There are some facts that may have been solid and widely acknowledged for most of my lifetime, but, for whatever reason, have become forgotten or less believed over time. Off the top of my head we have: Pluto (as a planet), the moon landings, and the earth being spherical in shape. Coupled with those apparently... Continue Reading →
Pencils…. who knew?
The first model I made when I came back to the hobby was, of course, the 48th scale Tamiya F4U-1A in the tri-colour finish. And I was all about experimenting with that one. I did exhaust staining, oil staining, fuel staining.... And I tried adding chipping. I think I read somewhere that people added chipping... Continue Reading →
A Simple Way To Paint Bare Metal Airplanes
Can there be such a thing?? Well, yes.... kinda. I mean, you'll never get away from having to carefully prepare your painting surface. And yes, that takes time and patience. However, many strategies for painting bare metal involve the use of delicate and, dare I say flimsy paint. As well as a process that requires... Continue Reading →
1/48 Arma Hobby P-39 Airacobra: The fighter that fell from the ugly tree
TL;DR: A challenging build but it paints up well and I had fun weathering it; build video link When it comes to popular model subjects for airplanes, you have the Spitfires, the Mustangs, the Zeroes and the 109s. On the other end of the spectrum you'll find things like, oh I don't know, Cessna 150s,... Continue Reading →
Guest Article – Guide to Building a Slot Car Chassis
George Lewington over at Miniracing.com asked if he could post a 'How-To' article on the Model Airplane Maker website. Knowing how most of you dabble into other hobbies and areas of model building, I thought it would be an interesting read. I wasn't wrong. On a personal level, I was certainly caught in the allure... Continue Reading →
Be careful what you wish for…
I have been asking for a new Corsair for some time now....I've been asking for a while.... over and over. I was always ignored. I threw another Hail Mary earlier this year, I figured why not. You don't get what you don't ask for, right? Well, guess what? Someone made me a brand new Corsair... Continue Reading →
Avoiding Model Shows? You’re Missing Out!
We all know the vast majority of scale models sold will never be shown at any contest. Hell, most of them will never be built! That's hardly a hot take because most people who have built a model have never set foot in a model show. When I got back into the hobby, I certainly... Continue Reading →
The Swap Meet: Lost Love, Cheap Kits and the circle of life
Last weekend the Hobby Centre hosted its second 'Hobby Flea Market' or, as I like to call it: the Spring Swap Meet. The second time around was much the same as the first. Maybe there was a bit more kit diversity this time and certainly warmer weather. Observations? I have a few. If what is... Continue Reading →
HeritageCon 2022: The Triumphant Return
After an unfortunate hiatus due to factors beyond anyone's control, March 27, 2022 saw the triumphant return of HeritageCon at the unique and wonderful Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on a cool windy day in Hamilton Ontario. For those who don't know, HeritageCon is the annual scale model show and contest hosted by IPMS Hamilton Scale Modelers. They bill this... Continue Reading →
Paint “Marbling” Now On YouTube
Whether we are pre-shading panel lines, post shading, black basing, dot filtering, mottling or marbling, the goal is to find a way to weather or distress the paint finish and otherwise to bring some interest to the surface of the model. When I first got back into the hobby (circa 2007) the finishing technique that... Continue Reading →
