Category: subassembly
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Good To Go

One of the favourite expressions of Phil Flory on his vlog shows. I like it as it is a comfortable thing to hear – at least something has succeeded. The latest model may be a festering mass of foam and fingerprints but by the time it has hardened and you’ve gotten your fingers unstuck from…
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Beechcraft Model 18 – Part Two – Individual Excellence

The new model is going together very quickly – aided by reasonably accurate fit in the disparate sub-assemblies. I use the term disparate, because while these components are well suited in themselves…they all hold a proud independence in their geometry. In simpler terms, they fit, but not to each other. This was a phenomenon noted…
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Every Shop’s A Hobby Shop

And so are a good many unattended rubbish piles as well…wherever a modeller casts an eye there are modelling materials in abundance. Unless you work exclusively in Argyle diamonds and platinum bars, you can find what you need frugally. Note: This does not apply to modelling fairs or specialty shops. The price of the aftermarket…
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Heinkel He 111 – Part Five – On Your Feet

I am always eager to get a plane on its feet. And then I’m not, when I look and see what the manufacturers have moulded. So many of them make a set of landing gear that can never support the plane and is miserable to install. It is one of the stations on the model-building…
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Heinkel HE 111 – Part Four – The Elegant Wing

Some aeroplane wings are ugly things. Go look at the Junkers Ju52 in broad daylight. Some are incredible – get out a picture of a B-36. And some, like this Heinkel HE 111 wing, are pieces of real sculpture. Don’t look too long at the engine nacelles – they were covered in an earlier post.…
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Heinkel HE 111 – Part Three – The Aerodynamic Engine

I do not know enough about the differences between British and German aero engines to be able to debate their good and bad points. Suffice it to say I think the British practice of mounting the Merlin engine upright seems to be a darn sight more sensible than the inverted Daimler Benz of the German…
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Heinkel HE 111 – Part Two – Nothing Looks Like An Airplane…

You can get into a rut in model airplane building. I do planes that are mostly British or American types. Sometimes a Soviet job, or the rare Japanese one. In all these cases they have distinctive national characteristics quite apart from paint jobs or insignia. There are styles of fuselages, wings, and engines. Some are…
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Fokker F-27 Friendship – Part Three – The Prime Example

You may be a little surprised to see me priming the F-27 fuselage separately from the wings. The reason is that the wings will not be cemented on until the very last moment – they are a different colour than the fuselage and their absence will make the fuselage painting so much easier. I’ll be…
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Fokker F-27 Friendship – Part Two – Paying Customers

I admire Italeri greatly for including the interiors on their airliners – after all, these are planes designed to carry people for money, and just moulding up a bare interior is a slack way of doing it. I am prepared to put up with the absence of overhead luggage lockers as these can be made…
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Boeing KB29A – Part Seven – Multiple Models

No, this isn’t about those kits that promise you two, three or more finished models from the kit. I admire them but will not pay the price they cost. Plus I fear getting bored with the process when finishing the third variant out of a pack of eight. I write of making multiple models in…
