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US Army Ambulance – Part Two – The Bug Bear
Everyone has a sort of a bugbear in their modelling. One person will have no luck with paints. Another will continually mess up clear parts. In my case it is vehicles – I never complete one without some basic flaw. In many cases it is the basic structure that foxes me. 1:72 and 1:76 vehicle…
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US Army Ambulance – Part One – A Wander Down The Armour Aisle
I rarely wander down the armour aisle at my local hobby shop – the offerings in my scale are all big hulking things that bear no relationship to my modest airfields and everything else seems to be 1:35 scale. I am envious of all the accessories that the AFV builder can draw upon for the…
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Why Did You Want To Build That One?
If someone looks at your newly-completed scale model and asks you that question, you can give a good, cogent answer. If you ask the question of yourself, you are in trouble. If you cannot come up with an answer…you’re sunk. Or are you? There are some things that you cannot see clearly – some things…
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The Sanest Inmate In The Asylum
Whenever I look at what I am doing and wonder whether I have slipped the surly bonds of sanity, I compare myself to others in the same position. At the plastic model club Christmas BBQ I fell into conversation with a man who… Has 38 plastic model kits of 1:72 Feisler Storch aircraft. Because he…
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Douglas B-18 Bolo – Part Three – The Museum Ship
Is there any reason the US Army referred to their aircraft as ” ships “? I wondered at that – the US Navy referred to them as aircraft, and that’s not surprising as they would also have had to use the word ” ship ” in other ways…dealing with sea-going vessels. Why did they both…
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Douglas B-18 Bolo – Part Two – Mr Color Super Metallic
I mentioned that bottle of silver last post. The Mr. Color Super Metallic that has just appeared. Well, I bought a bottle because that’s what you do when you take off your blinkers in the paint aisle of the Hobbytech shop. It’s a fatal move, as you will always see something new that you haven’t…
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Douglas B-18 Bolo – Part One – The First Idea Was The Right One
Readers of this column will have seen my report on the Special Hobby 1:72 Douglas Digby Mk I – the RCAF version of the USAAC B-18 bomber. I was thrilled to find that kit and quite enjoyed the building experience – even though some parts of it went down the silly rabbit holes of too…
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Airbrush Designers, Please Take Note
I love my airbrushes now. The first one was a daunting challenge a few years ago but I have progressed since then – acquiring 4 altogether by now. I’m proud to say that using the latest model to spray an aircraft was…a daunting challenge. It is not the fault of the airbrush maker, nor of…
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Why Is I Here?
” So tell me, Boss, why is I here? In the stash. In my little bag with my decal sheet and dodgy instructions. Why am I not back in the hobby shop with all the other kits? Why did I get chosen? ” a. You were the only kit of the essential model I need…
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Douglas Digby Mk I – Part Four – The Full Measure
I use that title because in many respects this Special Hobby build has taken the full measure of several things; my patience, my eyesight, and the remnants of several paint containers. The patience started to run out early on when the instructions called for the rudder pedals to be folded up out of photo-etched brass.…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
