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 […]

AMRO 2019: A small show brought to you for 30 years.

Last weekend I attended the annual contest and model show put on by the Association de Modeles Reduits de l’Outaouais – otherwise known as AMRO. As far as I can tell, this is a small local club that meets regularly in the home of one of the organizers. AMRO is not affiliated with any formal society like IPMS […]

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 […]

1/72 Hasegawa Ki-45 Nick

When I decided to go to the 2018 Nationals, I wanted to compete and not make a fool of myself. I figured the only way I could safely bring a model with me was as a carry-on. That meant something small that could be protected in a small box; something that could easily fit into […]

Modeling Radial Engines

I believe one of the more interesting parts of World War 2 airplanes is the engine. In terms of visual impact, the kit engine is one part of a model where it is worth the time to improve – especially if it is a radial engine. It is also one of the easiest ways of “improving” model […]

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, […]

The Torcan 2019 Show Report

Held on May 25, 2019 at the Century Gardens Recreation Centre in Brampton Ontario, Torcan is the annual scale model show and contest hosted by the Peel Scale Modelers. And I finally made it to a Torcan. I say that because for the longest time there was no Torcan. I am not sure why it […]

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 […]