Category: research
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Sopwith Camel – Part Three – Decision Time
Decision time comes at many stages of a build – Shop, Shelf, Box, and Bench. For the desperadoes amongst us we can add the Screen. a. Shop. Which one to go to? The closest one? The one with the biggest range? The one who gets the newest kits in? The one with the best prices?…
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Northrop BT 1 – Part Seven – Why Was It Not Named?
Dauntless, Helldiver, Avenger, Hellcat…all good historic names for US Navy aircraft. The Army Air Force had Mustangs and Thunderbolts and such. Why was the BT 1 just a code, instead of a name? I suspect it is because it never established itself in the affections of the press – or at least in the press…
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Repairing Our Mistakes
If we repair our mistakes we gain a great deal of control over our modelling. And it can make us better workers. a. We recognise a mistake. This is better when we do it before we commit it…sort of dry-fit your way out of danger – but even if we have gone all the way…
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Junkers Ju52 – Part Four – Czech Junk
Old Czech junk. Actually old French junk that was foisted on the Czechs. And happy they were to get it, too. The scheme of the Junkers 52 that you see in the finished product is listed as being in service with the Police Air Service in 1950. A bit of googling shows that the Police…
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Junkers Ju52 – Part Three – Hugo’s Ghost
Hugo Junkers died in 1935. May he rest in peace. What I am left speculating about is; was he buried in a corrugated coffin? All the Junkers planes I have built so far have featured this form of sheet metal and I am starting to think it would have been a nice touch if he…
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Grumman Goblin I – Part Six – Ol’ 340
Ol’ 340 is finished and will take her place on the main runway of RCAF WET DOG, Students of aviation may wish to adopt the methods of Sherlock Holmes; observe and then make deductions. The basis for the decision to build this plane this way came from Harold Skaarup’s vast collection of Canadian airplane pictures.…
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The Proper Font Is Never There
I do my own decals in an inkjet printer for many of the 1:72 aircraft I build. It’s not that I am contemptuous of the commercial maker’s decals – far from it. I love Cartograf and other fine printing companies for they ability to make a good decal with thin carrier film and good moulding…
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Are You Cutting Edge?
Well keep away from your fingers, then… Being the most advanced modeller in your circle is a wonderful ambition, but then so is being a successful train robber. I believe Jesse James used to build nice 1:16 scale stagecoaches… In our club there are also nice stage coach builders, as well as boat, ship, and…
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PZL Gull Wing – Part Two – Polish Plastic
I would love to read a definitive article on the plastics that we encounter in our model kit building. I suppose a lot of it is trade secrets and economic choices, but I think there would be a lot of interest in a scientific analysis of the various styrenes In particular, please give us a…
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Wait For It…Wait For It…
The state government in Victoria has just announced that it will introduce legislation in 2022 to ban the public display of Nazi symbols in public. This sort of legislation exists in Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraina, and France and has existed for quite some time. Exceptions seem to occur for museums or other institutions but the…
The Little World 