The Little World

The wisest anonymous tip I ever saw on YouTube was an Australian modeller telling us to look at our mistakes just after we make them – but then do something about them right away. Leave them through subsequent stages imagining that they will go away, and you are in for despair and loathing. Real errors show themselves to you ever after.

I made a real error painting my model of the Lockheed Starfire. I did a good assembly and filling job and got a clean Mr Surfacer 1200 undercoat. Then I reached for the Mr. Color Fine Silver and screwed it up royally.

Old bugbear – too much paint, too soon. Levelling thinner was used that let too much solvent sit on the layers of paint until it jumbled the silver effect up. What was going to be a smooth bare aluminium plane was a mess. Then I thought to recover it with a coat of lacquer – which made it a smooth mess, armoured against fingerprints. I let it sit for three hours of discontent.

Then at midnight I took to the blessed thing with Q-tips, paper towels and methylated spirit. Off came everything with a good deal of worjk and language, and the next morning I recoated with the undercoat grey.

Then a light silvering – and I this was continued with equally light silver coats until I got the smooth job I really wanted in the first place.

It’s a lesson I’ve been taught many times and ignored many times +1. You may condemn me freely for my folly and laziness.