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The Burgeoning

It is like ” The Quickening ” only it takes longer. It also takes more money, time, and space. The Burgeoning is the process by which scale model kits get bigger and more complex. It steers the scale model hobby into new areas of expertise while it clutters up display cabinets worldwide. It’s not hard…
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The Modellers Declaration Of Rights

A treatise for the times. And good luck to you defending these propositions in the scale modelling world. There are more dictators in the hobby than in all of Africa and South America combined, and they would all rule you if they could. From shape of kits, to equipment, to paint colour, to pattern, decals,…
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Potez 63-11 – Part Four – The Fishbowl Of Sadness

I refer to this rather sleek French aircraft in this way as it was witness to the failures of its own armies in the spring of 1940 – from an elegant vantage point. The design is deliberately biased toward the primary mission – reconnaissance – with the pilot up above like a hansom cab driver…
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Potez 63-11 – Part Three – The Problem

Solved. Until the next one crops up. The fuselage, wings, and tail of the Potez observation aircraft are together and the amount of filler is absolutely minimal. I have undercoated and smoothed it, and could not be happier. In the intervals of waiting for things to set or dry I tackled the engines, wheels, landing…
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Potez 63-11 – Part Two – Having A Fit

A tight fit. The Azur model of the Potez 63-11 is probably fairly old in the Czech modelling world. I think the firm that makes these models has retired the name in favour of their ” Special Hobby ” marque. This one is from the multi-media days of styrene/resin/brass. So far the fit of the…
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Potez 63-11 – Part One – Smooth Potez

As opposed to lumpy Potez. The designs of interwar and early-war French aircraft form a fascinating subdivision of aeronautical insanity. From the angular designs of the late twenties and early thirties to the sleek over-designs of the forties, they seem to have decided to over-run the buffer stops every time they drew up to the…
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If You Made Models Of Dead Cows

Someone, somewhere, would buy them. A disturbing set of questions would revolve about what scale to make and who to aim it at. I am guessing 1:24 or 1:35 and the car or armour markets respectively. The diorama that would be built using the models would reveal a lot about the modeller. It would not…
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Hobbyist Approved…

Oh dear God. I have just seen an advertisement for a portable airgun that is ” Hobbyist Approved “. The world is spinning before my eyes. Bells are ringing and strange phantoms drift in an out of my vision. Whether they are approved by hobbyists is unknown. Children, we are scale model hobbyists and we…
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US Navy Carrier Deck – Part Two – Ready To Launch

As soon as I find some deck crew and a mule tractor. And I am looking – the Italeri kit has turned out a beauty, a one-day build, of course, and I got to use some of he enamel paints that were kindly given to me. The intricate blast shield mechanism came out perfectly. As…
