Category: Scale Models
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Polikarpov U-2 – Part Two – Small Steppes

Well, they would be with a model from Ukraine, wouldn’t they… Boom Boom. The odd little slippers are not for feet – they are the over-wing gondolas that were apparently fitted to the Polikarpov U-2 to evacuate wounded Soviet soldiers. The instruction sheet shows a U-2 in winter camouflage with ski landing gear and these…
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Bomber In A Box

No, it’s not a horrible new addition to home delivery of food and parcels. This bomber is in a box for a good reason. When you start a collection of scale models, you really need to start with the biggest darn one you’re ever going to build and work back from that. Then, when you…
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Isuzu TX-40 – Part Three – Now You Don’t

But the Isuzu is there in full glory. And the people at Hasegawa have been thoughtful enough to provide a hand trolley and two ground crewmen to push it, plus 5 fuel drums. This has been one of the best little mojo builds I’ve encountered in a long time. Every part went on it and…
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Isuzu TX-40 – Part Two – Now You See Him

Yoshi is a driver for the Imperial Japanese Army on Lakanuki Island. He is in charge of the refuelling truck. Always impeccable in his freshly-pressed uniform, he wheels the Isuzu TX-40 around the airfield servicing army and navy planes as they land and take off. Everyone else on the island is dressed in rags and…
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Isuzu TX-40 – Part One – Fuel For The Empire

You never think of the more humble vehicles in war – the dump trucks, re-fuelling trucks, and dustcarts. Yet they were manned by service personnel just as dedicated as the tankers and aircrew they served. I always leap on 1:76 service vehicles when I find them in the hobby shop. This Isuzu showed up at…
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The Big Local Scale Model Exhibition – Part Five – The Quest For Novelty

One of the charms for me when I attend the doll-house ladies’ exhibition, or that of the model railway enthusiasts – is the novelty of the models and exhibits. I preserve this freshness by attending only one of these per year – one year it will be the doll-houses and next the trains. Every time…
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The Big Local Scale Model Exhibition – Part Two – More Visitors

Well, that was better. Sunday, the hall was full of visitors, and we even had more to the build-a-kit section. This meant the people nearest the table needed to help with the youngsters – under the supervision of their parents. Sprue cutters were lent out; sandpaper sticks as well. Most of the really young ones…
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Why Don’t You Build…

Most people use the phrase ” Why don’t you…” to tell someone to do something. They are not really asking for a reason why something is not being done. They save that for ” Why didn’t you…” and that is just criticism. In my case I have been asked why I don’t build more Australian…
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Lockheed CF-104 – Part Three – Cold Lake

The pattern for 702 is a photo of an interceptor in the early 60’s parked on the hardstand at Cold Lake CFB in Alberta. This is a front-line air defence base as well as a training and exercise area. It protects the rest of Canada from Edmonton… The scheme at the time featured plain polished…
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Lockheed CF-104 Starfighter – Part Two – The Scrap Box

One of our club mates passed away and the club became the repository for his stash and spares collection. It was the most daunting pile of plastic I have ever seen, and I have taken a lesson from it. I am going to build more and buy less – and have already started to sort…
