Category: Workshop
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The Bow Pen Revisited

An earlier post mentioned the draughtsman’s bow pen as an instrument to paint the lines on 1:72nd canopies and I sad I was going to experiment with it. Experimentation finished, I have decided that it is the preferred method of work for the future. I admire the people who can mask canopies and spray paint…
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Blu, White, Or Yellow?

Tack, I mean. Which stickum do you prefer? I’ve been googling about BluTac just now and apparently the formula is non-toxic, rubber based, and secret. It is made by the original people and half a dozen imitators – two of which I’ve been experimenting with. Useful for tacking posters to dorm wall and kid’s drawings…
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The Sock Drawer

Whenever some cartoonist wants to suggest that someone has no life – and way too much time to spend living it – they have the poor individual sorting out his or her sock drawer. It is meant to be hilarious and pitiful at the same time, like parliament in Ottawa. I think this is entirely…
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Good Morning, Walter – Part Nine – The Mistake

Well, Walter I am going to let you into a secret – I make mistakes in my Little Workshop. This one’s not the first one I’ve made when building my Little World. I suspect it won’t be the last. The grey Spitfire model you see at the top of the page looks pretty well weathered…
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The Rack And The Gallows

If you are expecting Torquemada I must disappoint you – I reserve those sentiments for my ” Here All Week ” column. See below. The rack I refer to is my new Little Workshop plane jig. It is made by Scrap Bin Pty Ltd and has three adjustable plane rests as supplied. You can get…
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Bell P-39 – Part Three – Weight A Minute

Or forever sit on your tail. I applaud the tricycle landing gear for aircraft – in the case of civilian airliners it allows a steady takeoff and landing – I would not want to spill my champagne. On military planes it probably allows the pilot a lot better view of the field or carrier deck…
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Consolidated Liberator B.VI – Part Four – Weigh Day

Well, I learned my lesson early. I built an Airfix model of a Vickers Wellington back in the 1960’s and no-one told me about nose weights. The plane turned out to be a tail-sitter… I was cautious with the new Airfix Liberator I am building in case the plastic model company was going to fool…
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Rain, Rain, Went Away

And the humidity dropped and the sun came out. Shows you that sacrificing virgins really works, eh?* Having secured the Mandate Of Heaven…or at least the mandate of the Meteorological Department, I mixed up 50% Supercheap clear acrylic lacquer and 50% Mr. Color Levelling Thinner and started spraying. The mixing was done in a large…
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Rain, Rain, Go Away

Come again after I have sprayed the clear lacquer. I have been glaring at the sky all day for the temerity it has shown in clouding over and raining. This is not convenient, and I demand that it stop. If not, there will be trouble. Actually, I have been avoiding trouble all day. The seven…
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Batch Processing*

I have spent the last three days batch processing US Army fighters, attack planes, and bombers. It started as a whim, became an experiment, and is looking to be a darned good technique for the future. It started with an idea – in my case these may be vast ideas or half-vast ideas, but you…
