Category: Workshop
-
The Little Workshop – Part Two – The Bare Chassis
Having grasped myself firmly by the collar and demanded that I pay attention, I can come to the point of individual rules. I have a very threatening manner when I catch myself fooling around… a. You have your own interests and goals – you must build for these, and not for the demands of others.…
-
The Little Workshop – Part One – Rules of the Road
You’ve heard of preaching to the converted? Preaching to an empty church? Well, how about preaching to yourself…Pull up a pew. I recently sat down and wrote some rules for myself. Rules for my Little Workshop, Little Studio, and Little Office. They are designed to make my life better, though it remains to be seen…
-
The Lure Of the Rattle Can
Every model maker has probably used an aerosol paint can at some stage of the game – if not as a final coating, then at least for undercoats. The cans that we get from the hobby shop are somewhat small, and can be pricey, but are generally first-quality paint and can go on with good…
-
Convair 440 – Part Six – Methinks They Doth Protest Too Much
Well fresh from the debacle of a failed paint job and the recovery of spirit when the paint job was partially saved, I decided to launch out on a voyage to the New World of Mach 2 kits – I finally hauled the Convair 440 out of the stash and started to work on the…
-
De Havilland Mosquito Mk II – Part Eight – The Colour Lab
When I set myself the task of finding an effective workflow, I decided to make it as realistic as possible. So I cut 16 MDF board tablets to 2 x 3 inches and sprayed them with standard Tamiya primer. Some grey, some white, and some red oxide. The Tamiya product in a can has always…
-
De Havilland Mosquito Mk II – Part Six – A Day of Challenges
The markings day has become a day of challenges. Of mistakes and discoveries. It has seen the finishing of the model, but not quite in the way that I expected. a. The markings for the squadron code were nowhere to be found in my stash of decals nor in our local shops. T,W, and Z…
-
The Mensa Shed
The term ” Men’s Shed ” is current in Australia – used to describe a social club centred around men doing workshop or other hobby activities. I have heard it treated with disdain – and wish to correct that attitude. It is a brilliant concept. I participated in one recently – devoted to scale model…
-
I’m More Eco-Virtuous Than You Are
So there too, hah! Actually all us model builders have an opportunity to stick it to the Facebook/Shopping Centre/News bite saints who scold us daily about everything we think or do – particularly the ones who would deny us everything from plastic straws to bear traps. We are ahead of their game: a. Plastic straws.…
-
Messerschmitt 109 – Part Four – The Production Line
I cannot think of a worse way to approach the business of being a scale modeller than that of a production line worker with a contract to produce a product in a set time. This also applies to the full-size workers who made the full-size airplanes – Some were employed and some were drafted and…
-
Hawker Hurricane Mk II – Part Three – The Beauty Salon
It was cold tonight. Rainy. I adjourned into the computer room with a portable modelling tray to proceed with the Hurricane in some comfort – the Little Workshop was just too miserable to work in, even with the heater on. The task was masking the pattern illustrated in the Avia publication on Canadian warplanes. I…
The Little World 