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Bristol/Fairchild Bolingbroke – Part One – Mark Another One Up

I knew this was going to happen, but I didn’t know it was going to be so soon. I am repeating a build. No. I am repeating a build to a certain extent. I am doing what the prototype manufacturers and the air forces did – making the aircraft that developed from an earlier mark. In…
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Decal Day

Well, I knew it was coming…I knew it when I saw the sheet of transfers in the kit – when I bought the extra packet at the plastic model fair – when I googled up all the various marques of plane that had the same name as the one a’ building. I knew that I would…
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The Progressive Woo Hoo

People who want to develop a better character should become scale modellers. They will learn patience, perseverance, resilience, frugality, and how to get glue off your pants. And they will have rewards at each stage of the journey through modelling. It won’t be just at the end or at some contest when their model of…
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Modeller’s Memory

We are told that we have all sorts of memory: a. The regular sort that lets you down when you are looking for the car keys. b. Muscle memory that is supposed to guide you to the perfect golf shot or dance step. And it does…it does. As you develop it you find that you…
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The Power And the Glory

Little World builders have powers far exceeding those they exercise in the Big World. They can be sole commanders, iconic architects, industry giants, or genius designers and no-one else can say them nay. Their word may be flawed, but it is generally final. It gives them a little taste of what it must have been…
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Wonder Of Toyz R Uz Kiddie Kinder Surprise Land Pty Ltd

If you want to challenge yourself, go visit a toy store. NOT in a school holiday period or in the week leading up to Christmas, I hasten to add. There are some things that you need not do to yourself, no matter what. I recently visited a large-scale toy emporium in our city and looked…
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The Big Green Things Made Of Wood

You know. Branches, trunks, roots, bird nests. Those things that stand there in front of the forest and obscure it. Whaddaya call ’em…starts with a ” T “. I’ll think of it in a minute… Well modelling can be like that. You do all the research in the world – spend days on the internet…
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We Need The Tiny Tin Can

I am looking at small and large cans of paint – spray paint, as it happens – and wondering at the rationale around it. The can contained a grey Tamiya primer. I’ve just sprayed the very last of it on a 1:72 aircraft and can feel satisfied – it completed the job just before it…
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Cheap And Nasty Or Cheap And Nicely?

When I came to Australia in the 60’s I encountered a whole new division of language. Coming from North America I had experienced Canadian English and American English – now I had Australian English to learn. It wasn’t that hard, once you discarded the ocker colloquialisms. Of course you had to pick them up again…

