Category: Acrylic
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Unsticking – Part Two – The Experiments

The mules were back in business today – 8 plastic panels coated with aqueous acrylic paint – 4 with the same Mr. Hobby gloss red that featured on the Piasecki Flying Banana – four with a Tamiya flat red. I sprayed, then let the paint cure in a hot workshop for a couple of hours.…
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Unsticking – Part One – The Problem

A recent paint job that required three colours sprayed onto a model aircraft fuselage went pretty well – the lightest colour first and then two more in layers with masking tape application between the coats. I have the business of dilution and air pressure pretty well sussed for the types of paint. Note that in…
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The Positive And Negative Mask

If there is one thing that model airplane building brings you to, it is the knowledge of how to do masking. You may do it badly or well, but you will be doing it for nearly every model you work on. I’ve just been taping up the Grumman Duck and it has prompted me to set…
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Lavotchkin 5-FN – Part Three – Decalling The White Bird

The paint job on the Lavotchkin was simplicity itself – if you discount the fact that you spend a lot of masking tape doing it. Fortunately the bigger bits can be done with the cheap DIY store stuff instead of the thin hobby shop rolls. They do the details. Now, remember I was nervous about…
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Lavotchkin 5-FN – Part Two – The Russian Jig

It’s like an Irish jig…but with vodka. My first impressions of the Zvezda kit were not wrong – it is well-built. The cockpit was adequate, without being overly complex, and Ivan, the pilot, fit well into his seat. Unlike Airfix aircrew, I did not have to Douglas Bader him to get him into his seat…
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The Five Dollar Model

Earlier in this column’s history I introduced the Glorious $ 5 Plan – the construction of an ICM Polikarpov Chaika in 1:72 scale that only cost me $ 5 to do. It was a one-off opportunity provided by a discard box sale at the annual WASMEX show…and you can be certain that I’m going to hover…
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The Benefit Of Hindsight

We are often told of the benefits of hindsight. I wonder – no-one I know has a picture of their backside on their wall. Mostly it is faces and family groups. In fact, I don’t think I can remember seeing a family group from the rear. So I suspect the old saying is bunk. There is,…
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The Eternal Question…

To spray or brush. Whether ’tis nobler to dilute the paint and shoot it onto the tiny row of parts in a minute and then spend 5 minutes and 10ml of cleaner getting the airbrush clean again, or spend ten minutes brush painting the little suckers…and the next week trying to ignore the brush marks.…
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Mr. Hallelujah

My interest in, and respect for, the products of the Creos GSI corporation is steadily growing. Their ” Mr. ” line of paints, thinners, surfacers, tools, and accessories is extensive and is available in may hobby shops here in Perth – including my favourite: Hobbytech. Of course they are not alone in the paint aisle…

