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The Toy Train People Have An Advantage
Model railway builders who exhibit their layouts have a pretty big task to do – they have some major haulage and construction to do to set up a display. Once done, however, they have a distinct advantage over the model builders who make plastic kits; the toy trains move. The model railway maker might be…
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Historical Friends
I hope that’s right – I tried ” Hysterical Friends ” and the auto-correct passed that as well… One of the groups I belong to is called ” Historical Modelling Friends “. We meet either at the Cambridge Public Library in Floreat or at my studio in Willetton. The sessions are always modelling afternoons –…
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The Visiting Club
Scale modellers who make plastic kits know that when an exhibition is coming up they need to steel their nerves to the sticking point for two things; the journey there and the journey home. Because the model that you spent three months carefully cementing together has a dozen points of protrusion – plastic guns, pitot…
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Schmattarim
Stop groaning. It’s my model airport and I get to make the jokes. Actually, it’s a museum layout – a very useful way to display a variety of aircraft. In this case they are Israeli, and the idea is patterned on the real IAF museum at Hatzerim. I’ve built enough models to mount two separate…
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Grown People
What on earth would induce grown people to spend an entire weekend standing around a hall at the dog race track looking at plastic models? Are they mad? Hopefully, yes. This thought is held sacred by a number of hobby retailers who also stand round…round the back of the tills. The more madness and money…
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Hall Of The Model Kings
And queens. This is an even-handed hobby. The annual scale model exhibition always includes a competition for builders, and it is large enough to require a separate hall. They set out tables and cover them so that the visual presentation is neutral – the lighting is that of the hall, but more on that… There…
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Razzle Dazzle ‘Em
And you don’t even need to use bright colours. This year’s scale model exhibition opened itself to new groups – and in the case of the first stand in the hall it was a wargaming outfit that built a magnificent set depicting something of the Battle of Berlin 1945. The set components were a mixture…
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New Show
Old theatre. The Western Australian scale model exhibition took place this last weekend and a lot of people held their breaths. The long-serving committee that had presented it for many years past ( decades, perhaps… ) had decided to retire and there was some concern that the exhibition would cease. A new committee was formed…
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Have You Ever Been Tempted…
To chime in at the local hobby shop when you hear someone ask a question of a salesperson? Well, stifle that impulse…unless you are asked a direct question by the staff member, your input is not helpful. You may know the answer, but consider that the answer you know may be one of many. The…
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The Unwritten Rules Of Scale Modelling Competitions
Hah. Fooled ya. There are no unwritten rules. They were going to make some but with the months it took to produce the written ones, time just got away. The sub-committee for underwater vehicles took a very long time to surface and there were real fears. As it is, the printing costs for the rulebook…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 