Tag: design
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The Valid Decision
If you want to drown in Official-Speak, go to Google and start looking up ” valid decision “. I often go and see what poking the bear will do before I write these things. In this case I have been preceded by academia, politics, and the sort of management that can close down a successful…
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Canadian Car And Foundry Harvard II – Part Three – Precision in Plastic
We are accustomed to read about how precise Tamiya model kits are. This is no exaggeration – they fit pretty well perfectly as soon as you clean the sprue feed points. We are also used to reading the groans of people who have tried to work with Mach 2, Amodel, or PM kits. They also…
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Do Kit Designers Hang Upside-Down In Caves?
I ask this because I have noted some of the priorities they assign to their kit designs. In the case of the beer, pretzel, and borscht bureaux, the decisions they make about the level of photo-etch to include in a cockpit area vs the basic fit of the thing into the fuselage hints at it.…
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Junkers Ju 87 – Part Four – When You Don’t Have To Land On A Boat
I am led to this line of thought by the glued-together Stuka – devoid of filler, undercoat, paint, wheels or any other signs of civilisation. As luck would have it it sat next to a completed model of a Northrop BT-1 for a while and the differences in the ships was marked: a. The Stuka…
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Bell AH-1 Z – Part Two – A Pleasant Surprise
I was prepared for the little Marine attack helicopter kit to be two things; crude and unshapely. It may be the latter but it certainly is not the former. The plastic from which it is moulded is a little more brittle than Airfix but not by much. It sands and cuts well, and the feed…
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Landing Gear
I’ve just re-glued some landing gear on a Grumman Guardian. It was cemented yesterday but I guess i put weight on it before it was entirely set – the joints gave way. it’s a Ukrainian kit and the fitting surfaces are Soviet-era. To be fair, Grumman asked the gear legs to do a lot with…
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Ilyushin 4 – Part Two – Why You Do This Sergey?
Every model kit is an adventure in a cardboard box – some are the Walt Disney types and some are the Jumanji sort… In the case of the Ilyushin 4, I arrived at the wing stage and took some time out to be flabberghasted. The construction of the thing is a unique departure. The engine…
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Martin Maryland – Part Two – FROG Spawn
Well, I wasn’t wrong about the origin of the model – but I noted some interesting features on the sprue trees. Some were perfect and some were not. A Forrest Gump box of chocolates, indeed. The fuselage and wings are wonderful. The tail plane likewise. The design features a set of long tabs that lock…
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Mitsubishi Ann – Part Six – Smooth, Grey, And Vulnerable
Well, this little Pavla kit was fun to do. it has everything fastened now – PE dashboard, pilot, PE machine gun, and pitot tube, and the nicest pair of spats you’ll see outside of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. And I’ll bet they fell like autumn leaves, too. Sleek, smooth, underpowered, and dead meat in front…
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De Havilland Heron Mk II – Part Five – Whew
Well, the colour coats are done – the trim stripe is done – the decals are on. The various pieces are being cemented and snapped in. The air crash did not destroy the bird. Every speculative colour scheme that you think up – every set of decals you print yourself – every artistic decision you…
The Little World 