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Fairey Battle Mk I – Part Two – The Paradox

How can a short-run moulder be so good at making injected parts… And then make so many bad resin ones; detailed resin panels that are meant to fit precisely. ” Meant ” is a curiously elastic word. I have been making two cockpit tubs from this Czech kit – they involve sides, back and top…
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Fairey Battle Mk I – Part One – At Long Last

Knowing that the Fairey Battle was used by the BCATP in the 1940’s meant that I was always burning to find one. Well, the coal fire went out at the Airfix works a long time ago, and nothing was seen here until an advertisement for a new Czech mould appeared earlier in the year. This…
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Is It Semi-Gloss Or Semi-Matte?

Come to that, is it matt or matte? I’m sure there will be frantic semantic pedantics out there who can make a half-hour lecture out of these questions. There is also the question of whether you need to use any paint apart from gloss if you intend to varnish the finalproduct. You crank in the…
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Model Car Sunday – Part Eight

The Jewels. They may not be crown jewels. They may not be in a Cartier window. They may be made of plastic and not worth over $ 20 apiece – but they are jewels nevertheless. They represent the efforts of a major manufacturer and a dedicated enthusiast to remember real trophy winners of the past.…
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Model Car Sunday – Part Seven

The Daily Driver Does no-one have ordinary days any more? Have model car kits stopped being three-in-one? Can we not build the car our Dad drove in 1959? How about the one we drove yesterday? I do admire a good hot rod. I am in awe of the custom car that took a decade and…
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Model Car Sunday – Part Six

Out past where the buses run… Or modelling to your own script. The art of doing what you darn well please and then having the courage to show it to others. It is not the path all would take, but then why keep to the footpath all your life, eh? The display at the MCS…
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Model Car Sunday – Part Five

Blocking out the negativity… If I had 1/10,000 of the money that the Lego corporation has, I would be able to buy their products. As it is, I can only press my nose to the window outside the Lego shop and watch the happy people inside. I am actually grateful for that pane of glass,…
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Model Car Sunday – Part Four

Overblown is my favourite colour. You cannot look at a modern motor car and not experience a heart-stopping moment. The colour – whether black, white, or grey – will be so depressing that your ticker will slow dangerously. You may lose consciousness or go into deep depression. Memories of the actual spectrum may fade from…
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Model Car Sunday – Part Three

Local Model Car Sunday…with vehicles that really do resonate with our city and state. Not to diss the hot rodders or race car builders, but there is also a world that is average, mundane, and historically real and it can reach out to the viewer as much as the candy apple paint job or the…
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Model Car Sunday – Part Two

Peopling the Dioramas. Model car enthusiasts are real people, and they recognise that other real people are interested in motor cars. Wherever there is a race, rally, show, or meeting there will be enthusiasts circulating amongst the cars. In some cases they are recognisable types. I can tell a hot rodder from a restorer of…
