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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…
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The Detail Is In the Devil
And I am starting to believe that is where it should stay. I stand in awe of the fine detail that can be achieved by some modellers working in 1:32nd and 1:35th scale. When they commence work on tank tracks with 5 or 6 pieces per link…and a couple hundred links…I know it is time…
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A Very Personal Boycott
And for a very personal reason. A recent visit to a hobby shop in our metro area ended unpleasantly – when I asked to use the toilet the owner directed me outside to the end of the car park and told me to pee behind the dumpster. Fortunately I was able to make it in…
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Dissatisfaction
Is the step-mother of invention. With cheapness as a sibling – how could I resist the temptation to rebuild the modelling desk. The old one featured a wall of Chinese take-away food containers that held tools and materials – they were hot-glued to a sheet of foam board gaffer-taped to the workbench. No expense spared…
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Tupolev SB 2 – Part Four – Taipei
It is unfashionable nowadays to think of air raids from mainland China on Taiwan. But there was a time when it was a good idea… As when the Soviet Volunteer group that operated these bombers for the Nationalist Chinese Government essayed to fly to Taipei and bomb newly-arrived Japanese aircraft at the airfield before they…
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Tupolev SB2 – Part Three -Guessing Game
Meetings in the design bureau of a scale model company must be interesting to attend. Are there knives? Do people disappear? Do they call in dancing girls and order pizza? I ask because some of the decisions that come from these meetings seem to be motivated by strange desires. Who would have split the fuselage…
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Tupolev SB2 – Part Two – One-Man Pit
If you were a front gunner in a Tupolev SB2 you were wise to take a flask of tea and a novel with you for the flight. As you entered by a hatch under the nose, were out of touch with the rest of the crew, and were not given the key to the toilet,…
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Tupolev SB2 – Part One – Accidental Buy
Trawling through the hobby shop one day I decided to take home a Czech kit of a single -engine US observation plane. All was well until I looked at the parts that were to have made up the canopy and wing support. Someone in the factory had packed two right sides – and no left…
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Is Your Kit Pre-Painted?
A friend once showed me a model kit in very small scale – 1/144 or smaller – that was pre-painted by the maker. It was delightful to look at, in a sort of toy-like manner. The makers had finished the fighter in camouflage but I think there were a choice of decals that could be…
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Nothing To Excess
This is a fine philosophy, but I wouldn’t go overboard on it… It is also good counsel for the people who make the moulds for plastic kits. I was dealing with an old Revell B-24 D kit from the late 70’s that had recessed panel lines and raised rivets. They were the size that would…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
