Category: Tools
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Grumman Goblin I – Part Three – Fuselage of Courage
The title of this column recognises that there is a certain stoutness of spirit required when you try to close up a fuselage, car body, or hull. The reality of what the plastic is going to do can be a lot different from the blandishments of the instruction sheet. I’ve written before about what the…
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Use the Dull Blade…
Said no modeller, ever. Yet we all do it. We use the blade until the tip breaks off and the edge has tram lines on it and we need to push it 300 times harder to get it to cut. And when it is just right; dull, nicked, and rusty, we push it over the…
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Cougar F9F-8P – Part Three – Despite Sword
I’m being mean. Really this has been a very good kit to build. Minimal trimming, minimal filling. Fit everywhere. Just the minefield of the instruction sheets. It is a warning for the future, however, not to build anything straight out of the box and straight off the instructions. Get a third-party reference and keep it…
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When In Trouble, Reach For The Foam Board
I found myself in another of those awkward positions. Not as bad as Page 38 of the Kama Sutra, but nearly so…I was under the workbench, in a pretzel shape, trying to decal a fighter plane. The sort of procedure you work yourself up to gradually in an evening of modelling. Before you realise it…
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My New Favourite Thing
And like many of my favourites, it is cheap and plentiful. It also fills a long-desired need and is available from Officeworks. And I have a full packet of it…how much better could it get, eh? The miracle product is A4 -sized sticky label paper. Avery and others make packets of it in all sizes…
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Olfa – The Second Present
No good feeling your wrapped presents or shaking them round if your friends are imaginative enough to shop outside of the boundaries. They can buy something that looks like nothing that you recognise under a coat of paper. Thus it was when my friend Warren handed over a strange lumpy parcel at the Chrissie dinner.…
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BY THE POWER OF MIGHTY MAC…!
I compel thee to spray nice. I have purchased a couple of accessory MAC valves for my air compressor lines. They were not expensive as they are the product of my favourite budget manufacturer; Ustar. I was introduced to the idea of the MAC valve by a Phil Flory tutorial in which he showed the…
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‘Tis A Gift To Be Simple…
And ’tis even a greater gift when the simplicity comes free…and at the proper time. I have no idea where the instrument seen in the heading image came from. It has been setting in the odd-tool drawer of my modelling cabinet for years. I suspect it came from an art supply store or was remaindered…
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The New Airbrush
I am delighted to be able to report on the new toy from Japan – a Mr. Hobby Procon Boy SQ single-action airbrush. It has a 0.4 nozzle and a 10ml colour cup. I was intrigued by the concept after watching YouTube videos of people testing out similar devices from Iwata. Then a Ukrainian chap…
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When You Cannot Figure Out What It Is…
You’ll know this one. You go to the tool section of the hobby shop, possibly with a definite purpose. You have need of a tool and possess sufficient spare cash to be able to afford it. You rush to the place before the family demand money with menaces ( school shoes, food, medical attention…). As…
The Little World 