Category: subassembly
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1932 Chrysler – Part Two – The Curate’s Egg

I quite approve of the level of detail on the Chrysler engine – enough to look interesting without asking for insane complication. The wheels are rewarding. The white sidewalls are a stiff insert but once in are perfectly acceptable. The hubcaps have been touched up with that marvel of modern modelling; the Molotow pen. The…
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Curtiss Hawk II – Part Two – The Radial

I am always astounded at the enthusiasm of the Czech kit makers to produce ever-finer sheets of photo-etched brass. The Curtiss Goshawk has just such an offering, asking me to make throttle handles as fine as a hair. I have acceded to their demand to the extent of producing two fuel tank filler caps with…
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Aichi Val – Part Two – Not Quite Tamiya

I was a bit premature in my assessment of the Fujimi kit of the Aichi Type 11. It is closer to Monogram than Tamiya. The flash encountered was not too bad – nothing that knifing and sanding could not deal with. The location pins were in the right places. Yet the fuselage halves fit only…
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CT-155 Hawk – Part Two – First Mistake

First mistake was not reading the colour call-out fine print – and painting the wheel wells the wrong colour. A tiny print panel says they are all white inside. I painted them grey, same as the cockpit. ( The cockpit is correct. ) Fortunately this can be taken to mean I have primed them with…
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Lockheed Hercules – Part Four – The Office

But it may, or may not, be official. It’s hard to tell. I do like accuracy in aircraft. When I am a passenger on a commercial jet I applaud accurate navigation and safe landings. Yet I can be led astray easily when constructing my models and it often doesn’t bother me. Thus I can read…
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Lockheed Hercules – Part Three – Enough Meat On The Bone

In my recent builds I have concentrated upon small aircraft. This is fun and fine – it delivers quick satisfaction and another plane for the collection. But it sometimes seems as if there is very little going on – that the thing flies together in a day or so. I start to miss the meat…
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Lockheed Hercules – Part Two – First Sprues

I may have been typecasting myself at the model club. Everyone who saw me start on the C-130 commented that I was building a big model at last. Well, it is big, but not much more than the Italeri Fairchild Flying Boxcar of 2018. The seams between panels are raised, but discretely so. The polish…
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Lockheed Hercules – Part One – Club Build

Every year I like to let myself go with a biggish build and use my time at the Scale Model Club Of Western Australia to do it. I know it’s going to be a leisurely affair with occasional stops for home air brushing, but I can still make good use of the Tuesday Men’s Shed…
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Henschel Hs 123A-1 – Part Two – After Dinner

I washed the kit parts for the Henschel before dinner – they sat drying as I browsed and sluiced, and were ready for a start as soon as the coffee was served. What you see in the heading image is less than two hours later – all the major parts de-burred, edge-cleaned, and assembled. Tomorrow…
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The Weak Link

In every chain they say the weak link will break first. So with every scale model. It changes with each type that you build. Do a few and you’ll know what to expect. You can fortify yourself against the troubles if you get in first. a. Aircraft are weakest in three areas; landing gear, antennae,…
