Category: Utility Models
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Boeing Kaydet – Part Two – A Hole Lotta Filling Goin’ On

I mentioned the sink holes and ejector post depressions last column. I didn’t realise then how many of them there were going to be. The ones in the tyres were particularly galling. No-one else has this problem. Well, after some Perfect Plastic Putty, neither did I. To their credit, Revell gave me two seats that…
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Douglas Skyhawk – Part One – The Experimental Craft

Never mind your Bell X-1 – your Douglas Skyrocket, X-3, or X-15. I’ve got a real experimental airplane. One on which I intend to try out new things, hell, Hay, or bust. The canopy of the A-4D was missing from the kit. I needed to make a new canopy shape so that I could weather…
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” Back In The Day”

Just back it right in to my brain and unload. l’ll put the memories away as you bring them out. Do I have to sign a receipt? ” Back in the day ” is a favourite expression of Phil Flory – the English modeller who runs the famous video site. He’s referring to his childhood,…
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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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Christmas Etiquette For Scale Modellers

A valuable guide to the holidays to ensure that you have the right spirit and none of it spills on the tablecloth. a. If you are given a model, it is The Right Model. You may have built eight ME 109’s already and the kit that you have received is an Airfix Me 109… You…
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Beech AT-11 – Part Three – Never Ever

Never ever throw away the extra parts that accumulate as you build your kits. Save them, separate them, and catalogue them if you have time. At least have a good look in the boxes occasionally to remind yourself what you have. Remember modellers have a seventh sense that other people do not have – the…
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Cheap and Cheerful

One of my friends has posted a picture on Facebook of an Airfix De Havilland Tiger Moth kit he’s building. He’s selected the RAF version in A/B camouflage and from the picture it looks delightful. He noted that it cost him $ 11 – and mentioned me as a cheap and cheerful modeller. Oh, if…
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Ooh! We’ll Build THAT One…

Aaaaaand We’re there! We’ve succeeded in the most difficult part of scale modelling – deciding which model to make. The question and decision may have been asked and made in several ways: There is a picture of a ship, plane, or tank that we’ve seen on the net…or in a book…that just calls to us.…
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US Army Ambulance – Part Two – The Bug Bear

Everyone has a sort of a bugbear in their modelling. One person will have no luck with paints. Another will continually mess up clear parts. In my case it is vehicles – I never complete one without some basic flaw. In many cases it is the basic structure that foxes me. 1:72 and 1:76 vehicle…
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Why Is I Here?

” So tell me, Boss, why is I here? In the stash. In my little bag with my decal sheet and dodgy instructions. Why am I not back in the hobby shop with all the other kits? Why did I get chosen? ” a. You were the only kit of the essential model I need…
