From an immigrant

I would have liked then that the signature would have been Obama's or Clinton's, but in a way it's ok that it was Bush, a republican, that if not the smartest cookie by any length of the imagination at least was someone that (together with John McCain) understood what some inkling of political decency meant.

 

(click below to enlarge)  

 I know, you came here for the planes, but if we don't start to do something, believe me, coming from a country that suffered several times totalitarianism and coups d'état, there will be no joy in modeling... or much anything else. 

And because according to Mary Poppins "A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down":

 Monty Python's "Sheep-Aircraft":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpbGPLEWhj8

 

Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer "Twin Pion Air" airlines - Valom 1/72nd

 

 

 

This well proportioned STOL plane has flown with many owners in diverse countries, wearing a plethora of colorful liveries and schemes. Its general lines and function are somewhat similar to other STOL planes, like the Short Skyvan:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/07/airfix-shorts-skyvan.html

and the Miles Aerovan:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2017/11/miles-aerovan-completed-mikro-mir-172nd.html

The Twin Pioneer has been released before as a kit by other manufacturers some time ago, in the form of vac and resin kits, but this new Valom endeavor is by far the best of them all.

For the step-by-step posting please go here. It includes some references and mentions the other kits:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2025/07/scottish-aviation-twin-pioneer-valom.html

The improvement over time of Valom kits has to be recognized. This Twin Pioneer is a good example of a nice kit that with a little bit of work (and a brief plunge into some light research) can be built into a nice replica.

Valom also deserves praise for their commitment to offer civil kits for the starving modeling masses, tired of the repetitious military releases.

The kit has good detail, sharp molding, good parts’ count and excellent surface, with the bonus of a fantastic subject loved by many and for which plenty of references do exist.

It requires a modeler with a modicum of experience as a few things can be improved upon and there are some fit issues, plus you have to do a little of research on your own to correct some minor inaccuracies, as the same molds cover many subjects and some details naturally varied amongst them.

The subject of this boxing, a plane from “Twin Pion Air” (a play on words on the plane’s name, Pioneer) is a good choice as it’s really colorful. Valom fell short of providing decals or patterns for the colorful background decoration of the plane (a wavy and relatively complex pattern representing sand and sea), but provides in the decal sheet the tropical motifs and lettering that were painted over it.

I added a cabin interior with resin seats from another manufacturer, as the ones provided by Valom as an optional purchase are not the type used in this particular plane. I cut open the cabin door, added the pax seats, a restroom, a ceiling with lenses in guise of lights, and a few other details seen in photos (antennas, beacons, Pitots, lights, etc). No major trouble was encountered during the build, but again some skill is required. Valom offers this kit in other boxings with different attractive schemes.

What else would I love for this kit?

-Aftermarket decals to cater for other beautiful schemes worn by this plane for different carriers, countries and companies. There are so many of them and photos abound online. There are even museum and flying surviving examples of this plane.

-A resin set for the flaps and cabin door, and also for the plane adapted for geophysics research with two Dumbo ears on the wingtips.

-An aftermarket masks set that is in paper and not in vinyl

I think modelers with some experience will enjoy this kit as it’s well detailed but also leaves the door open for further improvement. 

President Stupid loves dictators!

Heston Phoenix - 1/72nd Arctic Decals /Dekno multimedia kit

 

The somewhat unusual yet beautiful lines of the Heston Phoenix make it a very desirable subject that has been absent from the hobby market until now, thanks to a joint venture between Arctic Decals and Dekno Models. This beautiful kit and its particulars have been described in the step-by-step building article that also contains some historical references:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2025/05/heston-phoenix-arctic-deccalsdekno.html

I have been anxiously waiting for this kit during its developing stage and have not been disappointed, the detail is gorgeous and the molded resin and 3D-printed parts are a joy to work with, plus the additional and very welcome bonus of great decals (of course), masks and even “metal” frames for the windows. Internal detail is beautiful and engineering-wise the kit is sound. The instructions are printed in a comfortable large size and very detailed, with photos of the type and sound advice for the modeler, all perfectly packed.  

As these are sort of artisanal kits I suggest you check the fit of the parts before committing to glue them or paint them. In my sample some of the parts required a little sanding, and some locating holes needed to be made slightly bigger for a comfortable fit. Especial care needs to be taken in dealing with the strut/wings/transparency assembly.

The boxing I got covers two registrations, one of them in two variants. I went for the "Standard Telephone and Cables Limited" variant because of the gorgeous interior and exterior detail provided for it. The manufacturers offer several boxings that cover the produced Phoenixes. For a civil and/or Golden Age modeler, these kits are a blessing, providing access to interesting and historically meaningful types neglected by the mainstream. The effective synergy of these combined manufacturers, Arctic Decals and Dekno Models, have recently released some really nice kits of attractive types, all featured in this blog. We civil modelers thank and applaud these types of releases, as they fill voids in our collections unlikely to be covered by other manufacturers, in the form of beautiful kits that, if not for beginners, present no problems for moderately experienced modelers that have dabbled in resin and or 3D-prited kits before.