The Curator’s Choice 033 – 1930s European Airliners

1930s European Airliners Wibault 283 – Junkers Ju90 – Armstrong Whitworth Atlanta A wander around the gallery of 1930s aircraft is always interesting and instructive because there is so much variety and colour. It was a period when aircraft manufacturers were trying new things to improve their aircraft and the field had yet to consolidate…

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So Much Effort, so Little Result

So you feel like you’re not getting anywhere (May 2020) Some modellers make one masterpiece at a time, lavishing infinite skill and patience over every tiny detail and finishing their creations with the skill of master craftsmen. Then they spend as much time again giving it the patina that turns their model from a simple…

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A Matter of Philosophy

Deep thinking at the modelling club (October 2015) Here is a photo taken at our most recent MoB meeting by Master Sean. It shows four MoBsters, innocently it seems, sitting at a table. Master Rod, on the right, is in a state of deep mystical meditation on the completion of his latest modelling project. Master…

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The Power of Planning

How I made trouble for myself, again (October 2013) If you find yourself chatting to Master Mark about his modelling you will soon discover that a part of the process he really enjoys is the planning of his projects. You may find yourself looking into a box of Mach 2 parts and wondering how anything…

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My Tool Box

New tools and techniques (April 2013) I guess that every modeller has their own collection of tools and techniques for using them. They probably have different ways of storing their tools so they are ready to hand when they are needed. For years I kept my tools in boxes and mugs so they were easy…

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My Hobart Hiatus

A modellling holiday (April 2013) Despite rumours to the contrary, where I did disappear to was Hobart. You know, that bit at the bottom of the forgotten island at the bottom of Australia. The main reason for this hiatus was to look after the dog belonging to a friend who had to go overseas for…

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Indiana Edmonds and the Wall of Doom

When too many kits is barely enough (February 2013) This is the first time I’ve been to an analyst in a few years. Do you still do things the same way, I lie on this couch and you sit over there taking notes? You do. Good. I’ll just lie down here, make myself comfortable. And…

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That Will Be $29.95 Thanks

A refutation of the whig view of modelling (August 2005) Several thousand years ago, or so it seems, one of the most advanced kit makers of the time released a kit of an obscure British aeroplane. Of course, Frog had always dabbled in oddities such as the Gloster E28/39 and the Bristol 138, but even…

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Out of the Box

(what’s in the box) (August 2004) Now, where was I? The last time I ran out of time to get a model finished before the next meeting I was reduced to writing about my tool box. This time other work has kept me from finishing a lovely little avions Francaise so it is time to…

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Box of Tools

(where do we put the tools we use) (May 2001) This month one of my tools has let me down so I haven’t completed a model. My compressor has finally decided that compressing air is just asking too much of it and can’t be bothered any more. It sits there going chug-chug-chug as usual, but…

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Boeing 299BA (TWA) in 1/144 converted from Minicraft kit

As World War II came to an end United States airlines started looking towards the post-war world and the development of new airline routes using new airline equipment that had been developed during the war. One of the major airlines, then known as Transcontinental and Western Airlines but later renames Trans World Airlines, planned to…

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