The Little World

Und if you do not obey ziss varning – zere vill be conzeqvences…

The consequences will be fingerprints in the clear varnish on the model. I know – I’ve been here before and done this very thing. And had to discipline myself not to do it again.

The Mk III jig helps – I got the paint on last night, the gloss cover and the decals on this morning. Now I wait until this evening to apply the last gloss sealer…and then I stand clear of the thing for another day.

There are some subassemblies to finish and I’ll need to figure out how to replace the wayward .50 cal machine gun in the turret. So I do have things – little things – to fill the time. But there will be a sore temptation to poke and prod…

It is one of the consequences of adopting the one-model-at-a-time approach to the hobby. Others rack up a workshop full of models a’ building and can go from one stage to another whenever the chemistry demands a waiting period. They make good use of time but sometimes fragment their attention so much that no one model gets finished to the standard of which they are capable. And sometimes the models do not get finished at all – parts are lost and their interest flags.

Note for those who see the gloss on the model and think it wrong – it would certainly have been wrong on the USS BUNKER HILL in 1944 – flat paint was the order of the day and sea service conditions would have de-glossed anything they could have sprayed on it anyway. But this is a plane destined for a museum – Stein’s Air World – and museums all over the world paint exhibits in all sorts of finishes. My preference is always for bright and saturated colour vs dull and authentic and as it is my museum…get out the polish, Boys!