Category: Scale Models
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Douglas Devastator – Part One – I Was Devastated
Well, not actually devastated…which apparently means ruined with overwhelming shock and grief. More like surprised and delighted, in a geeky way. Someone was selling old dead plastic model kits for tiny prices. It was not even the swap-meet portion of the Victorian plastic model show – just a few table-holders who decided to get in…
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When To Reach For The Pointed Stick – Part Five – The Primitives
Painting and masking need not always be done with conventional tools. Spray cans, spray guns, airbrushes and bristle brushes are all very well, but we can take a lesson from the indigenous Australians who had none of these tools. For millenia they picked up a pointed stick and cheerfully painted away. In many cases they…
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When To Reach For The Can – Part Four – Rattle me Timbers, Matey…
The aerosol paint can for model work has been around nearly as long as I have, though I did not come to them as a resource until I was in my teens. The cans were small then, as they are now, and just as expensive in relative terms. An AMT model car might cost $…
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When to reach… – Part Two – The Cheap Option
I love being cheap. It looks so trendy and cool. And you can set up a camouflage of frugality for 29 days of the month that allows you to go out and spend like a maniac on the 30th… The cheapest way to paint a model – apart from dipping it in a bucket of…
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When To Reach For Your Gun – Part One – Soul Searching
When to reach for your can. Or your brush. Or your soul. What’s the best decision you can make about the way you are going to paint a model? How do you arrive at it? What are the factors that influence that decision? Let’s start out with the basics – what are you trying to…
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The Classification List For Scale Models
A recent comment regarding the 5-foot rule for judging scale models has prompted me to ponder on a possible classification list. No names, no pack drill – but I konw where a lot of mine sit on the scale. International museum-quality model – paid for by a government and regarded as a national treasure. Published…
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Do Not Tidy Up
Or do tidy up. Choose whichever piece of gratuitous advice you like – the price is the same. There is a danger to the business of tidying up a hobby workshop – you may succeed. Then you have a tidy workshop and nothing actually doing. This is a very sad situation. I’m sitting here on…
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Canadair Sabre – Part Five – Better Than I Expected
An up and down experience, the Canadair Sabre. As are many aircraft…that’s why they have elevators and engines. The Airfix kit was delightful – the Mr Color paint was not what I wanted…but that was my fault. The clear coatings went very well. The decals were an experience. But the ensemble has come together better…
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Canadair Sabre – Part Four – A Delicate Matter
I am going to broach a delicate subject in a sensitive manner – surely a new thing for me. I normally try to make a point in an argument with a 17 pounder round. I am going to criticize someone for a product I have tried – in the full knowledge that I may be…
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Canadair Sabre – Part Three – Read The Label On The Jar, Dummy…
Observe the heading image. Four pots of Mr. Color lacquer paint. All of them say ” silver ” somewhere on the label. One, however, also says ” trouble “. The saga started when I painted the Airfix Brewster Buffalo earlier in the year. I had two pots of Mr Color Super Silver – No. 159…
The Little World 