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JS-2 Tank – Part One – A Step Up From The TKS

I endured such a razzing from my scale model club mates when I built the tiny Polish TKS tankette that I have decided to get my revenge. And who better to provide it than the Russians. They provide excess misery for everyone else, why not harness it to my purposes. So here is a Josef…
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And Now The Shipping News

A number of chaps at my Men’s Shed morning are model ship builders – some exclusively and some as a relief from tanks or planes. I used to build boats – R/C ones as a young householder, and in my dim youth plastic ships as well. But so far not in old age. No real…
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Are You Proud Of Your Work?

That sounds like one of those passive/aggressive questions that bullies invent to make people feel bad. But bear with me – it is legitimate. Are you proud of the models you make? I am, and I display them at my studio in IKEA cabinets. I take pictures of them and post them on the internet.…
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Convair Atlas D – Part Three – The Beast

The advantage of building to a common scale is the insight it provides you into the relative size of things. Prior to this build I had no idea these first-generation ICBMs were so large. My mind saw the toys of my childhood – the Cape Canaveral set gave totally false impressions. But then I went…
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Convair Atlas D – Part Two – Cement Day

This is no finger-tangler of a model. A day or two of cementing and sanding and the air compressor can be turned on. The assembly is no mean feat, however, as the tolerances with which this kit are moulded are anything but generous. Each of the location pins has had to be shaved to get…
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Convair Atlas D – Part One – Old Home To New Home

I used to live where these things were deployed. I now live where the scale model is made. This kit from Horizon Models was advertised for some time in the Australian scale model magazine – but I did not see it at the time. Then it got to Phil Flory and I sat up and…
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SNCAN Martinet – Part Four – Swedish Spy

That might seem a bit harsh, but the decal on the side of the fuselage and the Wikipedia entry both identify this post-war aircraft as part of the cartographic services if the Swedish government. They may have flown over Sweden mapping, but they could also have been taking vertical pictures elsewhere. There are several internet…
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SNCAN Martinet – Part Three – Skunk Stripe

Well, that’s what it looks like – fortunately the smell is a lot sweeter. The fuselage went together alright, and the puttying around the seams started – as this was to be a sliver-coloured aircraft a good deal of smoothing was undertaken to make the seam less visible. This might not be as good as…
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SNCAN Martinet – Part Two – Pre-Armed

I am never quite sure whether I want the good news or the bad news first – but in any case I want to be warned what is coming. In the case of the Martinet I looked up another modeller’s build of the same kit and learned that Czech Sneeze had made a slight error…

