Category: Painting
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The Little People

No, not leprechauns. Or dwarves or midgets or any other arbitrary divisions of the human race. I mean model figures that accompany our scale models. The denizens of the Little World. By rights they should be the ones we make the dioramas for, instead of with. They are the rightful owners of the scale. The casual…
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The New Airbrush

I am delighted to be able to report on the new toy from Japan – a Mr. Hobby Procon Boy SQ single-action airbrush. It has a 0.4 nozzle and a 10ml colour cup. I was intrigued by the concept after watching YouTube videos of people testing out similar devices from Iwata. Then a Ukrainian chap…
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Republic Thunderjet – Part Three – Polish-ed Silver

They said it couldn’t be done. They said it shouldn’t be done. But I did it. Now tell me why I did it…because I am not that convinced that it was a good idea. I have completed as much work as I intend to do on the Mister Craft Republic F-84G Thunderjet. It is stand-off…
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Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V – Part Five – Decision Time

The decision must be taken – and in this case the materials available for the job have decided me. The AW will be all-black. Before it will be so, It will be all grey, of course. In this case the undercoat is Mr. Surfacer 1000. This, or the Mr. Surfacer 1200, is my preferred undercoat…
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Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V – Part Four – We Have An Airplane

That magic stage of a build when the sprue trees have blossomed and fruited, and we have a recognisable airplane on the bench. It is one of the most heartening experiences in a modeller’s day. Of course some people spend literally weeks detailing subassemblies and parts for the eventual assembly, but I like to get…
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Never Mind Washing Your Hands

Wash your Handley Page. If you won’t do it carefully, just do it for the Halifax… We all need to wash our mitts more these days to prevent the transmission of the Wuhan Plague and hopefully we will all do so – but what we really need to do is wash our model kits better.…
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Grumman Wildcat – Part Four – Neutrality Patrol

This colour scheme on the Grumman F4F Wildcat is apparently real – it was seen in 1941 in the Atlantic aboard the USS RANGER conducting something called a Neutrality Patrol. It’s the standard US Navy Yellow Wing scheme adapted to the eastern seaboard. Neutrality? Was the USA expecting attack from the British or Germans or…
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Grumman Wildcat – Part Three – Nodecal

Nodecal – the pill that makes you a better modeller. One review of this Hobby Boss Wildcat kit bemoaned the fact that there were no decals for the wing or fuselage bands. The review also went on to complain about the proportions of the tail and the scribing in the wing surfaces.Now, I’m not a…
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Grumman Wildcat – Part One – Hello Yellow

My friend Warren once pulled up a Hobby Boss kit of the F4F Wildcat in early colours and it set me investigating. This plane turned up in one of the profiles out of a modelling magazine – I can’t tell you if the kit makers made theirs from the illustration or if the illustrator drew…

