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Morane-Saulnier MS 500 – Part Four – Jiminy!

The Triumph Of The Modest yet again! A vintage Airfix kit – and not even a re-issue at that – and it’s turned out beautifully. I haven’t built a Fieseler-based plane before so I have none of the other makes to compare this to. Nevertheless, I am very pleased with the result. If I can…
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Morane-Saulnier MS 500 – Part Three – Sacré Bleu!

But of course it is bleu. What other couleur would the Aeronavale paint their avion? Mais what bleu is it? It is Mr. Color 322 Pthalo-cyane blue. It is also marked as JASDF Blue Impulse. This is for their aerobatics display team. I hope they don’t mind me pinching the hue for the French navy.…
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Morane-Saulnier MS 500 – Part Two – Le Criquet

If you started reading this build as a Fieseler Storch you can be forgiven for wondering what happened. The end of the war happened and the French and Czech aviation industries needed to get started – and there were plans and parts for ex-German aircraft galore. The French army and the Aeronavale needed small liaison…
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Fieseler Storch – Part One – Plasti-pack

The packaging of the Airfix Storch is new to me – I’ve had baggies and boxes, but this is the first plasti-pack. I am surprised that the sprue trees survived the years. 1973 is the year it was repackaged like this – and it’s one of the Paul Planes that spent years in a hot…
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Mind The Gap

I started my search for the perfect gap filler to make my plastic models seemingly seamless a long time ago. Well six years or so, anyway. When there was still Stanbridges – Elvis and dinosaurs having passed away. The first tube I bought was from Tamiya, and unlike most of their products, was far from…
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It Do You Good

To look at reality every so often. Be careful if reality wants to look at you… As model builders we are engaged in reducing reality to a small space full of small objects. We get very good at this with our kits, aftermarket parts, paints, and weathering. We construct imaginative dioramas and sets. We focus…
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Handley Page Jetstream – Part Four – Beinbruch Air Ambulance

If you look carefully you can find a use for everything. This was the principle behind the acquisition of the Handley Page Jetstream aircraft that were to have been a part of the USAF transport fleet. Eventually rejected by the US Air Force due to delays and engine problems, the medical turbo props were sold…
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Handley Page Jetstream – Part Three – Big Body And Tiny Wings

I was always puzzled by two aircraft; the Douglas X-3 Stiletto and the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. They were fabulous looking and built for speed, but the tiny size of the wings always suggested that they just couldn’t lift themselves. There were troubles galore when they overloaded the F-104 but otherwise they seemed to work. But…
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Handley Page Jetstream – Part Two – Saturday Build

I have three divisions of kits; Tuesday Mens Shed builds, home Little Workshop builds, and Saturday Historic Modelling Friends builds. I keep them as separate as painting requirements permit so that my pleasure in building them comes undiluted. The HP Jetstream is the Saturday Historic Modelling Friends kit. I enjoy an invitation once a fortnight…

