-
Northrop Nomad – Part One – Starting To See A Pattern Develop

I’m not the brightest of individuals but I can see a trend emerging – the Czechs are taking over*. At least they seem to be taking over the shelves of the local hobby shops with their 1:72 scale plastic model kits. I’ve encountered them in Melbourne and again here in Perth and it would appear…
-
Tamiya Acrylic – The Viable Challenger

Note: in this test I used the Tamiya acrylic paints, but I could slso have used the Creos Mr. Hobby acrylics as well – they can interchange thinners and brush cleaners. Well, as the Avro Anson MkI was slowly being painted and cured, I decided to fill the time with two other kits – a…
-
Enamel Is The First Bottle Off The Shelf

Well, in for a penny, in for a Pound…I decided that the Special Hobby Avro Anson MkI was the test bed for the Humbrol system. Other people may know it as the Angst-on but I make my own discoveries… After painting up the interior and locking it into the fuselage, I covered over the windows…
-
How Unbiased Do I Have To Be To Look Virtuous?

I’m in the middle of a scale modelling experiment at present. The basic question I need to solve for myself is: Acrylic or enamel? I’ve hedged around the issue for some time now as I gained more experience with the airbrushes and looked at more YouTube videos. I’ve not had too much contact with other…
-
The Little Workshop – Colourful Guilt

Some modelers keep a stash of unbuilt kits in closets – these probably reassure them, much like a giant hoard of gold comforts the dragon Fafner in Wagner’s Ring cycle. I can see a few of the curled around them huffing fire… I, too, have a modest stash but I am working like Siegfried to…
-
The Green Mat Boys

I am starting to think that I am underprivileged – with more possessions than I can use, more food than I can eat, and more booze than I can survive…but still missing a vital tool for model kit building. I do not own a green mat. Everyone else on the Little World seems to have…
-
The Small Encouragement – F2A Five

The people who have been reading about my Anson Encounter may have formed the opinion that it was a difficult time. That it may have been driving me to blasphemy, murder, or federal politics. Rest assured, while I have no problem with the first two, I would never stoop to the last. But there was…
-
I Only Know What I Don’t Read In The Papers – F2A Four

My misquotation of Will Rogers is not meant to be disrespectful – I have always thought him one of the finest humourists that the Americas have produced. But he was long before the era of the internet and the wonderful collection of bad information that it provides. Note that I’m not using this column to…
-
” Hey You! What’s The Small Idea? ” – F2A Three

If I were a spray painter on a full-size airplane I’d have no troubles spraying a fine line between colours. A few sheets of newspaper to screen off the overspray and away I’d go matching up the instructions. But I am working in 1:72 scale and I don’t think that my hand skills are such…
-
I Can See Clearly Now! – F2A Two

Woah! That’s a revelation! I’ve been learning the business of masking and painting clear canopies and turrets for the 1:72 aircraft over the past couple of months. It has not been an easy process, as I have discovered just how un-detailed parts can be in some kits. If you combine this with the propensity of…
