Category: Scale Models
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Henschel Hs 123A-1 – Part One – 15th Squadron
Well here we go again with the Airfix Classics. And this one is destined to be quite different from what Airfix envisaged. The plane is intriguing – one of the last of the serving biplanes…or this might even be considered a sesquiplane. It is deceptively fighter-like but in actuality is a dive bomber. When the…
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Mess With Their Minds
Scale model builders are in an enviable position; they are considered harmless and childish. This is ideal cover from which to snipe at passers-by… a. Build a perfectly standard kit of a common airplane. Perhaps a Spitfire, Mustang or Messerschmitt. Pick an average kit, and it need not be an expensive one. Assemble the fuselage…
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Canadair CT-116 – Part Three – Cold Lake Toy Fighter
All Good – after several false starts and a few execrable errors, the Cold Lake CT-116 is ready for the apron. I patterned the build after an internet image of a 116 over the Alberta tundra. The in-flight shot was perfectly exposed and opened all the markings up beautifully. The model could be measured and…
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Grumman Guardian – Part …Well… The Only Part
I confess. I got greedy. I started building and just couldn’t stop. I didn’t even take build photos. But in the end, I fell back exhausted and satisfied. I had scored a definite win in the game of scale modelling. I had contemplated this model kit for a year at a local shop. The emotion…
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Beaufighter TFX – Part Three – Lights, Camera, Ection Already
The Israeli Beaufighter you see here – D 171 – was part of a group of five planes that were purchased in the UK in the 40’s by Israeli agents. They were supposed to be used by a film company in Scotland to make a documentary on Coastal Command. They were given permission to fly…
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Beaufighter TFX – Part Two – The 50’s Revisited
The quality of the Airfix Beaufighter is actually quite good when you get to the cut and glue stage. You must imagine the insides, but then you do that when you study anatomy as well and at least the kit doesn’t smell of formalin. All seams fit well, though I suspect the silver plastic used…
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Beaufighter TFX – Part One – The Alternate Version
I built an Airfix Beaufighter model a year or so ago – the modern kit – and was extremely pleased with the result. It was completed as an RCAF model with a famous pilot in it. This Beau is a very much older version of the plane from Airfix. Scalemates tells me it is a…
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The Stoic Modeller
Or ” Epictetus Builds A Short-Run Kit “. Stoicism is not just about cold showers and lumpy porridge. It is a whole philosophic outlook designed to increase the happiness and tranquillity of the practitioner. A good deal of it is internal dialogue with someone who should listen more. This applies particularly to the scale modeller…the…
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Fokker D VII – Part Five – The Starter Kit Ended
My determination to make a starter kit in period style has resulted in a delightful model. It was not all retro-perfect. I did resort to a computer program and an inkjet printer for the lozenge-pattern decals. I did add little licks from several paint pots that Revell did not supply. And I did poke a…
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Fokker D VII – Part Four – The Sweet Lozenge
Well, I claim privilege. This is my column and my model and I can break step when I like. I stopped being 14 years old long enough to operate the computer and the printer and printed out that decal sheet you saw in Part Two. It was coated with a matt varnish and left for…
The Little World 