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Extraordinary Models

Out of the ordinary. Unusual. Remarkable. Etc. The devil is in the etc. Manufacturers of kits are sometimes thrown to the edge of the cliff when it comes to the selection of a prototype for their latest kit. In their various divisions they have usually fallen back upon a well-known kit to get quick money.…
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Buy Two Kits For Next Year’s Competition

And buy identical ones. Build one the best you possibly can. Use all the techniques and care that will make it look good. Lavish PE and resin and brass gun barrels as much as you wish. Bring copies of the reference material for the judges. Bring paint samples for the ‘raks. And bring the second,…
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The Experiment

I have had a hint that the next big local scale model exhibition this week will see a trial of an interesting sales experiment. A table will feature built-up models for sale. Kits that have been completed by modellers who no longer wish to keep them. They will pay a modest fee to have them…
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Mitsubishi Betty – Part Three -Tour Of Inspection

Orders to Ground Crew: Rabaul 17 April, 1943 Prepare G4M1 bomber serial 323 for inspection tour by Admiral Yamamoto tomorrow. Aircraft is to be cleaned thoroughly including all windows. Make sure the defensive tail armament is in correct working order. The side positions may be left closed. As the flight will be leaving at 0600…
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Mitsubishi Betty – Part Two – Not-So-Ghostly Seam

I wondered what that cracking noise was… It was the top fuselage seam giving way. I must have flexed a wing too much and surpassed the tensile strength of the thin cement used to seal the fuselage. Well that’s what undercoat painting is designed to catch – the flaw that occurs before you add a…
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Mitsubishi Betty – Part One – Flying Cigar

The Mitsubishi G4M bomber – the Betty – was given this nickname because of the fuselage. It featured an almost constant cylindrical shape aft of the wing roots and terminated in many models in a rounded tailpiece. This model kit contains this shape, thought he specific aircraft being modelled had the round-off removed to give…
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What Do You Do With The Leftovers?

If they are corned beef or meatloaf I embark on a glorious week of sandwiches. If they are scale model kits or model paints there are other procedures. Check me out against your own workshop. a. The parts of a kit that are not used – the extra canopies, wheels, snow skis, or armament –…
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When The Rest Of The World Gets it…

And you don’t… You’re either a Puritan or from Perth. Puritans didn’t see the point of the jokes and Perth people don’t see the new kits on the shelves. You may be as overjoyed as you wish about the release of a new scale model kit – I was about the the July promise of…
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The Odd Modeller

This will be a delicate subject. Give me a moment to put on my hob-nail boots. Firstly, let me say that I realise there are scale modellers with mental and emotional challenges. I sympathise with them and hope that they get adequate professional care to help them cope with life. Secondly, I am not the…

