Category: Painting
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The Independent Mind
I spoke to a person who reads this column regularly. It was in his modelling room and he was in the midst of his favourite activity; making models for wargaming. In this he has a mind of his own and is not afraid to use it. He also uses everything else that can possibly come…
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The Danger To Navigation
I shall call him Bill. Bill The Weatherman. The danger to navigation that they are always speaking about on the News At Ten. I shouldn’t wonder if there wasn’t a file on him down at the Admiralty. You see, Bill wrecks things. Cheerfully, and with great abandon. He does it on a professional basis if…
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The Gift Buffalo
And you never look a gift buffalo in the mouth… This little gem was left on the modeller’s table at the club one week along with another 1:72 model under a sign: ” Free, please take “. I didn’t feel I could make good use of the other Japanese airplane but I knew that the…
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I Want Electric Paint
I want fine-grain paint that stays liquid, spreadable and self levelling, and clings to vertical surfaces without sagging. I want it to stay in this condition until I pass a small electric current through it, whereupon I want it to set hard in ten seconds. Thereafter to be sandable and proof against solvents. Is this…
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Grumman Duck – Part Two – Ungainly Is As Ungainly Does
Like most seaplanes – the Rufe, the Spitfire on floats, the Seamew – the Grumman Duck looks vaguely like a practical joke the designers played on the factory that leaked out past the drafting table, and they were too embarrased to admit it was all in fun. Yet the planes worked and were very useful…
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Grumman Duck – Part One – The Civil Mould
I have a suspicion that the Airfix Grumman Duck in 1:72 scale is an older mould – the raised rivet lines. Perhaps a Matchbox kit re-issued. I also find that as I am an older modeller – it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. That is the fine legacy of being able to build the…
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North American Mustang I – Part Five – A Dappled Horse
Well, the Mustang is on charge and will be conveyed to RCAF Wet Dog in a day or so. It is as fresh as many coats of paint and varnish can make it – the decision to begin weathering the models has been postponed for a few months. The final result of this experimental build…
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North American Mustang I – Part Four – Yamaguchi And Spruance
Look ’em up. Admirals Yamaguchi and Spruance – opponents at the Battle of Midway. Both got an aircraft carrier shot out underneath them. But their subsequent actions when their carriers were unsavable is the point of difference. Yamaguchi stood on his bridge with the sinking ship and he and a number of other Japanese officers…
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North American Mustang I – Part Three – The Unholy Mess
Well, I gave it the old college try – or in this case the old Dental School try. I used red baseplate wax to mask off the Mustang I. It was old home week for a while there as I set up the bunsen burner and got the wax warmed up. If I was doing…
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North American Mustang I – Part Two – The House Of Wax
For the people my age, this is the title of a Vincent Price movie that will scare the pants off you. My take on it may scare you away from your modelling bench. But not me… This is red modelling wax. Also known as base plate wax. It’s used in a dental laboratory to establish the…
The Little World 