Category: workflow
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The Courage To Brush
I once lacked the courage to brush. It was in my early days as a scale modeller – before I popped the top on my first bottle of Revell paint and recoilled from the heady fumes. I was frightened to lay brush to plastic for fear of spoiling the model. The phase didn’t last long…
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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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A Big Round Of Applause
For the organisers of this year’s WASMex show. Not for the weather or the parking or the fences. For the lighting in the competition hall. It was vastly improved over previous years, and deliberately so. The windows at the sides of the competition hall in the Liddelow Pavilion do let a lot of light in…
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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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Stupid Science Theatre 2 – Into The Laboratory
If your name is Stein, you always run the risk amongst the vulgar of being called Frankenstein. I have accepted it, and make the most of it for comedic effect. But I mark down the worst offenders and send my assistant, Igor, to visit them on dark and stormy nights. I must show you the…
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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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Pilatus PC-21 – Part Four – Decal Phobia
Fear of water-slide transfers, if you wish to be pedantic… It strikes us all at one time or another. We see a commemoration scheme on the box lid and are lured into getting a kit with complex curved surfaces. The real-life plane or vehicle is painted by professionals with masks, spray guns, and a lot…
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Queen Mary – Part Two – Club Afternoon
I frequent two hobby clubs: The One You Admit To and The One You Conceal. To be fair, I change the designations around from month to month so that everyone can feel uncomfortable… The heading image is the amount accomplished at one 3-hour session. Airfix were precise and sensible when they wanted to be; you…
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Scratch-building Pack
We often encounter notes on short-run kit instructions that tell us to scratch-build some part. It may be a strut or part of an interior. Perhaps a flap or plate or even part of the undercarriage. Indeed there can be kits where the parts are provided but are of such poor quality that you are…
