Despite my years of experience and what I consider to be a reasonable eye for such trivialities, I’ve never really progressed past what appears to be a beginner’s level of competency.
6th February 2025
Early start today as I got up to take my granddaughter to school. Though slightly jaded from our journey back from the football late last night that took two and half hours instead of one (having lost the game as well) it was good to be up to experience a wonderfully frosty morning and bright blue skies. Bo’s company was just the rather chatty icing on the cake.
Child duly delivered to school my attention once again turned to my new builds, in particular the one that I’ve been teasing over the last few weeks. Now that it is painted ready to be decalled, I’m happy, if not a little trepidatious, to announce this model and the book that it will appear in, something I plan on doing tomorrow.
Though in the main the painting was relatively easy, it did show up a number of challenges not least of which was the painting of the anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen. I don’t know what it is about these areas of colour, but they always throw me off a little. More often than not they are little more than blocks of colour with straight edges, but occasionally they need to be curved which involves all manner of repositioned strips of fine masking, lifted, dropped in place, lifted again, until everything appears to be lined up correctly and symmetrical. Trouble is and I doubt I’m alone in this, it’s only when paint is applied and masking removed that you see that your panel is not in the correct position or indeed, symmetrical.
Despite my years of experience and what I consider to be a reasonable eye for such trivialities, I’ve never really progressed past what appears to be a beginner’s level of competency. Suffice to say that the panel needed to be retrimmed with the underlying camouflage colour until I was happy with the result. A few minutes work turned into an hour. Clear air turned blue. The blood pressure rose…Again.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!
If you are enjoying this website, please consider subscribing! It’s free and it will keep you informed each and every time I post something new!
Anyhoo, it’s now done and I’m happy to report that the paintwork is complete and I’ve even managed to bathe the little fella in a layer of Tamiya’s wonderful LP Clear lacquer, ready for the stickers in the morning. Truth be told – and I’m nothing, if not honest – the model was already fairly shiny thanks to the paint I had used, but I still like to unify a finish further with that clear layer. Apart from reassuring me that the markings will lay properly over the paintwork, the clear varnish helps to highlight some areas where my painting is a little ragged or thinly applied. I must admit to a rather fraught moment of panic this afternoon when I could see just such an area of translucency around the wing root, only to discover it was a shadow cast from the overhead lights that was tricking my eye and racing my heart. Thankfully all was well, so it could be set aside to dry, ready for its turn in the dressing-up box tomorrow morning.
So, not a bad day all told. One thing I didn’t do today was listen to any music. The reasons for this were two-fold. Firstly, I had the extraction fan in my spray booth on most of the time which rather drowned out any chance of music getting to the old lug holes. Secondly, it was such a lovely day, I rather enjoyed the sound of the birds singing, something I became pleasantly aware of with the studio window open to help with ventilation. What wasn’t so pleasant was the flock of gulls that seemed to take an unexpected and frankly unwelcome interest in our garden and surrounding houses. I have zero idea what they were up to, but such was their unruly behaviour I was more than happy when they left for pastures new. Hmm, that reminds me: I must check the cars to see if they have left some unwelcome calling cards that I may need to deal with…
See you tomorrow!
- A MODELMAKER’sS LIFE: ALL SQUARE IN SOUTHAMPTON…
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: WHY HAVE I NEVER BUILT A LIGHTNING?
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A TRIP TO BRISTOL…
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A RELAXING DAY…
- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: HOW MANY MORE KITS DO I HAVE, HALF STARTED?!
Spenser Lucky to escape with 1-1 with the saints. Still very good reading your daily comments and the last book…
Wow! I built a dozen back around 1980. Entered them as a collection at the IPMS USA Nationals. Didn’t win…
Yes, stop procrastinating……build a Lightning🤣
Who knows, you might even consider publishing another bookazine on building the BAC Lightning as well?
I am glad that the man was talked down. It’s definitely hard to see without knowing the outcome, until later.…
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
Yours is the mortal hand or eye,
Must frame that fearful symmetry.
My apologies. I’ll see myself out. 🙄
LikeLike
When I started modeling as a kid in the 60s and 70s we did not have masking sets. You either freehand painted the canopy or used masking tape and cut it to match!
We also rode dinosaurs to school and back uphill both ways!
LikeLike