Category: Lacquer
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Keep Yer Cap On

Do you remember Andy Capp? For years he and Tony Hancock were my sole mental picture of the English…albeit of different parts of the country. Then I went to the UK and discovered other, stranger creatures. Well, Andy always wore a flat cap…much as I do in the winter here in Australia. I’ve two –…
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Vega PV-2 Harpoon – Part Four – The Carioca Killer

Admire the pictures, Children – they are made with the new focus-stacking technique learned from YouTube. Nearly every part of the 1:72 aircraft in perfect focus . The technique is so simple as to be laughable. I secure the model under constant lighting ( 2 IKEA desk lamps ) and focus upon the closest part.…
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Vega PV-2 Harpoon – Part Three – Underwear

Under where did you want me to spray? I am getting good value out of my Mr. Hobby Procom single-action spray gun – the one I bought with funds raised by selling off unwanted photo gear. The gun is a big chunky thing with just one giant adjusting knob and an equally large finger button.…
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Backtracking With The Beagle Boys

The wisest anonymous tip I ever saw on YouTube was an Australian modeller telling us to look at our mistakes just after we make them – but then do something about them right away. Leave them through subsequent stages imagining that they will go away, and you are in for despair and loathing. Real errors…
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Learning Something – Part Two – The Mask Of Mystery

So Ivan’s wax coat was a failure. So be it. But now a different idea. I have made up a set of cardboard masks that can be laid over a model in various fashions. The material is stiff and will not conform to the smaller contours. For the first trial I took two of the…
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Bristol Beaufighter – Part Three – The Principle Of Opposing Forces

Relax. This isn’t a political philosophy book. It’s still about plastic airplanes. The warped Airfix Beaufighter fuselage has been tamed. It took all day to do what might have been accomplished in a half hour, but we were on lockdown and time was elastic. The warp in the fuselage also warped the perception of how…
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MiG23 – Part Three – Ivan Seryy

The Academy kit went together really well, though it felt a little weird to not do a cockpit at all and to close in all the open bits. Academy models are always rewarding – probably because they used to be Hasegawa models and they were also rewarding. Ivan has several special features incorporated to perform…
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MiG 23 – Part Two – The Plunge

Deciding to make a sacrifice is a daunting thing – whether it is the business of culling your shirt collection and binning some or leading a chain of captives to the top of the ziggurat, you are faced with a decision; something’s going to be traded for something and you need to make sure that…
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Target Tug Cat – Part Three – Friday Lunchtime

And it was hot. Hot enough to dry solvent paint on the way from the nozzle of the airbrush to the surface of the model. Time for a thinner paint mix with more retarder and a lower air pressure. All you need to do is be prepared for what the weather throws at you. Fortunately…
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Target Tug Cat – Part Two – The Tuesday Soviet

My Tuesday Soviet session has proved very productive. The Hasegawa Hellcat was opened and I commenced the cockpit at 9:00. I had wings and fuselage nearly ready for closure by leaving time – 12 noon. A session at home and the parts just slipped together. You’re looking at no filler whatsoever, and I suspect that…
