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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Five – Well, That Escalated Quickly…

It seems like just this morning I went out to the Little Workshop with a cup of coffee and looked at the bare grey plastic of the latest Airfix kit. Then I started to do this and that and suddenly it was 9:00 at night and there it was in camouflage. It shows the value…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Four – The Basic Structure

Or ” When Does An Airplane Start To Live? ‘. Okay. You’ve done the interior painting. You’ve stuck on the instrument decals. You’ve decided whether or not you’ll spend an extra month trying to put in photoetched seatbelts, pilot’s clipboards, and spare chewing gum dispenser ( US aircraft only).* Everything that could be sub-assembled and…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Three – The Sub-Assembly

I once wrote that there are always some areas of model building that are a chore – something we approach with a groan and leave with a cheer. And it’s different for each modeller. Well, the same applies to certain stages that are a real pleasure. Oddly enough, for me it is completing sub-assemblies. It’s…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Two – Realistic Manufacture

The new Airfix model kit is sitting drying in the warm workshop as I write. I’ve done the washing of the parts, scanned the decal sheet and instructions, and done a preliminary check of the parts. I’m delighted with what I’ve found. Or not found…no polyurethane blocks with miniscule parts to be sawn free and…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part One – The Tenuous Connection

These days I try to get some thread connecting me to the models and scenes that I build for my Little World. I didn’t always do this – as a kid I was just hungry for any and all models – I’d build what was given to me or what I could save up for…
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If It’s Worthwhile Doing…

It’s worthwhile doing badly. Then looking at what can be improved, and doing it again. This was the unfortunate story of Ploesti, but that was also a tale of the baleful effects of listening to authority when you know you’re right. The other thing to consider is that if something is worth doing, it’s worth…
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Little Bottles Of Success – Humbrol

I’ve been watching YouTube videos lately to see what other people do to build and paint model kits. In some instances I’ve been amazed at the reckless candour of the broadcasters. If I were a tort lawyer I would be rubbing my hands together with anticipatory glee. You see, poor model reviews passed between consenting…
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The Little World In The Big World

I recently visited York in Western Australia ( I believe they also have one in England…and a newer version in the USA…) and wandered through the York Motor Museum. It’s a commercial building in the main street of this country town that houses a number of the cars that a local mining magnate – Peter…
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How To Avoid Trouble

The heading image was taken at a meeting of our model collector’s club and represents an entry into the monthly contest – in this case on the topic of the letter ” O “. Orange motor cars, as you can see – these are various models of the Dodge used in ” The Dukes Of…
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How Dare You Attempt To Entertain Me!

One of my friends has commented that the world now seems to be full of people who are determined to be offended by something. I think he may be right, though it might always have been this way – we just never had the access to social media that brought it to our attention. What…
