Category: research
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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…
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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…
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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…
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A Thousand Pictures Are Worth A Word

And that word is generally : ” inaccurate “… In a world awash in internet images, the scale modeller could be forgiven for thinking that they’ll never have a problem with colour again. All they’ll have to do is google up an image of the prototype they’re building and copy the picture. This is as…
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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…
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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…
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WW1 Tank – Part Four – Rust Bucket

Purists will note that there are no unit markings on this WW1 female tank. There’s a good reason for this. The tank has been sold to Ruritania, after completing its time on the western front. The Royal Ruritanian Army has no experience with this new arm and so is cautions about what to paint on…
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WW1 Female Tank – Part Three – Makin’ Tracks

The tanquistas at my scale model club are variable creatures. It pays to be careful when you talk to them. While they are building the hulls and turrets they are cheery. You can have a jest about anything. While they are painting interiors they are happy and contented. When they are assembling tracks from a…
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The Art Of The Signal Failure

I used to think that a signal failure was the dismal collapse of the world. I now view it as a necessary component in the chain of good communication…and not one to be ignored. I have done badly with my scale modelling at times…mostly through impatience and lack of understanding of the materials with which…

