The Little World

I have discarded the idea of Art Deco – this tank has been painted by the costume designer for the Commedia Dell’Arte. I expect that there is an ammunition carrier that looks like Pierrette…

The business of brush painting a model is both thrillingly new and old. It was my only means of model decoration as a boy, and until the advent of the AMT 3-in-1 car kit – perfectly adequate. I used gloss paint and then matte when I discovered the improved appearance – and until my re-entry into the hobby five years ago, I had never learned the airbrush.

Now I have one but realise that there are jobs for which the spritzer action of an airbrush are just asking for trouble. The margins of this design in 1:35 would have been appallingly mushy.

The manual brushing goes a lot like air spray work would; light colours first, followed by increasingly dark ones. The design here could be pencilled onto the model and followed with reasonable precision. I tried to follow the colour call-out but realised that it would be a depiction – not a replica.

It took two weeks to do – and I was delighted to get to the finish line when a .02 fine-liner pen from Officeworks could be used to separate the colour patches. This will be awkward if it proves not to be colour-fast in view of the fact that decals and flatting varnish will still be needed. However, I am willing to gamble.

The colours mimic the call-out without being what Tamiya specify. I am too old in the game and too cheap in the pocket to rush out and buy new pots of specific paint when I can come close with what I have and mix the difference in a palette tin. The French Army would approve.