Category: Workshop
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Thin, Thick, Or Solid
I cannot get a consistent answer from other modellers on a question about paints and varnishes. Not surprising – it is the part of the hobby that seems to have the most variability and the opinions echo the numbers of paint products and processes avaiable. Here’s the question – is it good, bad, or ugly…
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Faith and Begorrah…
” Tis a green jig. It must be Irish. ” Well, ’tis green now but it’s about to become feldgrau and then olive drab, and then azure blue in patches. And then you can assign whatever nationality you want to it. It’s Mk III painting jig – the foamboard structure upon which I hang the…
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The Mini – Wagner…Or How To Make An Atomic Mess
Some people outside of Australia may not know the Wagner spray guns and rollers. They are devices sold in DIY shops that are intended to make house painting easier. The TITANIC was a boat intended to make ocean travel safe… Wagners do work. I painted the inside of a house with one about 40 years…
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A Different Rhythm At The Workbench
What strange creatures we are. When working for a living there were times when I could not get away from my work station fast enough at the end of the day. Now that I’m retired, I can’t wait to get to it. And there are weeks when I seem to work at it as if…
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Hobby Money – Part Five – The Hidden Cost
Move over. I want to put something down. No, not there, it’s bigger than the space. Move over more. Look, just pop outside and sit on the grass. There’s not enough room in the house for you and my hobby at the same time… The elephant in the corner of the room that we never…
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In Praise Of White Glue
The humble bottle of white glue is the most wonderful invention of all time for the model workshop. It has the ability to bond nearly anything – in some cases well and in some cases badly. It rarely sticks the operator to his bench or coffee cup and can be wiped off under the table…
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Aim For Perfection – Strive For Excellence
Accept Good Results. If this was a social media site instead of a column I could post those memes for days along with kitten and sunset pictures. Of course I’d get trolled something fierce, but the statistics would probably improve. As it is I have adjusted my sights down to strive for excellence and accept…
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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…
The Little World 