-
PZL 37a – Part Two – Club Time

This PZL bomber was reserved for a club time build and missed out on some of the workshop photos that other builds get. But in the end it came out well. The frontal view of the aircraft tells a unique story – the dual wheels set onto the landing gear legs. It is the first…
-
PZL 37a Los – Part One – Heart In Hand…

Or mouth, as the case might be. I plucked this Mister Craft bomber off the hobby shop shelf as part of a Christmas present…wondering if I was going to get another dud. Mister Craft can mould some real curate’s eggs… In thus case I was not too dismayed by the sprue trees, but I did…
-
Long Days Down T’ Bench

Or modelling until you can’t model any more. There are two types of long hobby days: a. The day that you just get to keep doing the thing you love, one bit after another. You finish one stage of the kit and are ready for the next one. Nothing breaks, nothing rolls off the bench,…
-
Grigorovich IP-1 – Part Four – The Winter Coat

Part of the appeal of the Grigorovich is the seasonal one…the fact that it’s a winter fighter with skis for landing in the snow. I am not an Australian fan-boy for snow…I passed my childhood in Alberta and I got all the show I needed, thank you. The skis are a novelty, but so is…
-
Grigorovich IP-1 – Part Three – Close Enough For Jazzski

And there I was, getting along so very well…and then winter set in. I knew it was winter because the snow started drifting into the gaps between the wing roots and the fuselage on this Avis model. I was delighted, as it obscured the giant trenches that had appeared. But come spring, the ruse would…
-
Grigorovich IP-1 – Part Two – The Soviet Engine

I might not have been paying attention in the past to the details of aero engineering…but I do now that the kit makers are making much more detailed efforts. For instance, I always built the Airfix and Monogram fighters with radial engines that fit inside cowlings. In many cases they were just engine fronts inside…
-
Grigorovich IP-1 – Part One – Out Of Left Field

The rise of the eastern bloc modelling industry is a blessing and a curse – the former because it gives us good models to build and the latter because it chooses some of the most obscure prototypes. At least they are obscure to a modeller in Western Australia. They might be household names in Minsk.…
-
When Little Worlds Collide

A casual discussion overheard at my modelling club about an upcoming Big Local Modelling Exhibition revolved around which club exhibit would win the coveted “ Best In Show “ award. It’s decided by a public vote amongst the paying attendees. Everyone gets a twiddly wink as a counter and places it in a box at…
-
The Lively Imagination

Also known as the cop-out. Our club motto is ” True To Life – True To Scale “. It is a stirring thought, and has undoubtedly been arrived at through much heated discussion. Like all mottos, it is obeyed in reality sometimes, in spirit sometimes, and in the bin at others. There are models built…

