Category: Uncategorized
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Dornier Do.17Z – Part Three – Perfect Plastic Putty

Since being introduced to this material two years ago I have found my respect for it increasing. It’s English and fairly specific to the plastic kit hobby but really does fufil its purpose. The purpose is best circumscribed – the filling of broad, shallow depressions. It does not form a structural component so you cannot…
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Don’t Mind If I Do…

I am never satisfied these days – even annoyance isn’t as good as it used to be…you got that nice crispy angst before the war… But occasionally in the gambling hell the wheel stops at my number and the goodies are pushed to my side of the table. This week it has been decal paper.…
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Caudron C-635 – The Blue French Gem

To be specific; Bleu Baltique Metallique. This is the only post for this build – because I forgot to picture the early stages of it. They were fast ones – this Heller kit has only 34 pieces. But how lovely they are. The plane itself is a light aircraft of the 1930’s – purchased in…
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Mitsubishi A6M – Part Three – Langley Bird

The Revell Mitsubishi Zero has been completed. It is one of those models that can be built to the standard of the kit but no further. If you look at inconvenient portions of it you can see right through it. But if you look at it from a distance, all is well. The Langley reference…
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Operating Vs Poseable

Also known as detached parts…and what you do with ’em. As a kid 60+ years ago I built Airfix, Monogram, and AMT kits that had working parts. Ailerons, tail surfaces, car bonnets, ship’s turrets, etc. were made with joints and sockets that allowed things to wave, swivel, and retract. This was a major attraction that…
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My New Favourite Thing

And like many of my favourites, it is cheap and plentiful. It also fills a long-desired need and is available from Officeworks. And I have a full packet of it…how much better could it get, eh? The miracle product is A4 -sized sticky label paper. Avery and others make packets of it in all sizes…
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Grumman F8F Bearcat – Part Three – The Highboy

You may be forgiven for raising your eyebrows at the final stance of the Monogram F8F Bearcat…it looks impossibly high off the runway on the main legs. I assure you it was built strictly according to instructions and the landing gear legs were firmly inserted into the bottom of the sockets in the wing. I…
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Grumman F8F Bearcat – Part Two – Monogrammar

That’s learning to speak the language of the 1980’s, and it’s sort of crude. Not nasty, but basic… The Monogram company was an object of my admiration in the 1950’s. I sought their kits in preference to others as they always seemed to be moulded with better fit and had operating features that rewarded the…
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Grumman F8F Bearcat – Part One – First Of the Chrissy Presents

This Grumman is a first on several counts; first Bearcat I’ve ever built and first of the Chrissy kits off the rank. It was a gift from a clubmate – John – and is very much appreciated. The kit is not new mould – there is a catalogue inside the box for 1989 Monogram kits.…
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We Need A Gluement

We have cements that bind together two similar substances by chemically melting one into another – and we have glues that bind by surface tension or bonding or magick incantations to dissimilar surfaces and set as a sticky interface – but we really need something that will do both. The cements are fine, but the…
