Category: Self Reliance
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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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Swedish NA-16 – Part One – The Beechnut Models Company
You’ll want to remember that name – in case you are ever faced with one of their kits. If so, you have choices: a. Buy it, spend days of your life coping with its awful nature, and eventually turn out a masterpiece. Then die. b. Save time. Fall to the floor grasping your chest. c.…
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Selective Ordering
A recent Youtube post by a Canadian hobby shop owner pointed out the selective nature of the current tariff brouhaha. He gets supplies in from US distributors and recently had a shipment stopped by Canadian Customs, with a 25% tariff fee slapped on it. When he was notified of this he took his ordering invoices…
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The Box Diorama
I’m a sucker for boxed displays – I spend more time over them at a museum than the open equipment. Call this a peculiarity of the scale modelling mind, if you will, but I think it is because the box-builder has more control of the subject. Lighting is the key for a lot of things;…
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How To Achieve Air Superiority
Without firing a shot. Easy…spread propaganda that you have a new plane that is many generations beyond what your rival has. Produce propaganda and animated simulations of the aircraft and make it do things that are frankly impossible while claiming that you have hundreds of them in secret underground bunkers. Make accurate scale models of…
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Fairchild Argus – Part Two – Inside
There are a number of sources of information for the completion of any cockpit: a. The instruction sheet. Good luck there… b. Internet images of service aircraft taken in the past, before colour film was widely available – good luck there again. c. Internet images of current aircraft in museums. Some photographers, like Inch High…
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Can You Give Useful Advice On A Scale Model Topic…
If you have no idea what you are talking about? Oddly enough…yes. I have watched a number of YouTube videos made by people with no experience, expertise, or ability to communicate…and gained valuable insights. It is not for everyone to be a Solon or an Arnold. Most of us are not teachers – and the…
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Snowed Into The House With A Fouga
On a Saturday, with a new model kit, no homework, and a whole Coffee Crisp chocolate bar to myself. If you are English you can equate this to Christmas afternoon, a tin of Bullseyes, and a new Airfix kit plus a James Bond movie to watch. Religion has a lot to offer the thinking adult,…
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Yak 23 – Part Two – The Target
When there is nothing more left to get out of the toothpaste tube. The USAF had ways; ways of getting information from enemy air forces. In the case of the Royal Air Force they just bought the plans for the Merlin engine and turned them over to Packard for production. They boxed up all the…
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Pick On Someone Your Own Size!
And your own scale! Do you have models in your collection that are all different sizes? I do. Are they all different scales? Generally, no. This may not be a problem for you if you are a widespread modeller. But if you want a consistent collection that can tie together, you need to discipline yourself.…
The Little World 