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North American Mustang I – Part Five – A Dappled Horse

Well, the Mustang is on charge and will be conveyed to RCAF Wet Dog in a day or so. It is as fresh as many coats of paint and varnish can make it – the decision to begin weathering the models has been postponed for a few months. The final result of this experimental build…
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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…
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The Brush With Debt

I went to the opium den today to buy some brushes. Not a real opium den, you understand – that would be far less dangerous and addictive. I went to the hobby shop. The crafty villain…I mean the nice lady behind the counter…was cheerful as always and waved me on to my destruction in a…
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Well, Boys, I’m Sticking To My Workbench

Yet again. Where the hell did that patch of superglue come from? I claim no record for the number of times that I have inadvertently adhered to the furniture. Not that I wouldn’t get it, but it’d be nothing to be proud of. It shows a triumph of sloppiness over organisation – but at least…
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When You See Behind The Scenes…

A casual question in the local hobby shop sent my heart to my boots. The brand of paint to which I had pinned my hopes – the brand that I had determined to change to – the best material with which I have yet worked – had lost their Australian distributor. What I saw on…
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The Importance Of Putting Away Your Too s

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of putting away your too s after you use them. Any workshop, whether it be big or sma wi deteriorate into a mae strom of confusion if you just eave your too s ying about after you have finished with them. I am not a fan of those organised…
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Piasecki HUP Retreiver – Part Five – The Droop

I am alternately delighted and saddened by my first Piasecki. Delighted that it could be made as a Canadian aircraft and in a service that I have not yet explored – the Royal Canadian navy. Delighted that the lacquer paints turned out so well. Delighted that the tiny details of the landing gear actually worked…
