Category: Modelling materials
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Seriously New Decals
Having painted a picture of myself as a miserable skinflint who wouldn’t pay a penny for a souvenir piece of the rope that they’ll eventually use to hang the Prime Minister, I must correct this. I would. And I pay for good quality aftermarket parts if they are necessary – and there is nothing more…
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Finally – Products that Do What They Promise
Having stuffed things up for years when it got to the final stages of a project – through incautious spray painting or impatience – I have finally gotten products that will do what I need. I tip my Little Workshop hat to Testors for their Dullcote and to Supercheap Auto for their clear acrylic lacquer.…
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Resin – Do I Love It Or Hate It?
My return to scale aircraft modelling these last few years has brought me into contact with one of the most interesting materials on the market – polyurethane resin. It is not the first time that I’ve dealt with building plastic – I worked with acrylic polymers and monomers as a dentist for 40 years and…
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When To Decal
When to pause from your day’s task of cutting, cementing, painting, and cursing to apply your model’s decals? Is there a right time? Is there a wrong time? Don’t just depend on the maker’s instruction sheet – they have their own priorities and one of them might be to sell more sheets of decals. It’s…
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North American Sabre – Part Three – The Putty Worms Win Again
The debate about how to put on soft-edge British camouflage seems to have finally been decided – the J. Burrows Tuff Tac is the answer for most effects. The Sabre needs a simple day fighter scheme and in this case the contours are very smooth – no better time to trial the new technique. There…
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The More Chemicals You Use…
The closer you get to TNT. I was drawn to this conclusion by a painting disaster. I’d masked over AK lacquer paint with the GSI Creos firm’s Mr Masking Neo solution – the light blue rubber solution that remains elastic after it dries. The material came in an attractive bottle with a brush and I…
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1200 Reasons To Be Happy
” I’m happy with that. ” is a trademark phrase from the master at Matchbox car restoration – Marty from Melbourne. And one of the things he has always been happy with is the white undercoat that Tamiya put in a spray can. He uses it on pretty much all of the toy restorations that…
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Douglas A-20 Havoc – Part Four – I’m Starting To Like…
Well, I am starting to like the Havoc. And not just the plane itself, but the new materials and techniques I’m using on it: a. The plane itself is interesting – the pronounced dihedral and the cant of the tailplanes looked to be daunting when seen in plans, but the makers of the kit have…
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Douglas A-20 Havoc – Part Three – Subassembly Time
The Douglas Havoc by MPM models ( are they the same as Special Hobby? I’ll have to Czech up on that…) is old school in that it is all injection moulding – no resin or brass to confuse the issue. I welcome this but will have to do some cheap detailing in the cockpit if…
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The Airfix of Old Is Dead
And from the corpse has risen a new and shining phoenix. I, for one, am delighted. When I commenced a new Airfix bomber kit – one of last year’s releases – I was blown away in just one day of assembly – the level of detail moulded into the parts was outstanding and the sensible…
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