Category: Scale Models
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Three – Green Is The Colour…
As I have written before – it is the colour of my true love’s cockpit. But it is never the same colour as you see in the books, movies, or museums. It is never the same colour as other people use, and it is never the same colour twice. The only thing that cockpit green…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Two – Diving For Dollars
The Sword model of the Curtiss dive bomber is one of the bargain bin purchases I made when a chap came to our club thinning out his stash. The whole thing in box was only $ 20…which made my previous purchase of an A-25 A Shrike from a retailer look pretty sick. The Shrike has…
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Petlyakov Pe-2 – Part Two – The Greyhound
This Petlyakov light bomber reminds me of a greyhound. I’ve had to attach the landing gear early in the build – the plates that hold the legs drop in from the top of the nacelle before the wing halves close. Not my procedure of choice, but it is the only way to get really sturdy…
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Petlyakov Pe-2 – Part One – Father’s Day Last Year
Make no mistake about it. When a gift-giving date approaches I do not hesitate to go down to the hobby shop and either reserve a kit or buy one outright. Then the gift-givers can go and pay for it or refund me. Charity begins at home and I know where I live. The Pe-2 is a Mister…
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Lockheed RT 33 – Part Five – Snowbird Hack
Well, that was rewarding. The decal set that cost $ 5.00 went down like a cold beer in a country pub. Decals are always a lottery – even from the reputable makers. Specials from shows? Like licking a light socket and betting the current is off. The CT133 that followed the ‘Birds for a few…
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Lockheed Rt 33 – Part Three – Lockup Stage
The point of time when we have an airplane. One that encloses a well fitted wheel well complex, a nose weight, and a cockpit tub. Wings on, tail on, tip tanks on. It went surprisingly fast as the day wore on. The Sword kits are basically quite good – they are square and plumb. This…
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Lockheed RT 33 – Part Two – Do they Drink At Lunch In Prague?
I’m willing to bet they do – it would explain a number of the design decisions that are found in Czech short-run kits. Not that I should complain, but I am slightly puzzled as to why basic components cannot be moulded as parts of the main fuselage or wing sections. They obviously have the skill…
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Lockheed RT 33 – Part One – An Unexpected Delight
In 2019 I visited a model exhibition in Melbourne and scoured the secondhand tables for bargains. I think I did pretty well in the decal files – the RCAF Lancaster decals were found as well as a $ 5.00 set of commemorative ones for the Lockheed CT-133. This was the Canadian version of the T-33…
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Kawanishi George – Part Three – George of the Jungle
Watch out for that tree! The Kawanishi George is complete, after a week of delight. I have never spent $ 5.00 better, and that is truly all that came out of my pocket for this fighter. Not a scrap of filler anywhere, scraped seams, and no weathering needed. It is a museum piece after all.…
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Kawanishi George – Part Two – No Colour Known To Man
I am always intrigued by the colours of the styrene plastic that kit makers choose to mould their little fighter airplanes. I’ve seen silver in early Revell kits, red, blue, oliveish-green from Aurora, and a vile yellow from Monogram. Matchbox outdid them all choosing greens, browns, and greys for their kits. And even went so…
The Little World 