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Big Shiny Silver Planes
I admire the model builders wo make aircraft that have complex camouflage schemes – the ones that tackle the german or italian schemes of the WW2 period – or any of the WW1 schemes – earn my respect and praise. yet i very often do not follow them. It is not for want of trying…
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When To Close The Doors Of The Hobby Shop
A. Never. Hobbies can occupy 25 hours per day and enthusiasts need things ASAP. This means selling paint at 3:00AM. Use cheap staff and chain them to the till. b. At the end of the day. 5:00 is the accepted end of the day unless you want to go to 6:00 in case there might…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part Six – Boarding Now On The Tarmac
No smoking, please. The De Havilland Heron Mk II has just been rolled out onto the tarmac at Wet Dog Regional – ready to inaugurate the first Wet Dog – Quesnel – Salmon Arm – Milk River service. The company anticipates a steady flow of passengers over this vital route. They are counting on it,…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part Five – Whew
Well, the colour coats are done – the trim stripe is done – the decals are on. The various pieces are being cemented and snapped in. The air crash did not destroy the bird. Every speculative colour scheme that you think up – every set of decals you print yourself – every artistic decision you…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part Four – Air Crash
Every build has a mistake – a flaw – a piece of bad judgement. In the case of the Airfix DH Heron Mk II it has come in a rush. I was shifting photographic backdrops in the workshop this morning and inadvertently hit the wing of the Heron. It slid off the building stand and…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part Three – The Suitcase Closes
Always that moment when you have packed up your clothing at the end of a holiday and are gingerly trying to get the suitcase closed – against the pressure of dirty laundry and souvenirs. Will it creak shut…? Before I could latch the Heron together I tested the balance – Airfix said 15 gms of…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part Two – The Split Heron
As far as the approach to this vintage Airfix De Havilland Heron kit goes, I am – as Kinky Friedman would have put it – out past where the buses run. I am in new mental territory. It started when I did the part count and some dry fitting – I noted the provision of…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part One – Raised Expectations
And raised rivets, too. I had a happy childhood, and a great many of the happy occasions revolved around model kits. This included a number of the 1950’s and 60’s Airfix products. Merit, Monogram, Aurora, and Revell as well. So it’s with great delight that I see Airfix re-issue classic models from the era. I…
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Avro Tutor – Part Four – The Yellow Sheep Of The Fold
Well that was an instructive two weeks. I’ve had as much as I can take and the Avro Tutor has had as much construction as it is going to get. Purists will cavil at the lack of rigging but I know my limitations. I will eventually try to rig something but it’ll be a better…
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Avro Tutor – Part Three – Aptly Named
The Avro Tutor may have taught hundreds of British and Commonwealth pilots to fly. The AZ kit of this has certainly taught me something: never buy another Czech biplane kit. It is a bloody nightmare. A variation on the bad dream that was the Avro Anson ( is it Avro…? ). In this case the…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 