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Buying Your Own Birthday Gifts
And being reimbursed the cost – then presented with the ” surprise ” boxes on the day – is one of the most satisfying forms of gift giving/getting there is. It doesn’t do to be petty about it, or get bashful. Ask directly how much the giver wishes to spend and then go spend it.…
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The Honourable Modeller
vs ” Another Sort “. I assume you all want to be honourable – on the good side of the question – occupying the high moral ground. Pure, simple, clean. People to whom we can all look, and not just up the nose. Styrene Heroes. Well, what do we need to do to be canonised?…
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Never Leave Well Enough Alone
You do not need a Stradivarius to fiddle like mad. You can be dissatisfied to your own satisfaction, and go from there. I looked at tmy new tool wall inside my hobby room and was struck by how sad it all looked. An online search for an alternative turned up nothing good – all the…
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How To Make A Forum Of Modellers Laugh
Apologise to them on behalf of each other. I once turned my keyboard to a scale model tank forum and tried to tell a joke. The responses were 2% laughter, 58% incomprehension, 38% serious scolding, and 2% vitriol. This for a 1:35 plastic Sherman tank. Needless to say nearly all the negative responses were from…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Seven – G-AMFJ
Or 2813 of 141 Sqn. This aircraft is counted as an Airspeed Consul – the civilian version of an armed Oxford. It was acquired in 1951 and flown by the 141 Sqn. The type was used as a VIP aircraft, multi-engine training, navigation and radio training, and as a light transport. It lasted only until…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Six – French Silver Grey
The Mr Color pot of French silver grey may have started life as a grey – or a silver… I can’t remember which. Over several years it has been topped up with a dash of whichever sliver I have in the airbrush pot as a left-over – and equally be whatever light grey is swirling…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Five – Wild Blue Yonder
And off we flaming go… Someone at Tasman was enamoured of the vacuum moulding machine – the one they used for clear canopies – and of the possibilities that it presented. So they made a decision to try something that is – so far – unique in my model-building experience. They vac-formed the canopy a…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Four – While The Goo Sets…
Busy your hands, to stop your mind from screaming. The engine cowlings on this model have become a standard mark in my workshop. They form the nadir from which anything else is better. I have joined the halves and lit a votive candle. The interior is bare, but surprisingly neat. It is simple, of course,…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Three – Oh, Just Grit Yer Teeth…
Pull up your Big-Girl panties, and get on with it. It’s not going to make itself. The first thing that has to go is the upper turret. Tasman have made a decent job of it, and the whitemetal gun mount will be saved for the future, but the aircraft I’m modelling has no turret. so…
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Tasman Airspeed Oxford Mk I – Part Two – The Apology
At least Tasman Models are scrupulously honest. They recognised the problems of short-run manufacturing and the times when it just doesn’t come out like a Disney movie. The under-wing parts of this model apparently were consistently short-shooting at the wing tip. They realised it , modified the panel on the mould, and added two extra…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 