Category: subassembly
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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.…
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Tornado GR.1 – Part Three – Jet Jiggery

And the occasional jet pokery, too. In fact poking plays a great part in a lot of my builds – I need to poke myself to get enough enthusiasm to even start. The Vertigo jet jig has the marvellous feature of a two-part clamp on the front to secure the nose of an aircraft from…
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Tornado GR.1 – Part Two – Play Value

I am never one to decry play value. Whether it is a model railway layout or a burlesque dancer, getting pleasure out of fiddling around is what it’s all about. Above all, we want things to move… This was the case with the dear old Monogram airplane kits of my childhood. Things that moved sold…
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Foam

I have a theory about the Universe: If it cannot be done with foam-core board, it cannot be done. And I think I have Adam Savage to thank for that. He was seen on a YouTube feature constructing an architectural model of a house with foam-core board and hot glue. The facility with which he…
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General Dynamics F-16 – Part Two – Having A Grey Fit

Like a pink fit, but more gentlemanly. You can clip a Hobby Boss kit together at nearly any stage of the build. I’d painted the wheel wells on the F-16 prior to trying the ordnance onto it and was curious to see whether there would be much filling and sanding needed. None at all if…
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Austin Armoured Car – Part Two – Precision Product

Say what you will about some of the eastern bloc modelling companies turning out marginal models – and we have all see Mikro Mir and Amodel and such – there are some companies on the sharp edge of the hobby. This is the case with this Austin armoured car. There is enough detail in the…
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Grey, Gray, Grau, Gris, Seryy

Not the weather – it’s actually nice out. I mean the undercoat. I use the Mr. Surfacer pots blown through a single action airbrush. Others use Tamiya rattle cans or similar material from different makers. Few of us realise the miracle that occurs when we do. Initially I thought that spraying an undercoat was just…
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Caudron C-445 – Part Three – The Jig Is Up

And as Lou Gosset might have it – ” and running…”. This was the first time that then new Slovakian jigs got their real trial. The Caudron was a perfect size for the WW2 pattern – though there were more adjustments to make on the rack than you’d think. The wing clamps were a little…
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Caudron C-445 – Part Two – The Expensive Seats

Well, that decided it. The interior of the Caudron C-445 shows it to be an officer’s toy – not a hospital transport. There are six seats in it – two for the pilots, one for the radio operator in the front. One for the secretary and one for the aide de camp in the back.…
