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Aichi Grace – Part Three – There, But For The Grace Of Aichi…

Goes a wonderful dive bomber… Pardon the punning. It has been a good week in the Little Workshop with the completion of the Fujimi Aichi Grace. The experiment of serial building seems to be paying off. The Fujimi kit has also proved to be better than some of their previous offerings – based upon the…
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Aichi Grace – Part Two – Report On The Experiment

You can experiment with all sorts of things; materials, processes, ideas, and weird food. The last-named aside, the others are often a help in scale modelling. We get set in our ways and sometimes it is in Carbonite like Han Solo. We need to explore new things. For a couple of years I followed the…
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Aichi B7A2 Grace – Part One – Plastic Baggies Have Changed…

Remember the 50¢ Airfix baggie of 1959? Your whole allowance gone but you could build on it for a week. This Fujimi kit has also come to me in a plastic bag, courtesy of a stash sale, but it is considerably in advance of the ’59 kits. It’s come at the price of pint of…
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Is It A Skin Lesion?

Or dried glue? Modellers are sometimes healthy and sometimes not, and it is surprising how many of their ailments are self inflicted: a. The cement scab noted above. I have found them weeks old in some pretty odd places. b. Acrylic asthma. You can do a great deal of no good with an airbrush full…
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Do You Dine Clean Or Dirty?

Old British officers will know the difference. For scale modellers the question may be posed differently; do you build clean or dirty? Are your models fully weathered, tinted, oiled, and matted, or are they factory-fresh. It can be a great topic if you want to get tempers up – the two groups striving to justify…
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Practical Lessons In Showmanship

Determined to get value for brass from the recent model railway exhibition, I have set aside my disappointment and drawn up a list of lessons learned. a. If you go to a show, go for a reason. You’ll be paying show prices so get value. b. The show should be on the stage in front…
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When You See A Better Model

Do not be envious. Don’t resent the other person for their success. Regard it as a chance for a free gift from them; one they will probably be delighted to give you. Study the model carefully. Ask about it, and in particular the bits of it that are better than you can do. Nearly everyone…
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Airfix Auster – Part Three – 13 Aleph Ready For The Sun

This started as an iced Antarctic confection, but the Auster has turned out a baked desert dessert. At least it will be – there is a real 13-Aleph in the Hatzerim Air Force Museum under cover, but this 13 will be sitting out all day in the sun. Hence the staff have dropped a tarp…
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Airfix Auster – Part Two – One A Week In Bull Creek

The Auster is going well. The build is not taxing, as sight of the sprue trees probably suggested. It is going well enough, indeed, to suggest that it might be a good return build for another form. One doesn’t get a great deal of detail, but then I don’t think Auster or Taylorcraft put a…
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Airfix Auster – Part One – Vintage Classic Day

My vigil at the hobby shop was rewarded – the re-issue of the Vintage Classic Airfix kit came in. And went out again, under my arm. I did not know in what form it would finally be assembled, but since I had such success with the similar Airfix Beaver, I was confident. The kit is…
