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Piasecki Flying Banana – Part Two – My Ambition Acheived
I have nursed an ambition for some while – ever since I saw pictures of a number of western helicopters that had red troop seats. The seat backs seemed to be made of red nylon webbing and hung loosely over solid fabric bottoms. I suspect they were a dual purpose thing – the solid cloth…
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Piasecki Flying Banana – Part One – You Had Me At…
They had me at the name – ” Flying Banana ” is not something that you can pass by in a neutral fashion. You either love it or hate it. I have fond memories of these helicopters as Revell kits in the 1950’s. This one is Italeri – itself a recommendation – and when I turned…
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A Different Rhythm At The Workbench
What strange creatures we are. When working for a living there were times when I could not get away from my work station fast enough at the end of the day. Now that I’m retired, I can’t wait to get to it. And there are weeks when I seem to work at it as if…
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The Independent Mind
I spoke to a person who reads this column regularly. It was in his modelling room and he was in the midst of his favourite activity; making models for wargaming. In this he has a mind of his own and is not afraid to use it. He also uses everything else that can possibly come…
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The Danger To Navigation
I shall call him Bill. Bill The Weatherman. The danger to navigation that they are always speaking about on the News At Ten. I shouldn’t wonder if there wasn’t a file on him down at the Admiralty. You see, Bill wrecks things. Cheerfully, and with great abandon. He does it on a professional basis if…
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Hobby Money – Part Seven – Makin’ Money
With the advent of the inexpensive colour copier and the inkjet printer, it should be easy for a modern hobbyist to make money. He would be wise to choose where he tries to pass it, however, and not go back to the same shop twice. Producing bills in denominations of $ 7.00 and $ 13.50…
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Hobby Money – Part Six – Setting Up.
You’ve seen my figures before on setting up for re-enactment or radio-controlled aircraft or amateur photography but I’ll give them a brief reprise: a. Reenactment – $ 200 to stand around home as a medieval, $500 more if you wish to slay dragons. Add $ 1000 if you wish to camp out and another $…
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Hobby Money – Part Five – The Hidden Cost
Move over. I want to put something down. No, not there, it’s bigger than the space. Move over more. Look, just pop outside and sit on the grass. There’s not enough room in the house for you and my hobby at the same time… The elephant in the corner of the room that we never…
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The Gift Buffalo
And you never look a gift buffalo in the mouth… This little gem was left on the modeller’s table at the club one week along with another 1:72 model under a sign: ” Free, please take “. I didn’t feel I could make good use of the other Japanese airplane but I knew that the…
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Yes, They Really Did Think It Was A Good Idea
And I, at 7, agreed with them. This was in 1955 – just after the suspension of the Korean War, and just at the start of the Cold War – at least the start in our local area. In truth, it had been going on since 1945 but the locals did not realise it. The…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 