Category: 1:72 scale
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Grumman Martlet Mk. IV – Part Four – The Sausages Win
The debate in this column, in the wider modelling world, and in my mind about the best way to paint British camouflage patterns in 1:72 scale has finally been resolved and need not be investigated further until next time I get bored… Recently I free-handed the A/B camo pattern on a Fairey Fulmar in this…
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Grumman Martlet Mk IV – Part Three – A Long Way
It is said to be a long way to Tipperary but it cannot be much further than the distance between the modern Airfix kit and the 50¢ baggie of my childhood. Today’s work on the Grumman Martlet emphasised this to me as I undertook the delicate job of closing the fuselage. It required the subtle…
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Grumman Martlet Mk. IV – Part Two – Well Done Airfix
There is a fine line in scale aircraft modelling…and if you’re not careful you scrape it right off with an Xacto knife… No, there’s a fine line between not enough detail and too much. ie. the French Mach 2 for the former and the Czech Special Hobby for the latter. With the Chinese Hobby Boss…
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Grumman Martlet Mk IV – Part One – The Option For Disaster
And guess who’s going to take it… They often say that you should choose the sin that you’ve never committed before just to keep things interesting. I don’t know about the sin bit, but the chance to build a model in a new way has attracted my eye. A lot of aircraft put onto aircraft…
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The Scale Of My Problem
I have a problem*. The scale of my model airplanes is 1:72 – and that is the general scale to which I wish to build my model airfields. I have been lucky so far – the British card kits from Superquick and Metcalf are mostly in 1:72 or 1:76 ( an acceptable compromise ) and…
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The Bow Pen Revisited
An earlier post mentioned the draughtsman’s bow pen as an instrument to paint the lines on 1:72nd canopies and I sad I was going to experiment with it. Experimentation finished, I have decided that it is the preferred method of work for the future. I admire the people who can mask canopies and spray paint…
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” It’s Very Toy-Like “
Ever hear that said when someone is looking at a die-cast product in the shop? Or a plastic kit with only a few parts? Ever hear it when someone is looking at a painted scale model? And said with a sneer in the voice? Well if it is ever said to you, or of your models,…
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Spitfire Mk IX – Part Five – Nothin’ Says Lovin’
Like Hispano Suiza 20mm cannon. And they can be affectionate out to quite a considerable distance. Far better at a cocktail party than a .303 machine gun. Well, the British wanted to be as friendly as they could in WW II and ended up equipping a number of their fighters with this sort of auto-cannon.…
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Spitfire Mk IX – Part Four – Is This A Decal Or A Tarpaulin?
I spent one morning recently decalling airplanes – a simple but delightful exercise in cut and paste. The surfaces of the planes were a clear smooth gloss and the first two decal sets – from Hobby Boss – were all that you could want. They were not pretentious markings – just stars, numbers, and a…
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Spitfire Mk IX – Part Three – The Grey Ghost
I am currently working with three bottles of undercoat paint – but not because I need to. Any one of the three choices would be fine…except I cannot resist trying new brews as they appear in the hobby shop. I am perfectly satisfied with Tamiya undercoat in the spray can and have used up many…
The Little World 