Category: Uncategorized
-
Polish Tankette – Part One – A Gem Off The Shelf

This kit is the second venture I’m making in 1/35 scale – and this is a deliberate choice, rather than a chance purchase. The little Polish armoured car kit that I bought for a dollar proved to be so much fun to build that I determined to add more to the Stein’s Military World museum.…
-
Is A Miniature Builder Bound To Drive A Small Car?

Or live in a small house? Or wear tight shoes? Well, no, but there is probably some connection here somewhere, if only we could avoid it. What correlation is there for the model builder with the real size of the world? Now we all know about scales – from universal ones, to maverick ones, to…
-
Systematic Modelling

A fine concept. Except most of what I do is Système D. In case you are unclear about the classifications, let me explain: a. Système A – By the book. Follow the correct pathway to do anything, and expect that the correct outcome will eventuate. b. Système B – By the current fashion – even…
-
Northrop Black Widow – Part Four – White Widow

Before you think this has gotten political or I’ve lost my mind, let me assure you that there is a very good reason for painting the P-61 Black Widow white. Before I go into that, notice how smooth the basic structure ( despite the rivets ) is. There was surprisingly little putty needed – or…
-
Northrop Black Widow – Part Three – Swings And Roundabouts

Every airplane design has compromises and so does every kit. Some are adequately addressed and some are not – what you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts. In the case of the P-61, the twin tail booms made of two pieces each ( double the seams ) mean two chances to get…
-
” Slice Me Off About $ 5.00 Worth, Love…”

” And is the polony fresh…? “ A reader of this column who lives in my same town has raised an interesting question re. the dearly-remembered Antonov AN 225 cargo jet. Apparently there is a 1:72 kit of it from the Ukrainian maker ” Modelsvit “. A massive thing, of course, and one of those…
-
Timing…

A ticka, ticka, ticka…Good Timing. A tocka, tocka, tocka. If you model by the clock you’ll never go wrong…until Daylight Savings starts or your Big Ben falls off the bench. Then you’ll be back to counting up to one thousand before letting go of the cemented parts. The intrusion of time into a hobby is…
-
Modelling The Misery

We have a European war going on right now with death and destruction on a terrible scale. We’ve had these since the time of the Roman Empire, but this is one in real time with live video coverage. And it has some people we know in it…people we care about. The modelling hobby and the…
-
72 ÷ 2 = 36

And 36 ÷ 2 = 18. So you can see the logical mathematical connection between the standard small plastic model airplane scale and the cast-metal car hobby. But what is 1:36 doing in between? Not a lot, if Google is accurate. A few die-cast cars but nowhere near as many as adjacent scales. I think…
-
Revell Sopwith Camel – Part Four – A Terrible Death

But a nice finish…Old vaudeville joke. Laugh now. Please. The Revell kit was never going to be a show-winner, but then that was never going to be me anyway. And I am happy to say that it has turned out rather pleasingly. I’ve compared it to the Academy kit of a Camel built last year…
