SPA Modeler

Lyle's canopy painting idea got me to thinking about some of the things I did when I was "pre-teen and poor"

One, I got the paints from my sister's oil paint by numbers set. She had given up on painting the numbered shapes, and gave me the paints. Great idea, right? Well, I still have a few of the Airfix Skyraider rockets in my "misc spares" box from back then. The paint NEVER dried on that model,,,,,and I was a "smart kid",,,,so, I tried to wash it off with Comet cleanser. The paint between the fins is finally dry (45 years later, or so) and the Comet that I couldn't get out of there is still stuck in those paint dregs.

Another time, again, young and poor,,,,I liked the Lindberg P-51B,,,,,,,a lot. But the only way to get them was to buy them,,,,,and did I mention "young and poor"? So, I had just read about making canopies for Balsa Scratch built models, by carving a master and putting sheets of plastic over them, and baking them on a low heat. It worked, too. But, trying to duplicate that plastic model by draping the left over clear plastic containers that my 3 sisters' Barbie stuff came in did NOT work. Oh, the clear sheets melted, all right,,,,,,but, so did that fuselage half. I have a couple of the bright blue bombs from that kit in my spares box, also,,,,,,all that is left of the model kit.

Then there is the gluing of nose weight lead sinkers in with tube glue,,,,,the assembly of an entire model with Ambroid tube glue (for wooden models),,,,,,,that one was cool,,,,,,,I could have just assembled that model for the next ten years, because it kept just falling apart from it's own weight on the shelf.

I don't use Auto Lacquers, even today, from spray cans,,,,,,,,I watched a hard to get, in 1969, Hasegawa Phantom just seem to "wilt" in the spray as I tried to give it an all-over coat of white to add the gray to.

Oh, that reminds me,,,,,,auto primers back then. "just use a primer", "just use a primer" was mentioned all over the place, in all of the magazines. So, I did. Sprayed me a beautiful coat of gray auto primer, saw that one of my earliest attempts at using putty was a success. (yay) I painted the model with Light Gull Gray out of my Badger Basic Spray Gun, took all of the time to clean it, and masked off for the White,,,,,,,let the thing dry until it didn't smell like fresh paint anymore (that was the rule of thumb back then) and carefully peeled off the masking tape. That thing stripped down to bare plastic in "paint sheets" bigger than the masked off area, lol.

That time, I redid the thing,,,,,and it is the "antique" Revell F-4 with 22 Red Bombs that I have posted from time to time on the net in the last couple of years.

I bought some of the "new and wonderful" Poly S paint,,,,,,and sprayed the clear coat over a finished model with the decals applied, using a Badger 200 "real" airbrush. The paint went on like some sort of "membrane" of clear,,,,,,and that means that the bottom of my Airfix (or Starfix, don't remember which it is) XA4D-1 has a place on the bottom where the "clear coat is torn". That kept me away from Acrylics for the next twenty years,,,,,,and now my "go to" clears are the far superior Polly Scale clears. I cleaned that airbrush with something that is dead wrong, I guess,,,,,,,,but it was a Badger, so I sent it in and they cleaned it out for me.

So now today,,,,,,,,,I test everything, I have plastic sheet stock and old models and paint palettes with little paint pockets in them. Any new thinner gets mixed with paint, stirred well, and then I check in the palette's little bubble for separation or "goo threads",,,,,,,I paint primer on sheets, let it dry, and test it with masking tape burnished down, I do another sheet at the same time, and put paint over the new primer,,,,,and see if it sticks when I pull of the tape. Etc

Mine was a disaster. I was about maybe 5 or 6 years old, I saw a neat dragster model kit I wanted at a local department store called STARS. My grandfather bought it for me along with tube model glue. I didn't need to worry about paint because grandpa has it covered.
Anyway, I asked my dad if he could help me put it together and he said he'll try his best. Keep in mind, we were still over at my grandma & grandpa's house on a Sunday. Anyhow, after supper, my dad was ready. I was so excited, I started pulling and breaking parts off the sprues (by hand mind you), even the delicate chrome link rods snapped in half or more.

My poor father with zero experience in building a model kit, was a ball of confusion. Too many parts off the sprues, a few broken in pieces that were rendered useless. He finally gave up. The kit ended up in the trash. Such a waste due to my stupidity.

Hey now, Rex....the canopy would have been great...if the clear worked.

Most of what I can recall from those early years - the mind does block out disaters, I guess...- was just poor skills and instruction following. Same as today, evidently.

First time using Tamiya Flat Base was a disaster. I specifically asked if it was a flat coat at the lhs. And they said yes...
Spraying diluted Flat Base on you model makes it look like it has been hit by a snowstorm. Everything was frosted.

So many things... where do I start???

Stikpusher wrote:So many things... where do I start???

Does my first two marriages count?
Most of all my builds don't turn out like I want them to and since I got my eyesight back mostly nothing has changed in that respect.

Trying to get the Chief to enjoy the camel ride in Tunisia didn't turn out too well either. Either He or the camel weren't drunk enough or maybe they were too drunk. I could go on but I think I said enough.

Paul wrote:Does my first two marriages count?
Most of all my builds don't turn out like I want them to and since I got my eyesight back mostly nothing has changed in that respect.

Trying to get the Chief to enjoy the camel ride in Tunisia didn't turn out too well either. Either He or the camel weren't drunk enough or maybe they were too drunk. I could go on but I think I said enough.

More please?

When I was younger - nothing turned out correctly. I wasn't really a modeller in those days - yes I played with models but nothing got painted properly, if at all - just green

My memories of that time of my life are pretty vague, but I do once remember trying to convert my Matchbox RSAF Lightning T.55 to an RAF Trainer jet - I even purchased some AM RAF Lightning decals from a trader at an Airshow at RNAS Culdrose (that was a real novelty – I didn’t even know AM existed back then) - I don’t think it turned out well though - I have a faint memory of an all over green lightning shaped blob with RAF roundels.

That worries me though – I’m 39 this year and I can only faintly recall good stuff that happened 25-30 years ago. I can remember all the bad stuff though… It’s quite sad actually.

Anyway - Cheers

Stuart

For me...everything! Not one thing turned out the way I liked it. It wasn't until I was in my late 30's before I started making some relatively good looking models. Still, all my youthful models were good enough in our wargames!