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F-15 Eagle – Part Three – Baz

Not Bazza – this is not an Australian fighter. Baz, as in Hebrew. One of the couple of dozen of this type the IDF flies. The tail markings were initially meant to be two red triangles inside and an eagle on the outer but the home printing proved difficult – they were impossible to actually…
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F-15 Eagle – Part Two – Flaps, Gaps, And Traps

I used to think traps were for the unwary. Then I found myself carefully sticking my fingers in to get the cheese and reaping a snappy reward. There are also traps in the Academy F-15 kit – mainly slight sinks in the intakes and screeching big troubles between the top and bottom halves of the…
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F-15 Eagle – Part One – The Gift Bird

If you are reading this I have conquered. Weeks have passed while I tried to post a simple blog about this Academy kit, but every time I tried it the WordPress system made something go missing. If I were a suspicious man I would think of censorship. The kit was the gift of a club…
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Paint Pot No. 2

The business of spray can and bottle was covered in a previous post. Now it’s the turn of the choice of alcohol/water acrylics and acrylic lacquers. Like a lot of people who remembered enamels, I commenced my latter-day modelling with alcohol/water acrylics. A well-known brand that starts with ” T “. The paints worked well,…
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Grey Is Not Gray

And unfortunately, it’s not grey, either. At least not the grey it was a minute ago. If the colour call-out sheet calls for grey, start sweating early. It will sometimes specify which grey it wants, but just when you think you’re safe, you’ll discover that it specifies it by: a. A paint maker’s paint number.…
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Yak 3 – Part Four _ Speed Is As Speed Does

When you are not bending up connecting rods from brass PE sheets for a 1/72 kit, it seems to go a lot faster in the construction. Not as liable to win Best-of-Show at the Anorak Expo, but you have to be realistic. And Hobby Boss are the most realistic moulders I know. The Yak 3…
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Yak 3 – Part Three – Portable Yak

When you build model kits you need not do it in just one place. I have four locations at which I can endeavour to cut my fingers and damage table tops; two at home and two in other premises. If I was a travelling salesman who was sleeping in a different hotel every night I…
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Yak 3 – Part Two – There’s An Hour Of My Life…

Well-spent, as it happens. The Yak 3 basic structure is cemented together with the cockpit painted already. You can see why I like Hobby Boss products – particularly in a case where there is a time constraint. I don’t want to turn out a shoddy model, but I don’t have time for Boola-Boolavarde stops, as…
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Yak 3 – Part One – Yak On

Do not be frightened off by the complexity of the Hobby Boss Yak 3 fighter plane kit. I shall master it. I snatched it off the hobby shop shelf in relief – I need one more Soviet fighter for a diorama and there is limited time for the build. What better than Hobby Boss. While…
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The Kit Whisperer

We are to have our scale model exhibition in a few months and I will be there showing some of my builds and taking pictures of other people’s efforts. I’ll also browse the trade stands and the second-hand sales that go on. Of the two, I think I’ll have the most fun with the junk.…
