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The Opened Box
And the started model. I find that I can slumber, bored, in most horror or adventure movies. They are predictable, and I know that there will be creepy music, several minor characters will die, and the hero will be saved in the end. Ho Hum. No such thing with the scale model kit that falls…
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The Political Model Kit
Surprisingly, these last few years of international war ( as opposed to the internal sort practised in Africa and South America ) have yielded few scale model controversies and political arguments. I did not expect this. Of course there are bound to be restrictions on the supply of kits from warring nations, but the ones…
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Short Stirling Mk IV – Part Three – V3 To Canada
A very specific aircraft on a very specific mission. And no bombs carried. This Short Stirling was flown from the UK to Canada in the 40’s as a training aircraft to familiarise the trainees of the BCATP with the then-new H2S ground-view radar. You’ll see the characteristic H2S streamlined dome under the rear portion of…
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Short Stirling Mk IV – Part Two – The Experiment
Suggested by an illustration. The WW2 bomber in standard British night bomber colour scheme is a three-coloured beast – coal black undersides and green/brown upper surfaces. But as seen on the Stirling, the black extends a long way up slab sides – and the Stirling has lots of slab to it. The top bit is…
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Short Stirling Mk IV – Part One – A Very Specific Aircraft
Many modellers build generic aircraft. A Spitfire. A Mustang. A Messerschmitt. Others build specific ones. The Spirit of St Louis. Enola Gay. The Wright flyer at Kittyhawk. I draw myself up somewhere in between. An internet search for a particular air force. Narrow down to a theatre. Then a unit or a time and I…
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The Transient Model
Some modellers are lucky. They get to keep their models as long as they want…whether in kit form or built-up. They have display space and protection for their work. Others have to watch their results given away, trashed, or lost. Their only consolation is that it makes more space to build again. Yet the impermanence…
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The Unaccounted
Every so often I see things in the hobby shops for which I can find no explanation. These can be on alien shelves – the gundam and anime models – the motion picture and comic book models. I see things that bear no relation to my life whatsoever. They may be good kits, and they…
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We’re Not A Club
We’re a cult. The building of scale models is not the sort of thing that you can leave to just anyone. You have to be chosen. Who, exactly, does the choosing? You will be told in due course. If the behind-the-scenes investigation report is favourable. Do not try to hide anything – we have ways…
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The Brass Band
In my hobby clubs there are people who risk death daily by building models using photo-etched brass parts. The fatal danger they run is showing the rest of us up with their skill and precision. One day they will be found out the side door with little knives in their backs. To be fair, some…
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Chance Vought Cutlass – Part Four – Ensign Killer
That, unfortunately, was the nick-name applied to this fighter in US Navy service. It was not a long service life. The type was found to be difficult to land, dangerous, and of marginal performance. Better offerings came from Grumman and McDonnell. The navy knew when to fold the cards and return these things to shore-based…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 