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You Can’t Do That
Because, because… a. It isn’t done that way. b. It isn’t done. c. I can’t do it. And there we have it, children. The gatekeeper, scale model authority, icon, legend, club ‘rak who would bar you from carving your own Spitfire from a bar of laundry soap has spoken. You must obey. Or… You salute…
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Curtiss H16 – Part Six – Long Yellow Wings
And a remarkable scale model. The history of the Curtiss H16, as well as the British-built Felixstowe types, is available on the net. They were patrol birds in the WW1 period and undoubtedly endured very hard service over the waters. It is not surprising that so few have survived to become museum exhibits. This Roden…
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Curtiss H16 – Part Five – Wing Walking Without A Safety Net
With my heart in my mouth and my underwear screwed up tight… I set out to put 12 inter-plane struts on the lower wing of the Curtiss – all 12 upright and at the same angle. The way I did it was to use three old foam-board shapes I had made when doing an Airfix…
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Curtiss H16 – Part Four – Donks Are Shön
With my sincere apologies to Wayne Newton… These two donks have been the most complex engines I’ve yet seen in a 1:72 kit. The fuel pipes and cooling assembly alone should have frightened me away, but I was too foolish to run. Over a couple of weeks the constituent parts have been cemented on –…
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Curtiss H16 – Part Three – Complexosity
Or should that be confusediousness? English is sometimes so inadequate… The Roden people are nothing if not determined. – possibly to drive me blind or mad. They have moulded many tiny parts so that I can assemble them into slightly larger parts. These can then be lost down the back of the workbench. No modeller…
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Curtiss H16 – Part Two – Subassembly Weeks
And sometimes it feels like months… Any Rodin kit is complex. That is the mindset of the Ukrainian designers, if not of the entire modern plastic model industry. I see it at my scale model club as other members start to assemble plastic tank tracks from individual links with individual guide horns and pinned couplings.…
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Curtiss H16 – Part One – King Kong
Well, just look at the box art. This is undoubtedly the most bizarre illustration of a seaplane that I have ever seen. It holds together in an artistic sense if you are prepared to forget the horizon and just let the illustrator have his, or her, head. The kiddies balloons loose above the Chrysler building…
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If Someone Gives You A Free Lemon
Squeezing it is optional. The free scale model kit may be a present or a practical joke. If it is your birthday or Christmas it’s most likely to be the former. If someone hands you a forty-year-old kit box that looks as if it’s been run over in the driveway, the circumstance may be different.…
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If It Was On The Box Top…
It must have been real. If it was in a book, it must have happened. If it was an illustration, it must be accurate. Right? Well, that is how I used to predicate my modelling. I bought the kits, read the library books, and thumbed through the magazines at the drug store to get my…
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Peace On You
That may be a typo… Good luck to you and your modelling. Blessings on your skill and ability. Here’s hoping you find the part that has just fallen on the floor… Contentment need not be left at the door, nor on the sprue tree. You can clip it off and put it in your pocket…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 