Tag: kits
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The Carpet Monster
My friend Warren refers to the ever-present danger of losing small parts as the attack of the carpet monster. He should know what he’s talking about – he has carpet in his hobby room that has swallowed many a bit. I have a concrete floor in my workshop and a lino one in my computer…
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Stash Time
We are just starting a 5-day covid lockdown and fortunately our house has toilet paper, food, and books to read. The family has the goggle box and I have a stash. There are three kits a’building at present – one for the Tuesday Soviet Mens Shed meeting, one for the fortnightly glue and talk session,…
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The Joy Of Cheap Modelling
I often write paeans to frugality, now that I’m retired. No big stream of money coming in means you must cut your coat according to cheaper cloth – and use smaller bolts of it. Fortunately I am skinny so a little covers a lot. The plastic model hobby is also a field for care. I…
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If You Don’t Build It, Who Will?
The topic of the most expensive kit…or the rarest kit…or the best bargain kit…has been raised on the Flory forum recently and the team assessed their experiences with these categories. They have had access to far more than any of us, yet they speak about kits that seem somewhat pedestrian. It is most noticeable when…
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A Modest Proposal
Kit makers are always trying for another use of a previous model. The tricks of new decal sheet and box art plus a hike in price mean that even if you have not invested any money in a new cash cow, you can milk the old one again. The problem is there are only so…
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Scale Model Philosophy 101
I once completed a very nice build of a very bad kit. It was not the worst one I had attempted, nor the best job I’d ever done, but it did bring into focus what has become my guiding principles. I hasten to add that these are not virtues or glories…just realisations about the hobby.…
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What Is A Senior Model? Part One.
And don’t get funny with the Mick Jagger or Keith Richards jokes…I mean scale models. What do people over 60 want in a scale model kit, and how can they get it? I can speak for myself as I passed that mark twelve years ago, but I am hesitant to decide for others. However, I…
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The Immodest Stashes
At some stage of the game, the status of your kit stash tips over from ” modest ” to ” immodest “. Then it goes to ” blatant ” and then ” arrogant “. This is probably about the time when your spouse starts to notice it, and you become secretive. Or it may be…
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Grim Reality Vs Grim Fantasy
I am often puzzled at the selection of model kits on the shelves of my local hobby dealers. They’re good dealers and I love them dearly – just as I love the dealers in the eastern states when I visit them. Every one is different but they all have a certain feel to them that…
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The Plastic Casino
Are you an inveterate gambler? Are they always hauling you out of casinos and racetracks and putting you on 12-step anti-addiction plans? Well cheer up – you can put the cards down, throw the dice away, and say farewell to the horses. I’ve got a new outlet for your mania and it’s all legit. Betcha…
The Little World 