Category: subassembly
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Short Sunderland – Part Three – The Problem Of Dimension
The choice of 1:72 scale to model for my collection is politic – I can only fit so much in a small space. Most of the aircraft can be built on a bench and shown on shelf. My new jigs make this a real pleasure. But occasionally the sheer scale of the subject defeats this…
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Short Sunderland – Part Two – Like Painting A Fish
Well, that’s what it reminded me of…as well it might – being a flying boat. If it was to go on water, a fish shape would be most a appropriate. The insides are bare, but at least they are decorated. And the windows will not fall inward. I’ve seen that trick too often not be…
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Revell SPAD XIII – Part Two – Grinning And Bearing It
Well, it is a vintage kit… The Revell SPAD XIII is going to look good, I tell myself. The large dollop of Mr. White Putty cut with levelling thinner is only to be expected. Also the superglue run into the tail gaps and the Vallejo squirt putty elsewhere. I have not reached for a tin…
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Ilyushin IL-2 – Part Three – The Fit Bit
The Sturmovik is cementing together nicely. You’ll see the gap patch in the front before trimming, but note the wing and tail seams. This is the sort of fit I wish ALL Czech and other eastern European makers could achieve. There will be the tiniest slip of superglue on the port wing at the leading…
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Ilyushin IL-2 – Part Two – Czeching Out The Fit
Part-fit stage is looking good. The cockpit has proved wonderful – in Czech terms that means it has a ledge to sit in and fits onto the lendge without hack-sawing anything. The fuselage closes…almost…The wings are in register and they have decided shapes to fit onto the fuselage. And the tail surfaces are such a…
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F-15 Eagle – Part Two – Flaps, Gaps, And Traps
I used to think traps were for the unwary. Then I found myself carefully sticking my fingers in to get the cheese and reaping a snappy reward. There are also traps in the Academy F-15 kit – mainly slight sinks in the intakes and screeching big troubles between the top and bottom halves of the…
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Yak 3 – Part Three – Portable Yak
When you build model kits you need not do it in just one place. I have four locations at which I can endeavour to cut my fingers and damage table tops; two at home and two in other premises. If I was a travelling salesman who was sleeping in a different hotel every night I…
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Yak 3 – Part Two – There’s An Hour Of My Life…
Well-spent, as it happens. The Yak 3 basic structure is cemented together with the cockpit painted already. You can see why I like Hobby Boss products – particularly in a case where there is a time constraint. I don’t want to turn out a shoddy model, but I don’t have time for Boola-Boolavarde stops, as…
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North American Yale – Part Three – Canadian Peculiarities
It’s a nation that pours tree sap on its food. That eats strawberry jam pies. That considers chips in gravy and cheese to be healthy. Peculiarity is in the air. This also extended to the products of Canadian Car Foundry and the training airfields. Hence the odd hole in the side of the engine cover…
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North American Yale – Part Two – Cage Fighting
Or fighting with a cage, if you prefer. The business of welding together a plastic cockpit frame inside a plastic fuselage. Faint hearts need not apply. I have served my cage apprenticeship on a Special Hobby Avro Anson with a resin tubing structure and as a result I have been excused several centuries of Purgatory.…
The Little World 