Category: Painting
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If It’s Worthwhile Doing…

It’s worthwhile doing badly. Then looking at what can be improved, and doing it again. This was the unfortunate story of Ploesti, but that was also a tale of the baleful effects of listening to authority when you know you’re right. The other thing to consider is that if something is worth doing, it’s worth…
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Little Bottles Of Success – Humbrol

I’ve been watching YouTube videos lately to see what other people do to build and paint model kits. In some instances I’ve been amazed at the reckless candour of the broadcasters. If I were a tort lawyer I would be rubbing my hands together with anticipatory glee. You see, poor model reviews passed between consenting…
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Northrop Nomad – Part Three – Bumblebee

If you are going to let teach inexperienced airmen the arts of flying, you send them up in training aircraft. And it’s not just the pilots that need to be up in the air – the observers, gunners, navigators, radio operators, flight engineers, and flight attendants also have to get their feet off the ground.…
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Tamiya Acrylic – The Viable Challenger

Note: in this test I used the Tamiya acrylic paints, but I could slso have used the Creos Mr. Hobby acrylics as well – they can interchange thinners and brush cleaners. Well, as the Avro Anson MkI was slowly being painted and cured, I decided to fill the time with two other kits – a…
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Enamel Is The First Bottle Off The Shelf

Well, in for a penny, in for a Pound…I decided that the Special Hobby Avro Anson MkI was the test bed for the Humbrol system. Other people may know it as the Angst-on but I make my own discoveries… After painting up the interior and locking it into the fuselage, I covered over the windows…
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How Unbiased Do I Have To Be To Look Virtuous?

I’m in the middle of a scale modelling experiment at present. The basic question I need to solve for myself is: Acrylic or enamel? I’ve hedged around the issue for some time now as I gained more experience with the airbrushes and looked at more YouTube videos. I’ve not had too much contact with other…
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The Little Workshop – Colourful Guilt

Some modelers keep a stash of unbuilt kits in closets – these probably reassure them, much like a giant hoard of gold comforts the dragon Fafner in Wagner’s Ring cycle. I can see a few of the curled around them huffing fire… I, too, have a modest stash but I am working like Siegfried to…
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I Only Know What I Don’t Read In The Papers – F2A Four

My misquotation of Will Rogers is not meant to be disrespectful – I have always thought him one of the finest humourists that the Americas have produced. But he was long before the era of the internet and the wonderful collection of bad information that it provides. Note that I’m not using this column to…
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” Hey You! What’s The Small Idea? ” – F2A Three

If I were a spray painter on a full-size airplane I’d have no troubles spraying a fine line between colours. A few sheets of newspaper to screen off the overspray and away I’d go matching up the instructions. But I am working in 1:72 scale and I don’t think that my hand skills are such…
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I Can See Clearly Now! – F2A Two

Woah! That’s a revelation! I’ve been learning the business of masking and painting clear canopies and turrets for the 1:72 aircraft over the past couple of months. It has not been an easy process, as I have discovered just how un-detailed parts can be in some kits. If you combine this with the propensity of…
