Category: Uncategorized
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Ruritania Poste – Part Four – Sprayin’ Weather

I never used to take the slightest notice of Advice To Mariners. It could be blowing a gale round Beachy Head…or Bayswater for that matter…and I couldn’t have cared less. That was before I got an airbrush and a bad habit. The habit is spray painting model aircraft, so don’t be judgemental. The business of…
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Ruritania Post – Part Three – Aviation Réchaufee

No one can accuse the Ruritanian people of being wasteful – they are not profligate in any way. Nor can they be ignored as engineers and scientists – any nation that concocts brandy and aviation fuel from turnips must be accorded a good deal of respect. Thus it is not surprise to see that the…
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Ruritania Post – Part Two – Nothing Goes To Waste

The second classic Airfix kit I am engaged upon for the next few weeks is another of the SM.79 torpedo bombers the Italian air force used in the Mediterranean. One already exists in my collection in the Middle East colours of the Lebanese Air Force – it’s an Italeri kit and somewhat superior to this…
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Ruritania Post – Part One – Box O’ Doom

Every so often you encounter a model kit that is so old, warped, and manky that it could stand for election to the Sydney City Council…and win. This is the Airfix Heinkel He111 kit I have just opened. It is marginally older than Keith Richards but not in as good a condition. It dates from…
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What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

I have been thinking about the Big Local Model Show that will be coming at the end of April. It excites me but I’m a little nervous. It’s the question of whether it will get a chance to go ahead as planned. The rise of the new Omicron strain of the Wuhan Virus has frightened…
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Do Dollhouse Ladies Have Failures?

I don’t know. Do they ever grasp their latest Victorian parlour settee model and fling it against the wall? Is there a flood of unparliamentary language? Perhaps – they are human after all. I sympathise, and do not wish them endless failure. But I do wish them a bit of it – and I hope…
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Waitin’ To Paint

Doesn’t it seem that you spend 80% of your time on Earth waiting? As a kid you spend time waiting to grow up and as you do you spend hours in queues, traffic, and meetings. When you are at home you spend time waiting for family members to be ready to go out. When you’re…
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North American F-100 – Part Four – When NATO Meant France As Well

And the French needed American aircraft to fulfil their own defence needs. A long time ago… Long enough to be before the Area Rule in aircraft design – allowing the designers of the Super Sabre a big fuselage space in the mid-rear for the engine. A contemporary of Soviet fighters and interceptors of similar bulk.…
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North American F-100 – Part One – The Start Of A Project

I heard a suggestion a few weeks ago and took it on board – a good idea for the Big Local Plastic Model Show. I hope we are granted the blessing of it and are here to participate – in anticipation of which I have started a project to fill two display tables. It’ll be…
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Jet Jig Jive

I’ve just used the second of my new Slovakian assembly jigs for a jet. It is the Tornado GR.1 from Italeri – a perfect testing piece for the tool. There are square fuselage panels to rest upon. The geometry is markedly different from the WW2 small jig – though the construction materials are just the…
