Tag: Painting
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Wash Your Twiddley Bits
As a kid modeller i never washed the parts for a plastic model kit before assembly. It was open the box, play with it for a week with hot sticky finger, and then on with the cement. When I got to the painting age it was on with the painting. Then on with the decals.…
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I’ll Bet You’re Sorry Now…

a. Now that you’ve left me. You’ll ever get to watch me sit in front of the television swearing at a kit full of resin parts. You’ll miss stepping on gun turrets in the shag pile. You’ll never know how the Matchbox Privateer turned out. b. Now that you’ve switched from 1:12th scale supercar models…
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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…
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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…
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Hawker Hurricane Mk II – Part Four – The Next Grievous Error

Well, I added one today. The next foolish error. The one that separates the men from the boys. And I know which side I’m on… I had masked the new Hawker Hurricane Mk II very well and I was ready to shoot the upper works. As it was a cold day. I selected lacquer thinner…
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The Only One Like It

If you are contemplating a big win in next year’s plastic modelling contest, I should get started now. Pop down to the hobby shop and pick up a totally exclusive, one-of-a-kind kit like a Mustang or Spitfire. And a packet of photoetched scale rivets for the detailing… There’s a fine point for the competitive modeller…
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When In Doubt…

When in doubt, do it the way the original was done. There was generally a reason for this and you may have stumbled upon it again. Case in point: doing the second blue paint coat on the PRU Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The first coat had cured for a day, and the second one was due…
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The Witchcraft That Is Airbrushing

I am new to airbrushing but not that new. A couple of tentative years under my belt. I’ve gone from stark terror to grudging acceptance. Reminds you of married life, doesn’t it? The first airbrush was a cheapie from Metro Hobbies, but complete enough to have three separate needle/nozzle/housing options included. They are stated as…
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And A Tip Of The Hatlo Hat* To…

Wayne Robinson. Who read my piece on canopy painting and replied – alerting me to a very good English drafting pen that could be used to apply precise paint lines to models. I went to the site he quoted, looked it over and spied one line in their advertisement that looked interesting. They compared their…
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Move Over Acme Manufacturing Co…

Because the Little Workshop is here and we’ve got the ideas that’ll make your life easier. They’re not giant projects – they’re not vast concepts – but by golly when we think things up, they’re half-vast. Like our new model building supports. We’ve all had times whilst building an airplane kit when we needed to…
