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North American F-100 – Part Four – When NATO Meant France As Well
And the French needed American aircraft to fulfil their own defence needs. A long time ago… Long enough to be before the Area Rule in aircraft design – allowing the designers of the Super Sabre a big fuselage space in the mid-rear for the engine. A contemporary of Soviet fighters and interceptors of similar bulk.…
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North American F-100 – Part Three – Dry Fit For The Win
I have taken to adding a new stage to my regular builds – I try to get a mock-up of the basic flying aircraft fitted dry before I reach for the cement bottle. This means taping parts together or even using the Micro Scale temporary adhesive. The benefit of doing it is I catch incipient…
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North American F-100 – Part Two – Even The Little Bits Are Nice
The long slog of a kit build always seems to start with a cockpit. And some are slower starters than others. I particularly dread the PE and resin confections that the Czech small run makers mould up. They sometimes look good when completed but nearly always are an indefinite Tinker Toy as you try to…
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North American F-100 – Part One – The Start Of A Project
I heard a suggestion a few weeks ago and took it on board – a good idea for the Big Local Plastic Model Show. I hope we are granted the blessing of it and are here to participate – in anticipation of which I have started a project to fill two display tables. It’ll be…
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Jet Jig Jive
I’ve just used the second of my new Slovakian assembly jigs for a jet. It is the Tornado GR.1 from Italeri – a perfect testing piece for the tool. There are square fuselage panels to rest upon. The geometry is markedly different from the WW2 small jig – though the construction materials are just the…
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” It Looks Like A Die Cast “
A well-known contributor to a modelling You Tube site has often remarked that painting a model without weathering it extensively makes it look like a die cast. I think he’s right and I’m ever so grateful to him for the hint. I still do weather some models lightly, but knowing that they will look good…
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Glossing Over it All
I tend to gloss over many things; my qualifications, my time spent in the chorus line of Le Crazy Horse*, the mysterious mounds in the back yard… And I now religiously gloss over my models in preparation for decaling. I have been caught by silvering too many times to take it lightly. The problem of…
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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…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 