Tag: Matchbox
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Handley Page Heyford – Part One – Come On March
I rarely urge the calendar to advance – I am at an age when I appreciate every day – indeed, being retired, I frequently mistake one for another. As long as I can remember scale model club morning and garbage night, the rest of the week can dissolve. But a special month was coming; Matchbox…
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RCAF Privateer – Part Five – The Rockcliff Transport
Until now I have been having immense difficulties reporting the completion of this model. If you are reading this I have succeeded… The Rockcliff Privateer probably had a different name attached to it, but I am pleased that the Matchbox decal sheet was replaced by a Revell one that eliminated the nose graphics – they…
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RCAF Privateer – Part Two – Rebox Heaven
I don’t really understand the actual process of re-boxing kits. Whether they are pre-made kits that are packaged up or whether they are re-moulded sprue trees taken from old moulds is still unclear. I think we might be seeing both processes in action sometimes. In any case, I am delighted to report that it works.…
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RCAF Privateer – Part One – Hello, Old Friend
The last time I saw you, you were in three colours in a Matchbox kit. Scalemates says that you have been sold to Revell and reboxed. It also said that you were originally fitted out with alternate nose and tail sections to make an RCAF transport aircraft. Is it possible that you still have those…
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Supermarine Stranraer – Part Four – You Can Glue…
With your fingers crossed. This is the normal mode of operation when cabane and inter-plane struts are concerned. With Czech kits the legs are also intertwined and you run the risk of falling sideways off the stool in the workshop. Matchbox made the process a little less fraught by sectioning the upper wing in three…
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Supermarine Stranraer – Part Three – in For A Penny
If you look very carefully at the image of the Stranraer with the lower wings in place you’ll see two things: a. The fit of the wings and tailplanes was darn near perfect. No putty needed and only the merest whisper of cyanoacrylate to seal the top of the wing. b. There were tiny little…
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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 Three – The Hubley Kit
If you are from North America you’ll recognise the name Hubley. They were a die-cast toy maker of the 40’s and 50’s who made larger size offerings. I owned a Hubley Bell telephone truck with working winch and pole trailer – surely an odd choice of prototype even for the times. I observed other kids…
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Matchbox Helldiver – Part Two – Wing It Or Sling It?
Here’s a dilemma. I’ve pictures of the prototype SB2C with folded wings. And the Matchbox kit has folding wings. But they are folded on the toy principle and look bloody awful. I have low standards but every now and then something shows up that undercuts them. I have built folded wings on an Airfix Devastator…
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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…
The Little World 