Category: Painting
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Bell AH-1 Z -Part Three – The Viper Vinished

I really should have taken more pictures whilst building the Viper, but it was a Club Day build and went ahead by leaps and bounds. The final product has proved yet another lesson for me; one may be pleasantly surprised as readily as be dismayed. I’ve experienced the latter enough times with eastern European kits…
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The Swiss Army Varnish

My workshop has a shelf in it for varnishes. Read that again. A whole shelf. I call it the Swiss Army Shelf because it has something of everything there – like a Swiss Army knife. And like the famous tool from the Alps, I suspect that about 89% of what’s on the shelf is useless.…
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Marcel Bloch MB 152 – Part Two – Minus Two

If you are a little put out that you only get to see the start of this build and then the finished product, remember that this is a very simple Heller kit repackaged by the Poles. There is not all that much to see during the building process – it just cemented together in one…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Seven – Shangri La

As this is the first Curtiss Helldiver I have built, I could approach it with a fresh mind. The history of the type seems to have been a mixed one – initial failures and disappointments and then solid success against the Japanese fleet. It had its time and place and filled it well. I must…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Six – A Pot To Peer In

Or into, as the case may be. A pot of paint. 10 ml of potential heaven or hell. A liquid mistake waiting for you to make it. I am a 10ml paint pot guy – Tamiya, GSI Creos, or AK Real Colours are the ones that sit in my paint rack. I’ve experimented with others,…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Five – Jackson’s Art Supply

Jacksons Art Supplies – or Drawing Supplies, if you prefer, is a dangerous place to visit. Like Officeworks, Bunnings, or Dan Murphy’s you are surrounded by too many temptations to resist them all – you inevitably succumb to buying something and there’s the food money for the week gone. The kids will just have to…
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Curtiss Helldiver – Part Three – Green Is The Colour…

As I have written before – it is the colour of my true love’s cockpit. But it is never the same colour as you see in the books, movies, or museums. It is never the same colour as other people use, and it is never the same colour twice. The only thing that cockpit green…
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Having A Thin Time Of It

Since returning to scale model kit building and taking on the whole airbrush thing, I’ve been steadily making discoveries. Many of them have been through the mechanism of mistake and regret, but I’m happy to say not all. Yesterday I got to pet the learning curve without it biting me in the ass. The question…
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Lockheed RT 33 – Part Five – Snowbird Hack

Well, that was rewarding. The decal set that cost $ 5.00 went down like a cold beer in a country pub. Decals are always a lottery – even from the reputable makers. Specials from shows? Like licking a light socket and betting the current is off. The CT133 that followed the ‘Birds for a few…

