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Mitsubishi Dinah – Part One – The Japanese Shop

My daughter visited Japan for a two-week holiday last year. Thoroughly loved the place and will go again. On this first visit I primed her to visit a model shop in Akihabara with instructions to bring me back a small 1:72 model kit of something that we don’t get in Australia. Her choice of whatever…
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” The Rarest And Most Valuable…”

Toy cars in the world. That’s what the sideline headline said. Well, there we have it, Folks. The Facebook flash that tells you all you needed to know about monomaniacal greed. It may not have the eye-stopping power of the one about the fossilised Viking turd or the emotional appeal of the dewy-eyed kitten marching…
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New Members Wanted

And not because the old ones are wearing out…because new people have new ideas. The scale modelling club I joined a couple of years ago had an annual general meeting and it looks as though there is a need for fresh blood. Not just on the Xacto knives, either. We need more members. I am surprised…
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Absolutely 100% Authentic And Certified

This model has been 100% certified by the Board Of Authenticity to be a completely accurate copy of the real thing. No expense has been spared to bring you the authentic feel, sight, sound, and smell of the original. The paints included in this kit have been stripped off the only remaining example of the…
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RCAF Twin Otter – Part Six – Over The Line

Way-hay – completed the De Havilland Twin Otter before teatime. And onto the photo floor just afterwards. The planned assembly of the plane went well – I propped the fuselage up on the jig and glued one wing and supporting strut with liquid cement. An hour later I was able to flip it over and…
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RCAF Twin Otter – Part Five – The Clown Car

Sorry about that, Folks…but you have to admit that bright yellow and red has a certain circus feel to it. In this case a flying circus without the WW1 reference. The illustrations for this sort of aircraft paint job are nearly always spectacular – remember what I wrote about box art being based around yellow…
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RCAF Twin Otter – Part Four – The Canvas Stretched

The Twin Otter fuselage is closed, puttied, and smoothed. The wings are ready for their undercoat. All the ancillary parts are stuck to bits of matchstick or alligator clips awaiting the airbrush. It’s at this point that sprue trees in a box have become an aircraft. There’s still plenty of work to do but the…
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RCAF Twin Otter – Part Three – Bare But Clean

After building a number of Airfix and Italeri 1:72 models with rather comprehensive interiors, I am not sure I’m pleased with the approach Revell have taken with the Twin Otter. The cockpit is fine; seats, control columns, and instruments in a closed space. Painted light grey/dark grey and with the added fillip of seatbelt decals…
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RCAF Twin Otter – Part Two – Familiar Territory

The Revell Twin Otter is familiar territory for me – I rescued one and completed it as CF-ALO some time ago and got a general feel for the layout. The new kit I am dealing with is exactly the same structure – though in this case I do not have to repair – just build.…
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What Is A Senior Model? Part One.

And don’t get funny with the Mick Jagger or Keith Richards jokes…I mean scale models. What do people over 60 want in a scale model kit, and how can they get it? I can speak for myself as I passed that mark twelve years ago, but I am hesitant to decide for others. However, I…
