Category: Scale Models
-
I’m Bypassing My Second Childhood

And I’m heading straight for my second adolescence. More money to spend, I get to stay up later, and there’ll be girls. Well, girls for later. For now I get to spend some of my allowance on better model kits. And there’ll be increased privileges and responsibilities. I am going to be allowed to have…
-
Westland Wallace – Part Five – Swuping Aviation Corporation

No-one who sees the Westland Wallace owned by Generalissimo Stein Kai Shek can doubt that the province of Swuping is progressive. Other areas are still under the conservative rule of the warlords and cliques but Swuping is firmly headed into the Twentieth Century. Once the minor setbacks of invasions from the Nationalists, the Communists, and…
-
Westland Wallace – Part Three – A Life Of Their Own

Plastic models seem to take on a life of their own. And it may not be what the maker intended. I blame the restless nature of the modeller and the ready availability of the internet to supply pictures and histories. You start out with a bog-standard box designed to do nothing more than attract money…
-
Hoothehell?

Or in polite terms, ” Who in their right mind…? “. It is a phrase that whispers to me every time I cruise the kit aisles of HobbyHell. The other part of the question is ” would ever buy this thing? “. The kits or parts or tools or toys in question are not forbidden…
-
Polikarpov U-2 – Part Four – St. Ivan’s Ambulance Service

In the service of Soviet humanity… This is the second air ambulance I have constructed, and by far the most ambitious one. It was born of necessity and nurtured on the makeshift – just as well there was a solid foundation of simple airframe to support it. The use of air ambulance transport by definition…
-
Polikarpov U-2 – Part Three – Time To Box Clever

When you are confronted with a complex model design – multiple wings or complex landing gear – it pays to stop and think. You need to get your sequence of painting and assembly right to avoid making hard work even harder. Or worse – to avoid the risk of spoiling vital parts. No-one likes to…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
