Category: research
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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.27 Sparviero – Part One – The Museum Repaint
The Savoia Marchetti museum in Italy has one of these aircraft on display. It has been repainted from the WW2 Italian version to a Lebanese Air Force scheme from the late 40’s. There are good colour photos of the plane in war service with Lebanon – it is a prime candidate for a special paint…
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Scale Model Philosophy 101
I once completed a very nice build of a very bad kit. It was not the worst one I had attempted, nor the best job I’d ever done, but it did bring into focus what has become my guiding principles. I hasten to add that these are not virtues or glories…just realisations about the hobby.…
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Mitsubishi Dinah – Part Three – Standing Room Only…
The Mitsubishi Type 100 – the Dinah – was delivered to the Japanese Army Air Force in several versions – bomber, reconnaissance plane, trainer, etc. and there were several configurations of nose and canopy. The thin nose and multi-step greenhouse is characteristic of the training aircraft – probably to allow and instructor to oversee the…
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Who Do You Believe?
Not about religion or viruses or the economy. These things cannot be determined by debate or belief – they just have to be fought over with artillery. I mean who do you believe about paint colours? Specifically, the paint colours printed on call-out sheets in model kits. Every kit has something that pretends to dictate…
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Gloster Meteor F.1 – Part One – V-1 Vs F.1
When I saw the Dragon model of the Gloster Meteor on the shelf of the little local model specialty shop, I leapt at it. I have a set of decals for an Israeli jet and I thought my luck was in. As it happens, the IAF Meteors were a noticeably later model, with distinctive nacelles…
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Avia S-199 – Part Three – What Colour Is The Colour Of An Argument?
Answer: Whatever colour you ask about in a modeller’s paint forum. I went to my computer to google someone else’s opinion about the grey/green colour of an S-199 in Israeli service. I encountered scholarly works that deteriorated into name-calling and vulgarity. I did not see any profile pictures of the writers but I can pretty…
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Avia S-199 – Part One – The Mule Cometh
I have been on the look-out for a year for a 1:72 model of an Avia S-199 fighter plane. Wouldn’t you know…a call at the local specialty shop for another product ( which I couldn’t get ) and a browse on the shelves led to the wonderful discovery. It was not a cheap kit, but…
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Tail Feathers
I have always been curious about anything connected to the decoration of aircraft. Look out your picture book of WWII aircraft and turn to the RAF section. Note the insignia applied to the average fighter or bomber: a. Two upper wing roundels in red and blue – in some cases quite dark but quite large.…
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Boeing B17 – Part Five- The Fat Lady From Wenatchee
Well, it has been a week. The Fat Lady From Wenatchee is finished and I am delighted – so much so that I will now deliberately seek out other aircraft that can be made into civilian service aircraft. There were severe forest fires in Washington State and British Columbia in the 1970’s and a number…
The Little World 