Category: Acrylic
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When You See That Magic Lamp

We all succumb to the lure of the magic lamp occasionally. That moment when you see something exotic in the swirling waters at your feet and reach down and pick it up… The lucky ones drop it but the unfortunate ones rub and the genii comes out. Well, I avoided rubbing when I visited a…
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Handley Page Hampden – Part Three – Success Masquerading As Failure
Having overcome Part Two – the warp factor – I set myself the task of assembling the Hampden, and was pleasantly surprised by how well it cobbled together. The wing tabs were tight, but a little sanding loosened them and a little more sanding snugged the wing roots in close enough to the fuselage to…
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Not A Creature Was Stirring

Not even a modeller. Well…not this modeller, anyway. We all have brain breaks occasionally – we start out thinking fine and then one of the mental drive belts hops off a wheel and the next thing you know we’re Jim Carrey on a bender. It happens in the modelling workshop, too. Today, for instance. Time…
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” Is This Paint Gluten-Free? “

Don’t laugh too much. You never know where the trail of discovery will lead. I have been pondering this in my local store – Hobbytech – as I wander the paint aisle. It is much the same when I go to the big DIY chain store – Bunnings – and try to make sense out…
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The Witchcraft That Is Airbrushing

I am new to airbrushing but not that new. A couple of tentative years under my belt. I’ve gone from stark terror to grudging acceptance. Reminds you of married life, doesn’t it? The first airbrush was a cheapie from Metro Hobbies, but complete enough to have three separate needle/nozzle/housing options included. They are stated as…
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And A Tip Of The Hatlo Hat* To…

Wayne Robinson. Who read my piece on canopy painting and replied – alerting me to a very good English drafting pen that could be used to apply precise paint lines to models. I went to the site he quoted, looked it over and spied one line in their advertisement that looked interesting. They compared their…
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Where Was That Blasted XF-68?

Yes, I paint model kits. Yes, I have more than one bottle of paint. Yes, I lose the occasional one down the back of the sofa… Now that I am building more model aircraft kits from different air forces I am getting more paints. Some are direct shades and some are mixtures. I have transcribed…
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The Cup Runneth Over

It’s often the little things in the Little World that loom largest. Now I’m not going to suggest that I’m a cheapskate. A penny-pincher. A scrooge. But I encounter things in daily and modelling life that press my Frugality Alarm button something chronic. And paint wastage is one of them. Paint from model shops is…
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Impatience Is Better than No Patience At All

Hurry up and read this essay – I want to get on and write more. Come on, come on…move your eyes faster…Sheesh… And get on with that model. You’ve had it for over a week and it’s still not done. The box says it’s quick to build…and who are you to make the manufacturer look…
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Nakajima ‘ Kate ‘ – Part Five – Well, That Escalated Quickly…

It seems like just this morning I went out to the Little Workshop with a cup of coffee and looked at the bare grey plastic of the latest Airfix kit. Then I started to do this and that and suddenly it was 9:00 at night and there it was in camouflage. It shows the value…
