Tag: Czech models
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Dassault Super Mystere – Part Two – Come In And Sit Down

A model aircraft cockpit can be a highlight of the build or it can be a pit of cocks. It is all dependent upon the skill of the kit moulders and their level of interest. The classic Airfix or Monogram cockpit that consisted of two posts running horizontally inside and a seat that straddled them…
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Vultee Vanguard – Part Four – Mind The Gap

Fitting an eastern European model together is like opening Forrest Gump – you can never tell whether you have a soft centre or not. In the best kits the parts fit, and in the rest they nearly fit. You are fortunate if the gaps are symmetrical and the surfaces parallel. Plastic strip and sheet can…
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Junkers Ju52 – Part One – Vanilla, Please…

What? Straight out of the box? No complicated build? No sheet of arcane decals? No aftermarket resin kit? Just the thing you bought off the shelf? What sort of a monster are you? A tired one. Tired of the bullshit of trying to re-make every single kit into something weird. Tired of having to second-guess…
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Cougar F9F-8P – Part Three – Despite Sword

I’m being mean. Really this has been a very good kit to build. Minimal trimming, minimal filling. Fit everywhere. Just the minefield of the instruction sheets. It is a warning for the future, however, not to build anything straight out of the box and straight off the instructions. Get a third-party reference and keep it…
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Vautour IIN – Part Two – Czech This One Out

I am becoming a critic of instruction sheets. Though I might have become a literary or food critic in another career, I now look closely at the sheets and books that we get when we buy a kit. Part of the job of a critic is to praise, but it’s low-down on the list. Most…
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Martin B10 Bomber – Part One – The Flying Whale

When I set about looking for the nickname of the Martin B10 bomber I was sent to the Lockheed Martin site. They laughingly admitted that it got this from the press of the time because of the size. However, when you look at some of the corrugated surfaces on the fuselage, they do have some…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Two – Diving For Dollars

The Sword model of the Curtiss dive bomber is one of the bargain bin purchases I made when a chap came to our club thinning out his stash. The whole thing in box was only $ 20…which made my previous purchase of an A-25 A Shrike from a retailer look pretty sick. The Shrike has…
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The Bellanca Ball-Ache

I’m being unfair to Bellanca – I could have chosen Beechcraft or Bristol. The alliteration was the thing – a ” B ” aircraft maker was needed. Let’s start out by saying there never was an aircraft called the Ball-Ache. There may have been many that induced the condition, but that is a matter for…
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Dassault Ouragan – Part Two – Taming The Pit

I must complement Valom. They are not terminally annoying. The fuselage halves for the Dassault Ouragan fit with few gaps. The wings go together sweetly – very little fettling in the landing gear well. The nose intake splitter and tailpipe are paragons of precision. Then there is the cockpit… It is well-moulded and reasonably proportioned…
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Avro Tutor – Part One – A Venture Into The Unknown

I am not a novice in the business of a Czech kit. I know that there are beauties and beasts amongst them – I cut my teeth on one of the latter and am always grateful now when I meet with the former. This AZ model was ordered in the same batch that saw the…
