Category: Uncategorized
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Grumman Duck – Part Three – A Riveting Build
I mentioned in the first column of this build that I was not going to notice the raised rivets of this older Airfix kit – I have to say now that I have not adhered to this blasé attitude. In truth, I do notice them. And I love them. The choice of clear silver lacquer…
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Grumman Duck – Part Two – Ungainly Is As Ungainly Does
Like most seaplanes – the Rufe, the Spitfire on floats, the Seamew – the Grumman Duck looks vaguely like a practical joke the designers played on the factory that leaked out past the drafting table, and they were too embarrased to admit it was all in fun. Yet the planes worked and were very useful…
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The Shed Of Men
Of old men. Cranky old men. Building plastic models. Growling at each other. Venting unpleasant political opinions. Being incorrect, on every level. Cursing, swearing, reviling, jeering, and moaning at each other. And drinking coffee and eating cake. And loving it. Men who have gotten past the age of work and have reached the age of…
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The Costs Of A Decal
Well, that can’t be very much, can it? Try making your own and see… The idea of using the inkjet printer I already own to make custom decals was very attractive. I’m a dab hand with Photoshop Elements and as long as a design is reasonably simple, I can duplicate it. Even if it is…
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Expansion, Contraction, And You – Part Two
The basic idea today was to see how much warpage by expansion or contraction would be produced by various adhesives commonly used in the Little Workshop for scale model building. The substrates upon which they were to work were selected from common fibrous sheet material; good photo-quality bond paper, thin card, and matt board. These…
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Expansion, Contraction, And You – Part One
I’m not going to deal with how much you eat and what it does to your waistline, nor to whether your business is flourishing or failing. These forms of expansion and contraction form no part of the Little World. What does, however, is how various materials behave under various stimuli – heart, cold, damp, and adhesives.…
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North American Mustang I – Part Four – Yamaguchi And Spruance
Look ’em up. Admirals Yamaguchi and Spruance – opponents at the Battle of Midway. Both got an aircraft carrier shot out underneath them. But their subsequent actions when their carriers were unsavable is the point of difference. Yamaguchi stood on his bridge with the sinking ship and he and a number of other Japanese officers…
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North American Mustang I – Part Three – The Unholy Mess
Well, I gave it the old college try – or in this case the old Dental School try. I used red baseplate wax to mask off the Mustang I. It was old home week for a while there as I set up the bunsen burner and got the wax warmed up. If I was doing…
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North American Mustang I – Part Two – The House Of Wax
For the people my age, this is the title of a Vincent Price movie that will scare the pants off you. My take on it may scare you away from your modelling bench. But not me… This is red modelling wax. Also known as base plate wax. It’s used in a dental laboratory to establish the…
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North American Mustang I – Part One – Genius Or Moron
I cannot decide which of the two I am…and you will kindly not write in and tell me, thank you. In this case the debate will rage around a new experiment I wish to make in painting. And I need a suitable subject to try it out on. With most of my experiments and trials…
The Little World 