Category: Uncategorized
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Impatience Is Better than No Patience At All

Hurry up and read this essay – I want to get on and write more. Come on, come on…move your eyes faster…Sheesh… And get on with that model. You’ve had it for over a week and it’s still not done. The box says it’s quick to build…and who are you to make the manufacturer look…
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Was You Ever On The Congo River?

Blow, Boys, Blow!* I have just had the thrilling experience of talking with someone who has personal knowledge of RCAF Wet Dog in Alberta. It’s the closest contact I have had so far with this legendary BCATP airfield. I met the chap at the IPMEX show yesterday – the plastic modellers convention held at Cannington…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Six – Hold My Coffee…

It’s the sober version of ” Hold my beer…” but you can get into just as much trouble anyway. I have a plan. So, you’ll reflect, did Ludendorff ( and didn’t that work out well…), but I hasten to add mine is peaceful and productive. And it revolves around something that revolves around. Okay, enough preparation.…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Four – The Basic Structure

Or ” When Does An Airplane Start To Live? ‘. Okay. You’ve done the interior painting. You’ve stuck on the instrument decals. You’ve decided whether or not you’ll spend an extra month trying to put in photoetched seatbelts, pilot’s clipboards, and spare chewing gum dispenser ( US aircraft only).* Everything that could be sub-assembled and…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Three – The Sub-Assembly

I once wrote that there are always some areas of model building that are a chore – something we approach with a groan and leave with a cheer. And it’s different for each modeller. Well, the same applies to certain stages that are a real pleasure. Oddly enough, for me it is completing sub-assemblies. It’s…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Two – Realistic Manufacture

The new Airfix model kit is sitting drying in the warm workshop as I write. I’ve done the washing of the parts, scanned the decal sheet and instructions, and done a preliminary check of the parts. I’m delighted with what I’ve found. Or not found…no polyurethane blocks with miniscule parts to be sawn free and…
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If It’s Worthwhile Doing…

It’s worthwhile doing badly. Then looking at what can be improved, and doing it again. This was the unfortunate story of Ploesti, but that was also a tale of the baleful effects of listening to authority when you know you’re right. The other thing to consider is that if something is worth doing, it’s worth…
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Little Bottles Of Success – Humbrol

I’ve been watching YouTube videos lately to see what other people do to build and paint model kits. In some instances I’ve been amazed at the reckless candour of the broadcasters. If I were a tort lawyer I would be rubbing my hands together with anticipatory glee. You see, poor model reviews passed between consenting…
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How To Avoid Trouble

The heading image was taken at a meeting of our model collector’s club and represents an entry into the monthly contest – in this case on the topic of the letter ” O “. Orange motor cars, as you can see – these are various models of the Dodge used in ” The Dukes Of…
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How Dare You Attempt To Entertain Me!

One of my friends has commented that the world now seems to be full of people who are determined to be offended by something. I think he may be right, though it might always have been this way – we just never had the access to social media that brought it to our attention. What…
