Category: Secondhand
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Fairey Firefly MkV – Part One – Double Sealed
When I bought this Airfix kit at the swap meet it was tightly sealed in a factory plastic wrap. Once inside I found it was sealed again with side-stickers. No-one who had not purchased this plane was going to get in there! The plastic bag that held the parts was open, but nothing escaped. The…
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The Half-Built Bargain
However you acquire a half-built – stash sale, donation, or legacy – you buy more than a box. You buy a dilemma. A fresh kit, with a sealed box or bagged sprue trees, is a clean field to play on. It may be old, with tatty decals and useless instructions, but at least when you…
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Practical Lessons In Showmanship
Determined to get value for brass from the recent model railway exhibition, I have set aside my disappointment and drawn up a list of lessons learned. a. If you go to a show, go for a reason. You’ll be paying show prices so get value. b. The show should be on the stage in front…
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The Experiment
I have had a hint that the next big local scale model exhibition this week will see a trial of an interesting sales experiment. A table will feature built-up models for sale. Kits that have been completed by modellers who no longer wish to keep them. They will pay a modest fee to have them…
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If Someone Gives You A Free Lemon
Squeezing it is optional. The free scale model kit may be a present or a practical joke. If it is your birthday or Christmas it’s most likely to be the former. If someone hands you a forty-year-old kit box that looks as if it’s been run over in the driveway, the circumstance may be different.…
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Swedish NA 16 – Part Six – Uncle Dick’s Kit O’ Doom
Inside every silver lining is a cloud. My week building the Beechnut Models CAC Wirraway into a Swedish NA 16 trainer was a humbling experience. No, that is not quite right – that should be ” bumbling “. With a kit this bad you are feeling your way from the start – over a carpet…
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Swedish NA-16 – Part Two – The Plastic Mangler
I would have written ” wrangler ” but you wouldn’t believe this kit. The fuselage halves are two different sizes. Not by much, but by enough. I reduced them somewhat upon a sandpaper sheet taped to a flat surface, and then attacked the thicker half with a Dremel tool, The centre seam doesn’t fit, but…
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Could You Deliberately Retro-Build?
I’ve been looking at a website that refers to itself as Dem Brudders; it deals with reproduction and re-issued kits. A number of small makers have ended up with moulds from major American firms; Revell, AMT, Aurora, Monogram, etc. The smaller speciality moulders have re-issued some of the classics that were favourites during the 50’s…
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Airspeed Oxford – Part Four – The Central Flying School
The third partner in the Training Trio. My BCATP airfield: RCAF WET DOG – has struggled on for years with an Anson, a Harvard, and a Crane – all good trainers. Of course there is a Tiger Moth and a Grumman Gosling as well, but up until now the Airspeed Oxford has eluded me. Now…
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Airspeed Oxford – Part One – The Leaky Frog
A recent estate sale brought this creature into my life; Lermontov the leaky frog. He is so named because he is from Russia, is made up of old parts, and is leaking sand all over the photo table. He is an apt analogy for the Novo Airspeed Oxford model. Lermontov cost nothing – the Airspeed…
The Little World 