Category: Modelling materials
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North American Mitchell – Part Three – Cementing A Friendship
The world seems to be divided into two camps – those who don’t care about Brexit, and those who don’t care about Justin Trudeau. There are a few of us who have sought to bridge the gap and heal the rift by not caring about both subjects at the same time. Given a cup of…
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When To Reach For The Pointed Stick – Part Five – The Primitives
Painting and masking need not always be done with conventional tools. Spray cans, spray guns, airbrushes and bristle brushes are all very well, but we can take a lesson from the indigenous Australians who had none of these tools. For millenia they picked up a pointed stick and cheerfully painted away. In many cases they…
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When To Reach For The Can – Part Four – Rattle me Timbers, Matey…
The aerosol paint can for model work has been around nearly as long as I have, though I did not come to them as a resource until I was in my teens. The cans were small then, as they are now, and just as expensive in relative terms. An AMT model car might cost $…
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Canadair Sabre – Part Four – A Delicate Matter
I am going to broach a delicate subject in a sensitive manner – surely a new thing for me. I normally try to make a point in an argument with a 17 pounder round. I am going to criticize someone for a product I have tried – in the full knowledge that I may be…
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The Modelling Station
I am in constant state of admiration when I see the modelling stations of truly professional scale builders. The green cutting mats, the neat rows of paint bottles, and the tools lined up in order of size and/or political opinion. It just thrills me and makes me want to put on a pair of heavy…
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Vought Vindicator – Part Three – The Yellow Arrives
I am starting to formulate a style in my model building – in fact a number of styles, depending upon the scale and type of model under construction: a. Large model buildings are done from sketches and photographs with a fair degree of leeway in the design. I stick to simple lines and art deco…
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Eleven Shades Of Grey
Or is it gray? I can never be sure, and I’m sure I don’t care…but I do care about getting the right shade when I start to paint an aircraft. The colour I want right now is the paint that they sprayed on the underside of USAAF planes. The famous Neutral Grey. Creos GSI list it…
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The Bow Pen Revisited
An earlier post mentioned the draughtsman’s bow pen as an instrument to paint the lines on 1:72nd canopies and I sad I was going to experiment with it. Experimentation finished, I have decided that it is the preferred method of work for the future. I admire the people who can mask canopies and spray paint…
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Spitfire Mk IX – Part Three – The Grey Ghost
I am currently working with three bottles of undercoat paint – but not because I need to. Any one of the three choices would be fine…except I cannot resist trying new brews as they appear in the hobby shop. I am perfectly satisfied with Tamiya undercoat in the spray can and have used up many…
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Spitfire Mk IX – Part Two – The Patchwork Quilt
I am always in awe of the kit builder who has every seam perfect, every wheel straight, and every panel line scribed out. Awe and horror. Awe, horror, and unreasoning anger… Well, it’s not quite that bad, but I do regard perfection with some suspicion. Fortunately the Matchbox Spitfire Mk IX is a very soothing…
The Little World 