Category: subassembly
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Ilyushin 4 – Part Two – Why You Do This Sergey?
Every model kit is an adventure in a cardboard box – some are the Walt Disney types and some are the Jumanji sort… In the case of the Ilyushin 4, I arrived at the wing stage and took some time out to be flabberghasted. The construction of the thing is a unique departure. The engine…
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Douglas Skyhawk – Part One – The Experimental Craft
Never mind your Bell X-1 – your Douglas Skyrocket, X-3, or X-15. I’ve got a real experimental airplane. One on which I intend to try out new things, hell, Hay, or bust. The canopy of the A-4D was missing from the kit. I needed to make a new canopy shape so that I could weather…
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Fairey Barracuda Mk II – Part Three – The Skylight
The canopy of the Fairey Barracuda sits over the top of the three crew members as a sort of an afterthought. The design places the two riders so deeply within the fuselage that their chief view of the world is through picture windows set in the side. The vast wing above them shelters the from…
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Fairey Barracuda Mk II – Part Two – Aha, Now I See
I’m starting to appreciate scale model kits more and more these days – particularly the ones where someone makes an effort to put an interior into the makeup. I don’t want a Telford winner cockpit that takes me six months to glue and paint, but the fact that they give me the basics means I…
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The Carpet Monster
My friend Warren refers to the ever-present danger of losing small parts as the attack of the carpet monster. He should know what he’s talking about – he has carpet in his hobby room that has swallowed many a bit. I have a concrete floor in my workshop and a lino one in my computer…
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To Err Is Human
To sand it flat, re-prime it, and go again is …well, not divine…but better human. Human modeller…specifically one who has matured past the point of throwing the model at the wall and swearing at the family. Not that they don’t deserve it… Your errors need not be those of judgement or malice. You can just…
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Morane Saulnier MS 230 – Part Four – The First Of The Few
The Morane Saulnier MS 230 trainer is ready to fly. The cadets of the RRAAF will finally have their own aircraft. It has been especially blessed by the Bishop of Strelsau – a comfort to the cadets. This was not possible at Hentzau Field, of course, but His Reverence blessed the individual parts as they…
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Morane Saulnier MS 230 – Part Three – The Colour Section of Bunnings
I don’t know about you, but I am in an agony every time I go to the colour section of Bunnings – the paint store. The variety of paints and finishes overwhelms me – what I once knew as a cheap tin of paint is now the price of a suit of clothes and the…
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Morane Saulnier MS 230 – Part Two – End Of The Evening
I am vastly pleased so far with the Morane Saulnier MS 230 kit. I have a wing, a fuselage, wheels, and an aero engine. The fit of the kit is superb. No open seams and no filler needed. I may run afoul of the struts and wheel braces but I am being soothed by the…
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Ryan Spirit Of St. Louis – Part Two – Lonely
Well, he is lonely. But to give FROG/Novo their due, he is a pretty good representation of Lindberg dressed in period flying gear. He gets three slightly foggy windows to peer out of and a hard plastic seat, but then the real aircraft has a wicker seat in it that doesn’t look much better. The…
The Little World 