Tag: experiment

• Is Your Kit Pre-Painted?

  

  A friend once showed me a model kit in very small scale – 1/144 or smaller – that was pre-painted by the maker. It was delightful to look at, in a sort of toy-like manner. The makers had finished the fighter in camouflage but I think there were a choice of decals that could be…

  Dick Stein

  March 5, 2025

  1:144 scale, 1:72 scale, British aircraft, camouflage, Colour Schemes, Lacquer, Model Airplane, Painting, Scale Models, Self Reliance, Uncategorized, workflow

  camopuflage, experiment, Painting

• When The Horse Balks And Throws You

  

  Get up and get back on.* When you make an inadvertent floater in a kit build, finish it and start another as soon as possible. Find a kit that will require you to do the same procedure as before, but this time correctly. Remember the mistake you made and why it was wrong…and when you…

  Dick Stein

  November 25, 2024

  damage control, internet, Miniature Philosophy, Modelling materials, research, Scale Models, Self Reliance, Uncategorized

  damage control, experiment, learning

• When Physics Doesn’t Help

  

  There is a rule in motion picture production when using scale models in action scenes; fire and water won’t work. Not that it isn’t done…but it is very rarely done well. The physics of fluids mean that scale ships never sail as well as real ones. A miniature explosion always gives itself away. Note that…

  Dick Stein

  August 29, 2024

  1:72 scale, camouflage, design, Miniature Philosophy, Model Airplane, Painting, Uncategorized

  experiment, Painting

• Science To The Rescue – Part Two

  

  How many ships have foundered in the Succitan Sea? There is no better way to find out if an old bomb is a dud than hitting the fuse with a hammer. Or, in the case of home-made decals, soaking them and trying them out. The 7 candidates were soaked, applied over Mr. Mark Setter, and…

  Dick Stein

  April 10, 2023

  1:72 scale, Acrylic, Decals, Lacquer, Model Airplane, Modelling materials, research, Uncategorized

  clear coatings, experiment, Science

• Sopwith Triplane – Part Two – The New Techniques

  

  I have decided to risk navigating this PaulPlane in only two uncharted waters: the use of the new decal technique and a new finishing varnish. The third experiment – the plastic rigging – will be postponed until a slightly larger model offers. It’s nice stuff, but a little thick for this job. The decaling system…

  Dick Stein

  December 5, 2021

  1:72 scale, Acrylic, British aircraft, Colour Schemes, Decals, Model Airplane, Modelling materials, Painting, Scale Models

  Acrylic, experiment, Micro Satin

• 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…

  Dick Stein

  March 16, 2019

  adhesives, card models, Modelling materials, research, Scale Models, subassembly, Uncategorized, Workshop

  adhesives, cements, contraction, expansion, experiment, glues