Tag: Helldiver
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Curtiss SBC-4 – Part Three – The Bad Bargains
The French paid through the nose for the Curtiss SBC-4 Helldivers. They were compelled to pay in gold bullion hauled to the USA by the aircraft carrier BÉARN, then forced to load them in Nova Scotia after they were towed over the international border, then forced to abandon them in the West Indies when metropolitan…
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Matchbox Helldiver – Part Four – The Curtiss Lollypop
Having mastered the Mr. Color range of metallizer paints I do not cringe in fear from natural metal finishes. Indeed I welcome them where appropriate. Thus my delight in the pictures of the prototype Curtiss SB2C rolling out of the factory in the early 40’s. Still early enough to have the pre-war yellow wing. A…
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Matchbox Helldiver – Part One – Progressing Backwards
I already own two Curtiss SB2C models – one a US Navy version and one a USAAF A25 Shrike. They were respectively a Sword and a Dragon kit. Both characteristic of their countries of origin – the Czech one a challenge of approximation and the Hong Kong one a masterpiece of precision. But two were…
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Curtiss Shrike – Part One – Down From The Shelf
This Dragon Models kit of the Curtiss A-25-A has been sitting in Hobbytech for ages. In the early days I would have put it down to a high price…but this has been surpassed by Czech kits since then. Or to the odd-looking box art. But this is no worse than some Eastern European stuff. Or by…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Seven – Shangri La
As this is the first Curtiss Helldiver I have built, I could approach it with a fresh mind. The history of the type seems to have been a mixed one – initial failures and disappointments and then solid success against the Japanese fleet. It had its time and place and filled it well. I must…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Six – A Pot To Peer In
Or into, as the case may be. A pot of paint. 10 ml of potential heaven or hell. A liquid mistake waiting for you to make it. I am a 10ml paint pot guy – Tamiya, GSI Creos, or AK Real Colours are the ones that sit in my paint rack. I’ve experimented with others,…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Five – Jackson’s Art Supply
Jacksons Art Supplies – or Drawing Supplies, if you prefer, is a dangerous place to visit. Like Officeworks, Bunnings, or Dan Murphy’s you are surrounded by too many temptations to resist them all – you inevitably succumb to buying something and there’s the food money for the week gone. The kids will just have to…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Four – Euclid Was Never A Scale Modeller
Because he could never get the geometry right… I look fondly on equilateral triangles and acute angles – many of my friends can best be described as angular and obtuse – and I like to see the geometry of the model airplane come out well. I wish this was the case with every short-run kit.…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part One – Airplane Rescue Shelter
Some people rescue puppies and kittens – some people rescue bums. Good on them, I say – they are caring and compassionate souls. I’m not normally this good, but I do have one virtue; I rescue kits. I did not start out to do my modelling this way – like most charitable affairs it just…
The Little World 