The Little World

On your underside…

On the workbench – in the spray booth. And with the comforting knowledge that it won’t fall off.

I have tried a dozen different ways of holding scale model aircraft during the painting process; by the tail, by the nose, with a stick up the jet pipe, etc. All have their uses, but most are precarious at best and impossible at worst. Now I think I have an answer.

Like most of my answers it is cheap. A block of old packing foam, three satay sticks, and a roll of double-sided foam tape. This latter can be 3M or any of the cheaper brands – all good as long as they have some resiliency and a powerful enough adhesive.

The stickum has to be able to immobilise a model with only two or three contact points but not mark varnish or lift paint.

It will generally sit on both wings and one tail surface – in the case of the Spitfire the tail strut did not need to be adherent – there was enough grip on the front arms. Really, you could have as many supports as needed with the sticks in the foam.

If you’re buying all your hobby supplies in the hobby shop – you’re missing out.