Category: Ukrainian models
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Chinese Flying Animal – Part Four – FIAT
Fix it again, Tang… The ICM model of the Polikarpov I-16 is done, and not quite ready to fly. Aircraftsman Tang is due on the scene shortly to bolt the engine covers back on. Until then, they are up out of the mud, resting on the wings, We must praise A/C Tang for his efforts…
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Chinese Flying Animal – Part Three – Inside Out
This time the I-16 will be built to show off the exquisite engine inside The Soviet version had the side panels on and all the work was invisible. To facilitate this the sub-assemblies can be largely built up before they have to go inside the fuselage – a very welcome design feature. It is never…
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Chinese Flying Animal – Part Two – Ukrainian Jewel
I cannot praise the ICM model makers enough for this little gem. An aircraft this small could be a temptation to cut corners – to mould haphazardly and make just a few large parts. The ICM firm in Ukraine have gone the other way – they have finely engraved, precisely designed, and cleanly moulded. As…
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Chinese Flying Animal – Part One – The Dollar Army
I need to find a Chinese airplane enthusiast who can tell me whether the Polikarpov I-16 in Nationalist Chinese service in the 1930’s and 40’s carried an animal’s name. When the Soviets used them they were the Ishak – mule. When the Spanish Nationalists flew them they were the Rata – rat. And the Spanish…
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Nieuport 24Bis – Part Three – The Clean Machine
I suspect I could not have used this title two minutes after the ground crew swung the propeller for this French fighter. The exhaust provisions for the rotary engine seem to be two oval holes cut into the lower portion of the engine cowling. Given the castor oil thrown out by the motor plus the…
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Nieuport 24Bis – Part One – So What’s With The Bis, Eh?
What was wrong with the plain letter B? Not European enough to be sophisticated? Well, the dictionary defines it as meaning ” again ” so the Bis version is the second one. Like we couldn’t have gotten that from a simple ” B ” ? Son of a Bis… This is another Roden kit, and…
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Canadian Valentine Tank – Part Four – Borden Baby
Or ” The Jolly Green Midget “. Say what you will about the green paint on this Valentine, it is the closest I can get to the distinctive colour on this tank and an adjacent Matilda as they sit in the CFB Borden museum right now. The colour illustrations that show these are taken in…
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Canadian Valentine Tank – Part One – Well You Had Me At…
At Canadian, actually. Anything with a maple syrup glaze. This was not a model I saw in a local shop – it was ordered from the eastern states after a dangerous internet browsing session. It came with another Canadian armoured vehicle, but unfortunately I had not looked closely at the web page – that one…
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Canadian Valentine Tank – Part Two – Semi-Detailed
I am alternately delighted and dismayed when I see the interior of a model kit. It may be anything from fully-detailed to absolutely bare, and even the walls of the cockpit or interior of the tank or car may be problematical. There are moulds that concentrate their ijector pin towers right where you are looking.…
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Soviet AS Truck – Part One – Diorama Time
I am so ignorant. I know nothing. I know less than John Banner as Sgt. Schultz. But I get to find out a lot of things. In this case the impetus proved to be the Library diorama business. I wanted to do the Soviet airfield at Uszhitmi and needed a vehicle for it. I thought…
The Little World 