Category: Tools
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” I’m Just Going To Buy A Paintbrush “

I won’t be in the hobby shop long. I won’t look at any new kits. Or tools. Or range of paints. Or die-cast models. I won’t spend much money. I don’t really need anything. I’ll only browse. Just window shopping. Home in fifteen minutes. You’ll never guess what happened…
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The Puppy And The Old Dog

Makes you nostalgic, eh? We start with such high hopes and so much precision. then we encounter The Kit From Hell and the bottle of nuclear waste thinner and it all goes wrong. As the years go by the mat gets punished for our sins but the models get better. We watch as markings disappear…
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Bless You, Mr. B.

Other people might pass you by, but I appreciate your work. Burfitt Tools are at many of the Little World events I attend; WASMex, the miniatures show, the model railway exhibition. I imagine that Mr. B. goes to other affairs – perhaps woodworking shows or R/C events. I cannot afford all the tools he displays…
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Is There Art In Utility?

If the artist is unconscious of it…yes. I do not know if Mr. Burfitt builds scale models – or model trains – or flying aircraft – or doll houses. Possibly, or maybe not – I never quiz him. What I do is pass along the table in front of his selection of tools and imagine.…
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The Unmarked Car

People who model detective’s cars have it easy – they are always supposed to be unmarked and that means you do not have to worry about the decal sheet having deteriorated in time. I do not have the luxury of insouciance when it comes to 1:72 aircraft. From the daggiest little trainer at the local…
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You Really Do Need Two Pairs Of Cutters.

I should have laughed at myself for writing that header a few years ago. I had just re-started in scale kit building and had purchased a Ustar tool kit with knife, cutter, sandpaper blocks, etc. I still have most of it and most of it still works. What more could you want? Well, you could…
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When A Whim Pays Off

And I don’t mean just chasing ladies down the street… I had a whim, based upon a Christmas present. I’d received two lithium-ion batteries for the Ryobi 18+ system from the wife. They were intended to help me mow the studio lawns with an electric mower. All clear so far. Being Temu products, we decided…
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The Mask

And I don’t mean Jim Carrey. I may be crazy about my hobby, but there are limits… It was Windows Day at the Little Workshop. Again, I need to clarify; this means I was masking windows on a scale model airplane – not seething in rage and frustration at clunky computer commands. I use an…
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RAAF Spitfire Mk Vc – Part Four – Where You Can Stick It

On your underside… On the workbench – in the spray booth. And with the comforting knowledge that it won’t fall off. I have tried a dozen different ways of holding scale model aircraft during the painting process; by the tail, by the nose, with a stick up the jet pipe, etc. All have their uses,…

