-
Handley Page Hampden – Part Four – Either Up Or Down! Make Up Your Darned Mind!
I am currently looking with disfavour at the Airfix Handley Page Hampden model. It is upside down on the building jig with its legs in the air and it is not a pretty sight. This is not a Vargas pin-up girl… This is the first occasion in a long while that I’ve encountered a scale…
-
Handley Page Hampden – Part Three – Success Masquerading As Failure
Having overcome Part Two – the warp factor – I set myself the task of assembling the Hampden, and was pleasantly surprised by how well it cobbled together. The wing tabs were tight, but a little sanding loosened them and a little more sanding snugged the wing roots in close enough to the fuselage to…
-
Handley Page Hampden – Part Two – Yes, I Have…
I knew this was going to happen. When I saw the dented box I knew it was a sign… The HP Hampden – destined to become the star of RCAF Doukh Inlet – turns out to be a 1960’s kit. No shame in that – I built kits in the 1960’s and I still turned…
-
Handley Page Hampden – Part One – Have I Bought A Dud?
Normally, I am a pretty careful shopper. Whether it is in the car lot or the supermarket, you can find me squeezing, sniffing, and licking. The only time it seems to cause a problem is in the striptease nightclub. But I have a feeling I should have been a little more circumspect in the hobby shop when…
-
Stand Up! Sit Down! Rah Rah Rah!
What was the most common thing about plastic model kits in the 1950’s? The size? The subjects? The colour of the plastic? No. The most common thing was that every model had a stand of some sort. From the grey plastic trapezoids that went under the Revell USS MISSOURI to the two-peg block that underpinned…
-
To Break, Or Not To Break
That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler to cement the landing gear in while you can still get access to the nacelles and housings or wait until the paint job is finished. Which choice brings a better or worse chance of breaking the things off prematurely? And must we use Shakespearean language after the fact?…
-
Not A Creature Was Stirring
Not even a modeller. Well…not this modeller, anyway. We all have brain breaks occasionally – we start out thinking fine and then one of the mental drive belts hops off a wheel and the next thing you know we’re Jim Carrey on a bender. It happens in the modelling workshop, too. Today, for instance. Time…
-
The Static Show Vs The Mobile One – Part Three – On Showmanship
Does your little World move? Does it need to? I’ve written elsewhere about the vitality your structure needs according to whether you are still a child or have been burdened with age. You decide where you are on the spectrum. If you actually do need to have something move in front of you, consider several hobbies:…
-
The Big Layout Vs The Small Layout – Part Two – On Scale Planning
We’ve discussed scale before and the way that different hobbies and different manufacturers fiddle and footle when it comes to deciding measurements for model building. Everyone goes their own way and demands that you follow. Well, the thing you’re going to have to do when contemplating your Little World is to decide which scale you…
-
The Baseroom Layout Vs The Train Set – Part One – On Planning Your Little World
My recent annual foray to the Western Australian Model Railway Exhibition was fresh in my mind as I set to work planning out my hobby room at the Little Studio. When you see what others do, you can either get good ideas or bad ones. I hope I have observed well and drawn the correct…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 