Hobby Stores Bucking the Trend – The Hobby Centre (Ottawa, Ontario)

We hear a lot about the demise of the hobby and certainly the demise of the brick and mortar hobby shop. Of course the internet, China, Japan, video games, expensive kits, lack of youth interest, the economy, oil prices, and the way the winds are blowing that day are a few the many reasons for […]

Finding Inspiration: A Visit to the Canada Aviation & Space Museum

I love pretty much anything aviation related. I love seeing airplanes, reading about them, building models of them and for a short while – actually flying them. And when it comes to seeing actual planes, I really enjoy visiting aviation oriented museums. I have featured several aviation museum visits on Model Airplane Maker: A Visit […]

Tamiya’s 1/48 P-38 Lightning and the Significance of ‘Miss Virginia’

When the announcement of Tamiya’s latest 1/48 scale release hit, I could only think of my “wish list” from back in January 2019. There I wished not only for a Tamiya 1/48 Lightning, I also wished that it would be an early variant with “Miss Virginia” markings. Earlier this year I got to see a […]

The Expensive Model Kit Myth

One of the repeating things you hear in hobby circles is that the price of models today is out of line with the prices of years ago. There are several variations of this theme: Today’s manufacturers are pricing themselves out of the hobby Kits are too expensive for kids Models cost a lot more today […]

The Parrot is not a Rivet Counter.

Way back in my university days I played sports with a guy who considered himself very smart. His was a mind chock full of trivia and he could recall all of it at any time. When asked an obscure fact about some pop culture item, he could reply instantly. Sports? He knew that stuff cold. Entertainment, Pop-History, […]

Stall Warning

The dreaded shelf queen. I’ve written about what to do with models that end up half built on a shelf. I’m now thinking about what causes the stall. I have some thoughts about that. But let’s start with my biggest stall yet: The HK B-17G. It started out great – the model was big and […]

Back to Base-ics

I have written previously about model bases for aircraft. I am still toying with the idea about designing and building bases that include graphics and information but in the meantime I decided to experiment with some round bases with some basic ground cover. There are a few options for round bases. One is a milled […]

A Visit to the United States Airforce Museum

If Dayton isn’t the birthplace of aviation, it is certainly the nursery. The Wright brothers developed their 1903 flyer in Dayton and continued flying in Dayton between 1904 and 1910. The US Army also conducted its own early flying at nearby McCook Field during and after World War I. Its fitting that the USAF chose […]

Whether to Weather?

Tough question. If there is a trend in the hobby related to finishing models, I’d say we are definitely in the weathering era. We are way past basic drybrushing, oil pin washes and pastel powders on our models. There has never been a time when so many purpose designed weathering products have been available. Moreover and […]

The Quick and Dirty Guide to Modeling the Corsair in US service

Should I begin by saying the most awesome airplane that ever was is the Corsair? Sure there are those who would quickly disagree with me and cite all sorts of hard data and common knowledge – but those people are wrong. This is a very quick and dirty guide to modeling one or more of […]