Category: subassembly
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Farman – NC 223.3 – Part Five – Almost A Sailplane

Well, you could be fooled into thinking that if you just saw the fueslage and wings, couldn’t you. Angular, but sleek. No-one in the SCNAC stayed sleek for long – eventually their Gallic desire to attach a strut, a window, or a café awning and chairs asserted itself and before you knew it you had…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Four – Faire Soi-Même

Or you won’t be faring at all. Scratch-building at the order of the kit maker is a strange feeling. I do not shy from it, as I scratch build many of my airport structures, but it still smacks a little of ” don’t care ” when the instructions demand it and there are no parts…
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Farman NC 223.3 – Part Two – Short Run Need Not Be Vile

I think Forrest Gump would have enjoyed short-run Czech kits – he had a philosophy that would have coped. I may send my next Prague bomb to Tom Hanks. The fuselage halves of this angular bird could have been a disaster – no locating pins and a very long run for twists and warpage. But…
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Dornier Do-17Z – Part Five – Crewed Up

” Skipper to crew: Does anyone have the telephone number for Windscreens O’Brien…? “ Have patience, your canopy is in the preparation stage. Fortunately Monogram/Revell have moulded clear ones with pronounced frames. After-painting should be fairly straightforward. The Dornier is on her legs as well – and here the decision of the moulders to make…
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Dornier Do-17Z – Part Three – So Near…

And yet so far… I was really hoping to get the Dornier 17Z buttoned up with no need for filler as a tribute to the old Monogram moulders. Such was not to be the case, but in the meantime I am puzzling over the inside of the wing. The Monogram engravings are there alright, as…
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Gloster Javelin FAW 9 – Part Four – Bang On

I’ve banged on about this before and I’ll bang on about it in the future – the use of a good jig or model support system is wonderful. Mine are from Vertigo Jigs, Slovakian-made and available through BNA here in Australia. I’ve got the WW2 fighter jig and the modern jet jig. The Gloster Javelin…
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Gloster Javelin – FAW 9 – Part Three – Trench Warfare

Try as you might to buy kits that need no major work, you are still at the mercy of the moulding shop. Tamiya may be a safer bet than FROG but do not let the tube of putty out of your sight… This was a case of trying the new sprue goo mixture. I finally…
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Gloster Javelin FAW 9 – Part Two – Evolving A FROG

I have been googling the Javelin kit I bought and have come to some interesting conclusions – it is the Mister Craft mould but there are marked differences between these two and the original FROG sprue trees for the 1950’s. These chiefly revolve about the addition of a long whale-rib probe on the starboard side…
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S.P. – Part Four – Precision Is As Precision Does

I had no idea what to expect with the Mirage model of the little armoured car – the firm was a mystery to me. I was pleasantly surprised. Precision in some scale modelling is everything…and in other cases it is nothing. Some makers have magnificent box art disguising parts that frankly do not fit together.…
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S.P. – Part Three – Chassis

I have to keep reminding myself that I am basically playing with a dollar coin here. The kit is progressing well, with a club day spent making wheel and tyre assemblies and getting the running gear on the chassis. The top casing fits down with perfect precision, so it can be finished separately from the…
