Category: Uncategorized
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Douglas Skyhawk – Part Two – Grey Ghost
The grey primer stage of the Skyhawk build is very accusatory – it accuses me of great failure in losing that canopy. The rest of the plane is superb. Ah, well, it is ever thus. I have a long history of losing parts – and not all on the concrete floor of the workshop, either.…
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Open The Lightning Rods, Igor! – Part Three
And they called me mad! MAD, I tell you! Now let them see who’s mad…! More soaking, more decaling. More thoughts on the process. a. Revell. 45 seconds soak and slid off beautifully. A dip did no extra good. b. Walthers. An old US model train firm. Fragile, friable decals, but they could be soaked…
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In The Laboratory – Part Two
Well, the experiment was a success. We can now create artificial life in the zombies at the SMCWA clubrooms. The only difficulty will be telling it from normal behaviour. I set up a standard soaking bath for the decals I wanted to test. There were plenty of unused ones from various makers so I carefully…
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Science Mystery Theatre – Part One – The Evans Effect
You can learn a great deal from John Evans if you listen. Occasionally you have to feed him fruitcake but you do get results. However you have to listen carefully. I didn’t and learned a lot. John advised me on how to decal effectively early in my attendance at the club. He told me to…
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Genug
Genug ist genug. And when you have arrived at that point with your model build, it’s time to stop. One bite more than enough pie makes the dish nauseous – one minute more of the best conversation risks hearing or saying too much. The same applies to kit building. There is a point at which…
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The Collection
Do you have a collection of scale models? Congratulations. Whether they are your own production or the result of careful shopping and buying, they should be a real source of pleasure to you. If you are fortunate enough to be able to display them you gain another source of pleasure – the interest others may…
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Fairey Barracuda Mk II – Part Four – Dark Slate Grey
The Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Command aircraft in WWII were painted in many cases with Extra Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey on top – and either Sky or White underneath. I find it a particularly attractive combination but have struggled heretofore – the EDSG is easily got in bottles but the Dark…
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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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Fairey Barracuda Mk II – Part One – The Ugly Duckling
I’m being unfair. I should have written in the plural. Because the British Fleet Air Arm for a long time seems to have been somewhat of a duck farm. Flocks of ’em; Fairey Fulmar and Barracuda, Blackburn Skua and Roc. The Swordfish and Walrus and Stranraer. All were perfectly flyable and in some cases quite…
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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…
The Little World 