Category: camouflage
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Grumman Avenger – Part Five – Half-Dressed

It is unfair to take a photo of a lady when she is only half-dressed…unless she specifically wants pictures of herself in that condition. I was reminded of this when I thought to picture the Avenger TBF-1 in her masking tape. But as this is a new departure – a three-level USN paint scheme –…
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Grumman Avenger – Part Two – Bathed And Naked

Settle down, class. You’ve seen uncovered airplanes before. No need to get excited. The preliminary researches on the TBF for the USS BUNKER HILL all point to the same visual conclusion; the colour scheme that the box art shows is accurate enough for a direct build. Perhaps a little modification of the yellow nose around…
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I Think We Have A Winner – GSI Creos

Constant experimentation within the model building craft is a two-edged sword. Do too little of it and you never find out how to advance your skills – to too much and you never develop any skill to its maximum capacity before you’ve hared off to another… But occasionally you can get it just right. The…
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North American AT6 – Part Six – All Bombed Up

And ready for the party. I am not going to make invidious comparisons between the Academy Texan and that of Hobby Boss – I have enjoyed building each maker’s version. The faster build on the latter model is in part due to the simple construction, though this in turn is due to what must…
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North American AT6 – Part Four – Nailing The Colour

I have discovered many interesting things about colour since I returned to scale modelling – both upon the original subjects and on our models: a. The best colour reference is the actual article – untouched by time and not modified by any curators or experts. The fact that nothing is ever this perfect is beside…
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Fairey Fulmar – Part Four – Sub-Lt. Chondomley-Smythe

” Sir? ” ” Yes, Sub-Lt.? ” ” Sir, why to the Yanks call us chinless wonders? ” ” Jealousy, Chondomley-Smythe…pure jealousy. They look upon our Fairey Fulmars with a horrible envy while they are forced to fly their F6F Hellcats and F4U Corsairs. Now glue your oxygen mask on with this surgical plaster and…
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Fairey Fulmar – Part Three – The Dirty Bird

The Mister Craft Fairey Fulmar is proceeding apace. There were so few pieces to assemble that the basic structure went together in a day – and the decision to use solvent-based lacquers meant that the following day saw most of the painting taken care of. So now it is sitting on the jig airing out…
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Curtiss Tomahawk – Part Three – New Mistakes

I am going to learn every trick in the painting book by making every mistake in the painting book. But this build’s blunder was a very minor one that yielded to the simplest of repairs. I needed a red fuselage band just in front of the tail assembly for the AVG P-40. Loathe to try…
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North American Mustang I – Part Five – A Dappled Horse

Well, the Mustang is on charge and will be conveyed to RCAF Wet Dog in a day or so. It is as fresh as many coats of paint and varnish can make it – the decision to begin weathering the models has been postponed for a few months. The final result of this experimental build…
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North American Mustang I – Part Four – Yamaguchi And Spruance

Look ’em up. Admirals Yamaguchi and Spruance – opponents at the Battle of Midway. Both got an aircraft carrier shot out underneath them. But their subsequent actions when their carriers were unsavable is the point of difference. Yamaguchi stood on his bridge with the sinking ship and he and a number of other Japanese officers…
