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” The Old Bazaar In Noranda”

Well, they had Sopwith camels for sale… It is as well to have all your ducks in a row and to know where you stand. With clear-cut rules of procedure. To have a definite command structure. It’s the guiding principle of most military organisations. Mind you, it’s a little startling to encounter this first thing…
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A7 Corsair II – Part Two – Library Day

Somewhat of a novelty – an afternoon spent scale modelling at the Cambridge Library in Floreat Forum. It was as a member of a Saturday club that hitherto has met at one chap’s home. This was an experiment in connecting with his local library – a place where we also display a cabinet of our…
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A7 Corsair II – Part One – A Childhood Dream

I always admired the Ling-Temco-Vought Corsair II when I was a boy and dreamed of flying it. Had I dreamed up some way to see without glasses I might have saved myself some heartache., This childhood infatuation eventually petered out when I discovered girls, but it is somewhat surprising that I never built a model…
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Miniature Demicturation

Or ” taking the piss out of someone with the hobby “… I have been guilty of just this – with written articles in my web column and imaginative labels on some of my display models. So far no-one has exploded in rage, but I still have hopes. But have I done so with any…
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Vultee Vanguard – Part Five – Hint of Wings To Come.

Look closely at some lines on this Vultee fighter and mentally add a bent wing and bigger engine. Yep. It would have been interesting to see what might have been if the later Corsair was available for China in the early 40’s. lad-based aviation would have been less critical in landing than naval service and…
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Vultee Vanguard – Part Four – Mind The Gap

Fitting an eastern European model together is like opening Forrest Gump – you can never tell whether you have a soft centre or not. In the best kits the parts fit, and in the rest they nearly fit. You are fortunate if the gaps are symmetrical and the surfaces parallel. Plastic strip and sheet can…
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Vultee Vanguard – Part Three – Hate, Loathe, And Despise

If I told you I hate, loathe, and despise kits that have separate blades and hubs for their propellers you might get the wrong idea. Many 1/72 planes have this feature and the two, three, or four-bladed props sandwich in between a hub and a spinner and end up looking fine. I reserve my negative…
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Vultee Vanguard – Part Two – No Surprises

An afternoon’s footling with the Sword models Vultee Vanguard has proved enjoyable, if not exactly flawless. In fact ” flawless ” never describes the short-run kits form Eastern Europe. In some case ” flawful ” would be a better use of language. In the worst cases language is your final resort, but send the family…


