Tag: Aurora
-
How Accurate Were They Back In The Day?
Depends on who they were and when the day was… I well remember seeing an Aurora Famous Fighter kit sold in Canadian hobby shops that purported to be a Soviet plane – variously touted as a Yak 25 or a MiG 19, that was nothing like either aircraft. It may have been drawn up and…
-
Nieuport 17C – Part One – 1957 Again
1957 was a big year for me. My dad’s firm failed and we had to move to Quebec for him to continue in the heavy construction business. I had to learn school French – fast. And I got to see a whole new world of scale model kits that never made it out to Western…
-
Breaker, Breaker. We Have A Breaker.
Have you ever noticed that some model kits are never destined to stay together? There are certain models that have been made to such fine – or such crude – standards that they can be assembled with however much care one can muster…but will fragment continuously ever after. They are destined to fall apart repeatedly.…
-
Mitsubishi Dinah – Part Three – Standing Room Only…
The Mitsubishi Type 100 – the Dinah – was delivered to the Japanese Army Air Force in several versions – bomber, reconnaissance plane, trainer, etc. and there were several configurations of nose and canopy. The thin nose and multi-step greenhouse is characteristic of the training aircraft – probably to allow and instructor to oversee the…
-
Packaging Part Two – The Quality Of The Box
I’ve been buying model kits since Eisenhower was President and Louis St. Laurent was Prime Minister and I think I’ve seen them offered in every form of packaging save a lard barrel; cardboard boxes, plastic packets, plastic bags, sleeves, and even one memorable lot in paper envelopes. As I sit at my desk typing I…
-
Packaging Part One – The Gallery Of The Shelf
I go to art galleries in the various capital cities I visit on a regular basis. Some, like the NGV in Melbourne or the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney get a visit whenever I’m in town. Others, like the various modern art galleries or smaller dealer’s galleries might get a hit every two or…
-
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Waterslide decals were the wonder of my childhood. I only encountered them in the model kits I built, and since these were kits in the 1950’s, they weren’t all that good. They were yellowed, cracked, thick, lumpy, and inaccurate. They had margins that looked like stranded jellyfish. They took about a half hour to soak…
The Little World 