Tag: complexity
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Tupolev TB-3 – Part Two – More Pegs Than A Dublin Phone Book
And every one of them working… The next time you hear someone blithely tell you that they ” winged it “…and make out that it was all so easy…refer them to me. I have winged the Tupolev TB-3 and I know what the abyss looks like. The basic bracing inside was actually very precise –…
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Is There A Lexicographer In The House?
We need a decision on a number of words. The little world frequently expands its vision past the small individual model. From a simple toy soldier comes a figurine on a plinth. Then several figures arranged in a group. Then a piece of armour or machinery…and so on. Eventually it is a complete depiction of…
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Curtiss H16 – Part Three – Complexosity
Or should that be confusediousness? English is sometimes so inadequate… The Roden people are nothing if not determined. – possibly to drive me blind or mad. They have moulded many tiny parts so that I can assemble them into slightly larger parts. These can then be lost down the back of the workbench. No modeller…
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” Model Not Recommended For Novices “
I have seen this on reviews and appended to the end of kit boxes. It warns the unwary that the designers have exceeded their dosage again and moulded up something that is near-on impossible to build. It is even more poignant when it appears next to a completed model – making you wonder if somewhere…
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Art Thou Too Fussy, Friend?
Is thy hobby becoming a fiend upon thy shoulders? Should thee push away the PE fret and stop fretting? Is there happiness in a flat cardboard box? In short, are you taking it all to seriously? Have you gone past the fun and arrived at the work…and paid a swingeing price for it? I have…
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Eventually The Kit Will Be Finished
Or the Earth will spiral into the sun. Either way, there will be an end to it. Some builds seem to take forever. You start out looking forward to a few weeks of building and eventually it becomes a few months. If the calendar stretches to an extra year, you know you have a special…
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The Arrogant Strut
Those who saw Mussolini were impressed with the way he strutted. Likewise with Al Jolson and Kaiser Wilhelm II. However, none of them were as arrogant as the Airfix company when it comes to strutting…as witnessed by their production of a 1:72 Bristol F.2B. They have produced a kit that is nearly impossible to assemble.…
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TKS Tankette – Part Three – I Cover My Tracks
And so I should – they are horrible. The plastic track option for the TKS was all I feared it would be. I’d seen club mates constructing their own 1:35 tanks with separate track links and just thought it a charming pretension on their part. Hypertension more likely – what looked to be a difficult…
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Northrop Black Widow – Part Three – Swings And Roundabouts
Every airplane design has compromises and so does every kit. Some are adequately addressed and some are not – what you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts. In the case of the P-61, the twin tail booms made of two pieces each ( double the seams ) mean two chances to get…
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Farman – NC 223.3 – Part Five – Almost A Sailplane
Well, you could be fooled into thinking that if you just saw the fueslage and wings, couldn’t you. Angular, but sleek. No-one in the SCNAC stayed sleek for long – eventually their Gallic desire to attach a strut, a window, or a café awning and chairs asserted itself and before you knew it you had…
The Little World 