Category: camouflage
-
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…
-
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…
-
Boulton Paul Defiant – Part Three – We Appear To Have A Winner
I am always surprised by the end of a build – it seems to come so suddenly. Of course, this is because I have been beavering away in the background doing sub-assemblies while waiting for paint layers to set, and the final clapping on of these portions is quite a quick thing. One moment it…
-
Boulton Paul Defiant – Part Two – The Paper Work
Every kit I get has some form of paper work associated with it. Mainly instructions, painting sheet, and decals. The BP Defiant is a good example of current Airfix practice. The Instructions these days can be quite complex – if the makers are good communicators. This can depend upon whether they are a large firm…
-
The Wrong Shade Of Black
Resign yourself – you may have made a fabulous model of a P-61 or a Lancaster or a Mosquito and a great deal – or all – of the thing will be a very definite black colour. But as soon as you show it at any exhibition, someone will tell you you’ve used the wrong…
-
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIX – Part Three – A Spiffing Spitty
There really should not be any basic problem with an Airfix kit – even the historic ones with their rivets and misshapen crew members are moulded to eventually yield a representation of whatever is on the front of the box. If you are diligent you can end up with just this. It may have some…
-
Can It Be Done Better? Watch…
I have written in another post about Occam’s Airbrush but it was not until I treated myself to the live tutorial series that Phil Flory has produced on basic airbrushing that I realised how many devious pathways of error I have actually trod. And this is just a year or so after getting the sprayer……
-
Junkers 52 – Part Six – A Lekker Job, Eh?
Well, the final rush to finish the SAAF Junkers 52 went as expected. The only hindrances were integral to the design of the plane. a. The corrugated nature of the external cladding meant that a flat paint would never have accepted decals without showing silvering or separation. Each roundel or fin flash position, therefore, needed…
-
Junkers 52 – Part Five – The Research Pays Off
Having done some research into masking and finishing this year – some of it reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote and the Acme Manufacturing Co. – I have come to practical solutions for impractical problems. Impractical problems are those that no-one else has, that need not exist, and that leap out from behind the door and…
-
Junkers 52 – Part One – The Call Of The Mild
Not all my model aircraft builds are warplanes – though the economics of the model industry mean that they make up the bulk of offerings on the shelves. And even if they are military aircraft, not all of them have to be fighters or bombers…as evinced by the Douglas Dakota with RCAF markings. So there…
The Little World 