Category: Scale Models
-
Canadian Car And Foundry Harvard II – Part One – The ’62 Model

Well, that’s the number engraved on the inside of this Airfix kit’s wing. It has a very long history – with this re-boxing probably being put out in ’79. I am fortunate in being able to remember both years, though I struggle to tell you what I had for tea two weeks ago. The kit…
-
Not Every Kit Is For Every Body

And some kits are for no-body at all. The choice you make of a kit to build is affected by many factors; type, era, maker, price, availability, and box art. The last-named may seem like a stranger to the list, but it frequently is the most powerful impetus to buy. Unfortunately it can also be…
-
Are You Organised?

Are you organised enough? Or too much? Are people diving down side streets to avoid you when you ask them about organisation? Is it time for an intervention? I ask this in the wake of a day spent organising my modelling boxes. Note the plural there – it indicates that we are, as Kinky Friedman…
-
Douglas RB-66B – Part Five – Super Snooper

The first B-66 Destroyer I had was a Monogram model with lots of moving parts and a bomb bay that worked. I remember destroying a small city with it. Play was more robust in the 1950’s, I can tell you. But the Italeri RB-66B is no bomber – it’s an electronics warfare and reconnaissance bird.…
-
Douglas RB-66B – Part Four – The Butchers Chart

Well, that’s what it looks like – you expect to see terms like ” rump ” and ” chop ” on the airplane in the divisions. As it is, a lot of newer USAF jets have so many stencils on them that you wonder if they are made by Fisher Price. At least in the…
-
Douglas RB-66B – Part Three – Knuckle Down

And buckle down and do it, do it, do it… Roger Miller was right – you just have to make the cockpit eventually. This was not as bad as some – the amount of detail was enough to populate the space without demanding excess bending and fiddling. The basic grey could be done with exactitude…
-
Douglas RB-66B – Part Two – Postponing The Office Work

Every instruction sheet for a model airplane seems to commence with work on the cockpit. This may be a simple as an old Airfix pilot-on-a-shelf to the most complex brass and resin aftermarket kit. I sort of like doing this are and sort of don’t. So I look around for a way of postponing the…
-
Douglas RB-66B – Part One – The Shelf Queen

Some kits fly out the door of the hobby shop as soon as they arrive. Some stay until the sales. Some stay until the owner dies and the executors hacksaw the door open. The reasons for this can be many – the kit is horrible – the kit is so obscure than no living being…
-
Slovakian Jigs – Part Two

A hot Boxing Day is the ideal time to do a new cool kit. You are not stressed by work or family commitments and the precision that good work requires is at your fingertips. At least it is if you have not been on the turps for the last week. My Christmas had been abstemious…
-
Yakovlev 6 – Part Four – Jayne Mansfield

Nothing whatsoever to do with this Yak 6 utility aircraft, but Jayne liked the colour pink as well. She would have appreciated the big nacelles… Now that your mind is sabotaged for the day, we will continue. The Amphibious Twins have been painted and are installed in their little bare cockpit. Fortunately the glazing over…
