Category: Scale Models
-
Jet Jig Jive
I’ve just used the second of my new Slovakian assembly jigs for a jet. It is the Tornado GR.1 from Italeri – a perfect testing piece for the tool. There are square fuselage panels to rest upon. The geometry is markedly different from the WW2 small jig – though the construction materials are just the…
-
” It Looks Like A Die Cast “
A well-known contributor to a modelling You Tube site has often remarked that painting a model without weathering it extensively makes it look like a die cast. I think he’s right and I’m ever so grateful to him for the hint. I still do weather some models lightly, but knowing that they will look good…
-
Glossing Over it All
I tend to gloss over many things; my qualifications, my time spent in the chorus line of Le Crazy Horse*, the mysterious mounds in the back yard… And I now religiously gloss over my models in preparation for decaling. I have been caught by silvering too many times to take it lightly. The problem of…
-
Morane-Saulnier MS 500 – Part Four – Jiminy!
The Triumph Of The Modest yet again! A vintage Airfix kit – and not even a re-issue at that – and it’s turned out beautifully. I haven’t built a Fieseler-based plane before so I have none of the other makes to compare this to. Nevertheless, I am very pleased with the result. If I can…
-
Morane-Saulnier MS 500 – Part Three – Sacré Bleu!
But of course it is bleu. What other couleur would the Aeronavale paint their avion? Mais what bleu is it? It is Mr. Color 322 Pthalo-cyane blue. It is also marked as JASDF Blue Impulse. This is for their aerobatics display team. I hope they don’t mind me pinching the hue for the French navy.…
-
Mind The Gap
I started my search for the perfect gap filler to make my plastic models seemingly seamless a long time ago. Well six years or so, anyway. When there was still Stanbridges – Elvis and dinosaurs having passed away. The first tube I bought was from Tamiya, and unlike most of their products, was far from…
-
It Do You Good
To look at reality every so often. Be careful if reality wants to look at you… As model builders we are engaged in reducing reality to a small space full of small objects. We get very good at this with our kits, aftermarket parts, paints, and weathering. We construct imaginative dioramas and sets. We focus…
-
I Believe In You
Of course, I also believe in pixies and the Lone Ranger, so take that into account. You may want to put a disclaimer on most of this conversation. Verbal advice in scale modelling is generally worth the paper it’s not printed on. It can be had from shopkeepers trying to sell you something, friends trying…
-
Handley Page Jetstream – Part Four – Beinbruch Air Ambulance
If you look carefully you can find a use for everything. This was the principle behind the acquisition of the Handley Page Jetstream aircraft that were to have been a part of the USAF transport fleet. Eventually rejected by the US Air Force due to delays and engine problems, the medical turbo props were sold…
-
Handley Page Jetstream – Part Two – Saturday Build
I have three divisions of kits; Tuesday Mens Shed builds, home Little Workshop builds, and Saturday Historic Modelling Friends builds. I keep them as separate as painting requirements permit so that my pleasure in building them comes undiluted. The HP Jetstream is the Saturday Historic Modelling Friends kit. I enjoy an invitation once a fortnight…
The Little World 