Category: Painting
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SE5A – Part Two – Plain As A Pikestaff
As admirable as I may find the WW1 British designs for their aircraft – and I do like the SE5A – my admiration doesn’t extend to the War Office and their parsimonious attitude to paint. In short – their aircraft schemes are dull. I have seen some colonial examples that looked sharp, but apparently were…
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A Little Knowledge Is A Fine Thing
Too much, and they don’t fine you – they throw you in gaol. I had been seeing the word ” washi ” for some time in the modelling press. It was mostly associated with masking tapes for model painting. This is a subject dear to the hearts of all of us – we use the…
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H-34 Choctaw – Part Two – The SMCWA Club Build
Tuesday mornings are sacred round here – that is the morning I get to go to the SMCWA clubrooms and build a scale model. Ignore the fact that I have two other modelling stations – here inside and out in my shed. Ignore the airbrush booth and the assembly bench and the rack of 157…
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The Determined Modeller
I admire determined and steadfast people. As I write this there is a Mort Kunstler print of Ulysses S Grant on the wall facing me. He is raising his hat to celebrate his victory at Vicksburg. The accounts of his trials and his character have always been an inspiration, though I would not follow his…
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Catalina Mk 1 – Part Four – Flat Out
Not so much like a lizard drinking- just flat out like thin paint. The two colours of the Coastal Command upperwoirks are now down on the Cat – both courtesy of the fine set of paints gifted to me. The experiment of using Rapid and Regular Gunze lacquer thinners on the Model Master paints seems…
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Catalina Mk 1 – Part Three – See What I Did There?
Lost three marks along with the wheels. My RCAF Catalina has now reverted to the first mark acquired – a patrol aircraft used off the maritime provinces. I’ve a profile book on it and it is a shame to waste such specific research and drawing. The colour scheme is very British with a little less…
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Polikarpov I-16 – Part Three – ¡Vistoso!
I am charmed with the way the Academy 1:48 model of the Polikarpov allows more space for decoration. Not a lot more – this is a small aircraft – but at least 1 .5 X the surface area to paint. The Spanish Republicans seem to have had a number of schemes – they were not…
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German General Service Truck – Part Two – Every Assembly
Every assembly on this little truck is a model in itself – and each one is a model of precision. The basic need is for a toy truck – so much of the painting is simplified. Dark iron, black, tyre black, etc. And a nod to the origins of the vehicle and the possible source…
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Simplistic Modelling For Complex People
Have you ever wanted to have a perfectly-detailled scale model of a walnut? Or a woodpecker? I cannot vouch for the first but I remember that there were plastic kits of birds that my friend Trevor built in the late 50’s. The kits came with matt paints and brushes and he was reasonably good at…
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It’s Not A Stash Sale
If you don’t buy something you don’t need. If you buy something that you don’t want, it ratchets up to a higher level. If it is overpriced, you are moving into the professional league. If you buy aftermarket for it, and build it, you have become a master in the art of Zen modelling. The…
The Little World 