22 articles · 3.4K karma · 21 friends · active 2 months, 1 week ago
I grew up in the 60s in the UK, and remember clearly building an Airfix Mosquito with my Dad after seeing '633 Squadron'. My pocket money used to go on bagged FROG and Airfix kits from Woolworths or the local newsagents. In 1973 a friend introduced me to IPMS Lancashire/Cheshire, and I was blown away by the models I saw on the tables; from then on I aspired to emulate the same standards. My interests are varied, although I prefer 1/72 aircraft, especially biplanes and between-the-wars subjects. I dabble a bit in armour, too.
In the early 90s I emigrated to Calgary, Canada. I'm married with two adult kids, and two grandsons.
I've previously published an article about my 24-hour Airfix Widcat, and this build followed much the same online format: start-to-finish in a 24-hour period with frequently posted updates. Unlike the new-tool Wildcat, the Heller Ar 96 was [...]
This is the old (1978) Hasegawa S-3 Viking in 1/72, a nice kit that has aged well. Apart from the raised panel lines and over-simplified cockpit, it stands up well against current releases; the fit was amazing, trailing edges were sharp, [...]
Airfix produced some of their best kits in the early-to-mid 70s, which is the period in which they tooled their 1/72 DHC Beaver. Moulded in white plastic it went together very well, although I sanded off the raised rivets and panel lines, [...]
I built these two 1/72 P-51Bs to compare the Academy and Revell kits. I enjoyed both builds, although the Academy kit – finished as 'Scarlet Kate' – was perhaps the easiest of the two in terms of fit and ease of construction. I also [...]
On one of the other modelling forums I frequent, there's an annual Group Build in which participants build an unstarted kit of their choice in a 24-hour period. Frequent updates have to be posted, with progress photos taken including a [...]
There isn't much to say about this, it's the Hasegawa 1/72 F-86D Sabre Dog finished in RoCAF markings. It was done as a quick build after a particularly tedious/difficult project and it was just the tonic- straightforward, great fit and [...]
Let me prelude this by saying this is an older build– from 2005, in fact. It's spent the last 14 years in a box under the stairs, but this weekend I dug it out and decided to shoot some new photos of it. There are plenty of things I'd do [...]
This is the Wessex HAR.2 from Mark 1 Models in 1/144 scale. It's a nice kit for the scale with recessed panel lines and pretty good detail overall. I added a little bit of cockpit detail including seat harnesses and instrument gauges, and [...]
These 1/72 SG-38 gliders by Kovozávody Prostějov came two-in-a-box. Parts count was pretty low, so the real challenge was in painting and finishing.
I tried to replicate the semi transparent effect of the wing when viewed from below. [...]
Brengun's resin Tupolev torpedo boat is a superb little kit, with flawless castings and a nice photo-etch fret for some of the finer details. It was built pretty much out of the box, painted with Tamiya acrylics then weathered with oils [...]
