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If They Ask The Right Question
Give ’em the right answer. ” Is that a Messerschmitt “? is a perfectly sensible question, unless it has four engines and ” Enola Gay ” on the nose. It deserves an honest answer and an explanation of the era and the markings. Likewise if they ask the scale and the model manufacturer – you…
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Never Throw Nuthin’ Away
You might very well love it some day. The formation flying team you see started life as four out-of-scale plastic toy fighters that were packaged with Plasticville airport buildings. Made in the mid-1950’s these structures populated thousands of O-guage and S-guage toy train layouts in North America. The lettering and insignia on the planesare in…
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The Toy Section Of The Shop
Oh you never go there, do you? You are far too advanced as a modeller to be seen in the die-cast, snap together, starter kit, or play section of the retailer? What if you were seen? What if the other club experts recognised you? What if they wrote about you in the papers? Alternately, what…
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A Model Philosopher’s Stone
Alchemy in scale. The old concept of the Philosopher’s Stone that would transmute lead into gold never quite got off the ground – both substances defying the power of 18th century aero engines to achieve lift. Even when modern jets and rockets were strapped to freight cars full of lead and the vehicles sent down…
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Merely A Model Builder
And old eccentric. Trapped in a second childhood. A harmless weirdo. Or so it would seem from a recent detective novel I read. Written about a modern-day serial murderer in Somerset and the detective work that catches her, it takes more than a passing swipe at model railway enthusiasts – and railway hobbyists in general.…
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Westland Lysander – Part Four – Rockcliffe, Ontario
On January 23rd, 1940. Not sure what time of day. The image that served as pattern for this model was taken at the Rockcliffe station near Ottawa on a snowy day. The tarmac is all white, though I note no skis were fitted to the Lysanders lined up for RCAF trainee pilots. Interestingly, while there…
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Westland Lysander – Part Three – Lynx Paws
If there is one thing that defines the Westland Lysander, whether in RAF or RCAF service, it is the landing gear. Lynx paws, I call them, with enough space inside them to hold two machine guns and two landing lights. The rest of the aircraft might have the design of a cement mixer, but the…
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Westland Lysander – Part Two – Fragile Nest
I was right to wonder about the fragility of the cockpit on this Dora Wings kit. Even at the outset, some parts did not come off the sprue trees intact. Fortunately there are pieces of Evergreen plastic in the scrap box that match the profile of the broken pieces. The fact that the greenhouse is…
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Westland Lysander – Part One – 100 Times The Price
I nearly passed this Dora Wings Westland Lysander by on the hobby shop shelf. The problem was not the kitmaker – I have built a Dora Wings plane before and thought it was superb. The problem was the price – 100 times the cost of an Airfix kit I once built. But you have to…
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None of My Work Is Written With Artificial Intelligence
It is pure, natural stupidity. I have what is apparently an inexhaustible supply of this and it seems a shame to waste the opportunity to turn it to good use. I have long since ceased to plague the general populace in a professional sense and even my trade days are done. Now I just build…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 