Category: research
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A Modest Proposal

Kit makers are always trying for another use of a previous model. The tricks of new decal sheet and box art plus a hike in price mean that even if you have not invested any money in a new cash cow, you can milk the old one again. The problem is there are only so…
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Boeing KB-29A – Part Eight – Corporate Image

When someone says ” uniform corporate image ” to you in an effort to make you paint the delivery van beige or paste the logo on the toilet rolls, look them steadily in the eye and then punch it. They are full of shit and you need not do what they say. The United States…
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Boeing B-29A – Part One – The New Kit On The Block

Or the shelf, as it happened. I made a safari through the 1:72 jungle at my local hobby shop and this Academy B-29 was lurking at the bottom of the new pile. I am wise enough to know when a model will be popular and not hang round – so I grabbed it with glee…
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Learning Something – Part Two – The Mask Of Mystery

So Ivan’s wax coat was a failure. So be it. But now a different idea. I have made up a set of cardboard masks that can be laid over a model in various fashions. The material is stiff and will not conform to the smaller contours. For the first trial I took two of the…
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Any Day You Learn Something – Part One – Bright Ideas

Is a good day. The something you learn may be of great or small import, but the fact that it is now your possession is wonderful. Today I made use of Ivan Seryy it find out whether or not a scheme for camouflage painting was viable. The idea of being able to make soft-edge masks…
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Bristol Beaufighter – Part One – The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship

I’ll just round up the usual suspects… I can’t think why I have not pulled a new Airfix Beaufighter off the shelf at Hobbytech sooner. Goodness knows they have had them for some time – both this version and a later model with a radar…
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MiG23 – Part Three – Ivan Seryy

The Academy kit went together really well, though it felt a little weird to not do a cockpit at all and to close in all the open bits. Academy models are always rewarding – probably because they used to be Hasegawa models and they were also rewarding. Ivan has several special features incorporated to perform…
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MiG 23 – Part Two – The Plunge

Deciding to make a sacrifice is a daunting thing – whether it is the business of culling your shirt collection and binning some or leading a chain of captives to the top of the ziggurat, you are faced with a decision; something’s going to be traded for something and you need to make sure that…
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Seversky P-35 – Part Four – Selfridge Field

” Hey, Jennings. Lieutenant Koski says to get the pursuit ships tarped over and tied down. There’s a storm out on the lake. ” ” I’ll do it after chow. ” ” You’re new to Michigan. That dark line out there is rain like a solid wall. The canopies don’t seal that well. You’ll be…
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Seversky P-35 – Part Two – Well, I’ll Be Darned, Eh?

Washing and tidying up the Special Hobby 1:72 kit today, I left it to dry in the warm workshop. WHen it came time to repack it for he club tomorrow, I noticed a pair of amazing things: There is a spare seat.A little one, but there it is. 2. There is a big rectangular…
