The Little World

I get on quite well with wheels in my model aircraft building – because I normally only have to paint three of them for each plane.

Open a tank kit and start counting the round objects. No matter who made it – Germans, Russians, or British, they all decided that more wheels were better and you are going to be following suit.

Not only are there wheels, but there are often tyres – or at least the rubber shoes that coat road wheels and run inside tracks. I see some members of my scale modelling clubs struggling with these as they try to make them look precise. Often the resort to masks and odd spray painting arrangements.

I just airbrush the whole thing and then run over the rubber portions with an appropriate matte or semi-matte paint using the dear old bow pen and some retarding thinner.

The real things in the museum are pretty sad – they obviously were used for training in rocks and rough ground as big chunks or rubber are missing. I’ve elected not to scar up the model parts but one day I do a Duncansen on something and then ” Look Out “.