Category: subassembly
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S.P. – Part Two – Polish Soft Serve

The plastic with which this Polish kit is moulded is not quite as soft and flaky as that used in the French Mach 2 offerings…but not too much harder. It is softer than new Airfix styrene and it pays not to cut too close to a moulded surface for fear of gouging or tearing. However,…
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Dewoitine D- 510 – Part Two – I Underestimated Them

I should not have been so cynical about the KP moulders. The wings of the Dewoitine D-510 looked a little unsure at the start – the tabs seemed vestigial. The fitting surfaces minimal. I foresaw structural re-enforcement needed. I was wrong. The kit fits. The cockpit goes into the fuselage without trimming – the fuselage…
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Albatros D.III – Part Three – Little Pink

Which, if I recall, was the title of a Damon Runyan short story….and nothing to do with today’s topic. Some months back, in the midst of the viral shortages at our hobby shop, I was reduced to purchasing a pot of Mr. Surfacer 1200 in pink..my normal buy – Mr Surfacer 1000 – being off…
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Albatros D.III – Part Two – Sleek

There only seem to be two types of WW1 aircraft – the impossibly sleek and the improbably bulky. This Albatros fits the first category, as would Pfalz and Roland machines. The second type is represented in my mind by the Bristol fighters and the Russian bombers. Brought about by different design bureaux comprised of different…
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Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 – Part Two – Club Model

The discipline of building specific models in specific circumstances seems to be working out reasonably well – I keep two separate model kits for the two clubs I attend, and one kit a’building in my home workshop. Of course there are cross-overs when one comes to the painting stage – then I use my own…
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WW1 Female Tank – Part Three – Makin’ Tracks

The tanquistas at my scale model club are variable creatures. It pays to be careful when you talk to them. While they are building the hulls and turrets they are cheery. You can have a jest about anything. While they are painting interiors they are happy and contented. When they are assembling tracks from a…
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WW1 Female Tank – Part Two – Mystery Iron Box

I must say that the classic British WW1 tank is somewhat of a mystery to me. I’ve never seen a real one and the actual topography of it is a puzzle. I know the lozenge shape but that’s all. The basic box hides inside the tread, much like the Churchill tank – another enigma. This…
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Airspeed Envoy – Part Two – Squeezy

Say what you will about the British being a stuffy and stand-offish nation, when they make a small airliner they make sure that everyone is chummy on the flight. Either that or the moulds for these seats are a little wide. You can get in the door and possibly into the back three seats, but…
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Are We There Yet, Daddy?

Or in scale modelling terms: is it real yet, Daddy? There comes a time in every scale model build – whether it is with scratch-built parts, a kit, or a box of Lego – when it becomes real. Perhaps not real as in finished, but real as in a model of something under construction. And…
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Swiss F-5E – Part Two – Thank You, I Think…

I puzzle sometimes – at the decisions that the model making companies take when they design a mould. I cannot influence or gainsay them – they are providing the kits that I love to build. But the question of ” why ” comes up more than you’d think. Take the nose of the Northrop F-5E.…
