of Isolation

One of the chief perils of isolation right now is the freedom it gives to you to do things: Your own way. As you are cut off from the scrutiny of others and their good advice, you can take bad advice from yourself. This is the general approach of people who make home-made gunpowder or…
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Shall I Admit It To Myself?

What is my limit of self-deception. Can I convince myself that I am a teen idol? Or will I have to settle for being the sort of idol that lives in a ruined temple with spiders and snakes? More to the point, shall I admit to myself that one of the cornerstone products that I…
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Savoia Marchetti S.79 Sparviero – Part Three – Clearly…

I’ll bet you are the same as I – as you open any new kit box you approach the little sprue of clear plastic bits with fear and trembling. Trepidation. Horror and anxiety. It is the equivalent of meeting the computer date for the first time. You never know what you are going to get……
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RCAF Twin Otter – Part Five – The Clown Car

Sorry about that, Folks…but you have to admit that bright yellow and red has a certain circus feel to it. In this case a flying circus without the WW1 reference. The illustrations for this sort of aircraft paint job are nearly always spectacular – remember what I wrote about box art being based around yellow…
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The Immodest Stashes

At some stage of the game, the status of your kit stash tips over from ” modest ” to ” immodest “. Then it goes to ” blatant ” and then ” arrogant “. This is probably about the time when your spouse starts to notice it, and you become secretive. Or it may be…
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Old Moulders Never Die…

They just flash away… I have been engaged in dealing with plastic model kits that made from old moulds. In one case I suspected the thing was new on the market when I was in Grade 10 and had been offered in various guises ever since. The kit was fun to build, but I am…
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Vickers Wellington Mk 1C – Part Five – A Whiter Shade Of Pale

A confession – I was courting when ” A Whiter Shade Of Pale ” was new on the charts and I tried to be cool by dancing to it. It goes on longer than a Methodist sermon but without the jazzy language or uptempo beat… I hated it then and I hate it now. The…
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Vickers Wellington Mk 1C – Part Four – Mr Ghost

Are we ever ready for the undercoat in our lives? Probably not…but when we make model kits there comes a time when we are definitely going to have to reach for the spray. I say that as an airbrush user, but I think the rattle can people are in much the same boat. I have…
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Persuasion and the Bumtree

A while back I decided to try our local swap and sell app – Gumtree – to dispose of an unwanted plastic model kit. The app was efficient and easy to use, which was a blessing for a non-tech person. I have used my iPad to picture objects for sale, offer them, and frequently have…
