-
We Regard You As Innocent

Until someone suggests you could be guilty. A big local scale model exhibition seems to have attracted a very unusual visitor: A 1:1 scale replica of a motor vehicle from 80 years ago. It was parked in the front of the Cannington Exhibition Centre on the second afternoon of the show. I did not see…
-
Fokker DR.1 – Part Two – Schwartz

Specifically, Wilhelm Schwartz – in 1918 at Mesniles. That’s the plate that I have based my Fokker triplane upon. The kits that come out of this iconic aircraft all seem to assign it to Manfred v. Richthofen and mould it in red plastic. An understandable choice, as he was possibly the most famous ace of…
-
Fokker Dr.1 – Part One – Brothers…19 Years Apart

Recently I bought an Airfix Dogfight Double Vintage Classic kit that promised a Bristol fighter as well as a Fokker triplane. It was a mis-box – I got two Bristols ( Stop thinking of Barbara Windsor… ) but no Fokker. ( Stop, Stop. Just stop thinking of the lovely Carry On lady… ) A friend…
-
Don’t You Have Something Better To Do?

Well, frankly, no. I used to have professional practice to do, attended with terrible anxiety. It paid me money for awhile, and then didn’t. A signal… So I took up trade, and it was attended by less angst, and more money. Eventually I had accumulated enough of both to be satisfied. Now I have decided…
-
The Coconut Bow

Look up the history of the WW2 cruiser USS NEW ORLEANS at the Battle of Tassafaronga. You’ll find that a Japanese 21″ Long Lance torpedo hot it at night and blew the bow off just aft of the first turret. The bow then rotated to port and passed down the port side of the ship,…
-
Backed Away From The Airbrush

And no-one got hurt… My daughter – a net-savvy person – heard me chortling about the idea of using cheap vodka for airbrush working. She did some searching and found an Amazon product that could arrive at the door for 1.3¢ per ml. I had no words. She ordered a bottle, and I prepared the…
-
The Standard Can Of Soup

You may never experience three-star Michelin fine dining in your life. But you can certainly get a good bowl of soup – just look for the Heinz or Campbell label. It will not have the wonderful ingredients and spices of the restaurant’s speciality…but you will be able to depend upon it. So it is with…
-
Fokker D.XXI – Part Three – 1939

Ist Fighter Squadron, De Kooy, Netherlands. Autumn 1939. Den Helder was the location and the Dutch had about 30 operational Fokker D.XXI fighters at the base. They were used in May 1940 as defence against the Luftwaffe and the official history records some remarkable successes for the type. It was more manoeuvrable than the Bf…
-
Fokker D.XXI – Part Two – Dutch Canals

And a surprise – as the rest of this MPM kit fit together superbly. The gaps either side of the wing fillet were the only areas on this fighter that needed a filling. Fully deep, but narrow, possible to bridge with Vallejo acrylic putty. It dries quickly enough not to be an impediment to the…
-
Fokker D.XXI – Part One -SOOTB Fighter

I have so few Dutch aircraft in my collection that this stash buy is a real asset – Let us hope the kit is up to MPM standards. New MPM standards, I hasten to add. The canopy is clear injection and there is only the wretched resin propeller boss and separate blades to gloom the…
