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The Courage To Brush
I once lacked the courage to brush. It was in my early days as a scale modeller – before I popped the top on my first bottle of Revell paint and recoilled from the heady fumes. I was frightened to lay brush to plastic for fear of spoiling the model. The phase didn’t last long…
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Cheap Day Out
With all the burnt rubber you can want… If you are wondering where John France and I disappear to every second Wednesday – the times when we are not recording Little World Studio reels in the studio – come out to the observation positions at either Perth Airport or Jandakot Airport. With the wind from…
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Spirited Modelling
And there are all sorts of spirits… a. The generous spirit. Thess modellers make friends with all their club mates and anyone met at shows. They give away models and accessories to help other people. They appreciate other people’s efforts. They contribute to club affairs. b. The mean spirit. They keep what they know to…
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The Swedish Curse
Cold winters. Long nights. Trapped in the hangar with nothing to do. Add an active crew in the paint shop and an account down the local Bunnings paint department… And there you go. Camouflage schemes that involve 45 different colours with hard lines and geometric angles. And every modeller who wants a Viggen or a…
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Scale Model Envy
Sin in miniature. I rarely give way to envy at the scale model exhibition – even in the competition hall when most of the entries are far better than I could do. But I did come over all goosey when I saw this model of a Cletrac airfield tractor. It appears to be in 1:48…
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Working With The Materials
As opposed to in spite of them. Modellers can be assemblers or fabricators; putting together a kit or building a model from basic materials. Either way they are making the wood, plastic, metal, or other stuff do what they want…more or less. Some kits, and some plans resist even the most skilled workers. Do what…
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Portion Control
That wonderful catering phrase that means keeping serving sizes down to boost profits. Less jam and more return. I also wonder if it is practised in the scale model supply business – particularly with model paints. I use the Big Two Japanese brands of alcohol and spirit-based acrylic paints- the ones in the round jars…
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What’s A Success In Scale Modelling?
Depends – and on a number of factors. Firstly there’s the modeller. Some are dedicated, some are casual. For some it is a hobby – for others, real life. The intense modeller may set higher goals for themselves than the person who treats it lightly. Then there’s the intent. If someone sets out to tell…
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A Different Bird
Oh, what a load of tales circle about the Plague Doctor’s costume. You can Wiki them yourself – I did and was immediately suspicious of the stories and supposed history. So many illustrations and rumours from the middle ages and renaissance eras have taken on lives of their own that I take many of them…
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The Bird
In this case, I believe, a Puffin. I was delighted to see that someone entered a model of this bird in the WASMex competition this year. A recent video we made mentioned the kits that were once produced of North American songbirds and asked where they had got to. Perhaps the idea has never gone…
The Little World
Close focus on the world of scale models
The Little World 