Truro Model Builders

12/02/2026

There has been a growing interest in card modelling in recent months at Malpas Village Hall. Our resident railway modeller, Steve Howe, has been a long term builder of card buildings, while Nick Finnemore has produced a number of paper and card creations. This has spread to Kevin Lowry, who is also beavering away now surrounded by pieces of card and paper, and it was almost alarming to see Nick and Kevin trying to convert Del Hudson to the medium this Monday gone.

However, when you see what can be done with card and paper, it's no surprise. Both Nick and Kevin completed their latest builds this week, and they are truly stunning.

First up is Nick's 1/33rd (yes, you did read that right) model of the Messerschmitt Bf 109V-14 D-ISLU, in a stunning red scheme as flown by Ernst Udet at an international air meeting in Switzerland in 1937. The V-14 crash landed at the event, though Switzerland were impressed by the Bf 109, enough to procure it for the Fliegertruppen.

Nick's model is produced by Kartonawara. All parts are card and paper, with the exception of the wheels, which are resin, and the canopy which he took two or three attempts to scratchbuild.

Kevin has built a 1/24th replica of the German pioneer Otto Lilienthal's Normalsegelapparat, or Normal Soaring Apparatus. Ten of these gliders were produced, with the first flight being made in 1893.

The model is printed by Schreiber-Bogen, and Kevin reports that the rigging was the most difficult aspect of the kit.

20/12/2025

At the end of 2025 Truro Model Builders can look back on a year of some excellent models being produced from the work benches of our members. Many of them have featured on this page already but others, for various reasons, have not had their moment in the sun.

So, here is the Truro Model Builders Yearbook for 2025.

07/09/2025

Truro Model Builders attended the annual West Cornwall Model Show once more yesterday. It was a superb event, held in aid of Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, with plenty of friends and acquaintances to meet up with, interested visitors to speak to, and plenty of high quality models to gaze at and admire. In addition, Kevin Lowry had a display regarding paper modelling, the centrepiece of which was his 1:1 scale osprey, whiuch will appear on this page soon.

The group did very well in the competition. Four entries were judged, and all received gold awards. Nigel Higgins received two for his Ferrari F189 and Mclaren MP4 F1 cars, while Isaac Hudson received one for his superlative F-16C and I was delighted to receive one for my F-86D Sabre.

Isaac entered his in the junior section, and was told by the organisers that it would very likely have received the same had he entered it in the seniors -which we all told him it would!

But good results, on an excellent day, and plenty of encouragement to kee building.

31/08/2025

31/08/2025

Nigel Higgins has completed his latest F1 build:

The Ebbro Lotus 88 is a very detailed model kit of the original vehicle, which is an innovative 1981 Formula 1 car designed by Colin Chapman, Peter Wright, Tony Rudd and Martin Ogilvie of Lotus in an effort to maximise the downforce produced by ground effect in Formula 1.

By 1981 cars were so efficient and so fast that the drivers were suffering from the tremendous g-forces; in an attempt to reduce speed and g-force the FIA banned the moveable skirts fitted to the bottom of the cars' sidepods.

When the skirts were banned, Wright studied the car and its performance without skirts. The loss in performance was largely negligible, so the 88 was quickly designed as a re-engineered 86.

The 88 used an ingenious system of having a twin chassis, one inside the other. The inner chassis would hold the cockpit and would be independently sprung from the outer one. The outer chassis did not have discernible wings, and was in effect one huge ground effect system, beginning just behind the nose of the car and extending all the way inside the rear wheels, thereby producing massive amounts of downforce.

The car was powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV engine, and the Lotus drivers were Nigel Mansell (Number 12) and Elio de Angelis (Number 11). To make the aerodynamic loads as manageable as possible, the car was constructed extensively in carbon fibre, making it the first Formula One car to use the material in large quantities, followed very shortly after by the McLaren MP4.

The Lotus 88 made its debut at the first practice session of the 1981 season opener, the US Grand Prix West at Long Beach, but was ultimately not allowed to race. It was the first Formula One car to use a carbon fibre monocoque chassis to debut at a Grand Prix event.

The politics emerging in Formula 1 at the time were now to take a part in the evolution of this racing car. The other teams were very angry at the exploitation of the rules and subsequently the FIA banned the Lotus 88. The grounds for the ban were that the twin chassis tub breached the rules in terms of moveable aerodynamic devices.

As for the Ebbro kit, I can truly say it is both beautifully detailed and fiddly to put together at the same time. I have used a mixture of paints on the model, however, the predominant paint is Tamiya Lacquer (Obviously Black and clear). The chrome decals were an absolute bind to put on and I had to order a second set to complete the task.