Uniquely Irish
With yesterday being Saint Patricks Day, I joined in the celebrations by having a couple of pints of the best stout on the planet! And the place which is guaranteed to deliver the most sublime pint is none other than the “Home of the Black Stuff” – St. James Gate – the Arthur Guinness Brewery – and it didn’t disappoint – the Storehouse is a wonderful spectacle – with visitors there from all over the world – celebrating the national day of Ireland with great athmosphere, great music, great food and above all Great Guinness.! The famous gates and me … Continue reading Uniquely Irish
Vale 46 “WIP”
I started work on the Pegaso “Valentina” – figure today – somehow I managed to shake off that cold so as I was feeling much better, I decided to start the assembly process. I have another couple of figues nearly ready for priming, so I thought if I got this assembled I could include it in the same batch for painting.  As with all figures (but particularly metal ones – due to their weight) I pinned all the main joints. I drilled each joint out and used some very stout heavy gauge wire and superglue to anchor them. Not shown … Continue reading Vale 46 “WIP”
Armco, Lemsip and lead foil – a great cure for the common cold!
I’m laying low today with a bit of a head cold, so my output from the studio wasn’t great. I piled in some vitamin c together with Panadol and armed with a few of boxes of tissues I did some on-line research for a couple of F1 modelling projects I’m planning. I also got to work with some lead foil to finish off the Armco barrier I started a while back – nothing too taxing – when I needed a break from the web, I spent a while forming some foil round the end of the armco with a wooden … Continue reading Armco, Lemsip and lead foil – a great cure for the common cold!
Vale 46
I’ve purchased a few figures on-line recently – one of which arrived today from Paderos in Germany who, by the way offer a great service, packaging and shipping etc. Entitled “Valentina” (as opposed to Valentino – I wonder why?) it’s a rather saucy metal figure from the “Pegaso Girl” range and well up to the usual Pegaso casting and detail standard.  In the interests of decency I will of course avert my eyes when I paint this figure – Doh! This will ensure I take absolutely no pleasure from the process – well what else can I say!!!!   This … Continue reading Vale 46
GF-models Driver figures – Revell Ferrari F10
I’ll use two of the GF-models driver figures representing Alonso for the F10’s I’m building at the moment – I’ve chosen two; GF-24-036 (a ringer for Alonso) and GF-24-003 which needed a bit of modifying in order to get the suit fitting tighter as worn by Alonso at the moment. The “baggy” fit of the suit on this figure would be more akin to something worn by Jacques Villeneuve – he always seemed to wear his suit 4 sizes too large – maybe I’ll get another one – I feel a Sauber coming on? – no definitely not – too … Continue reading GF-models Driver figures – Revell Ferrari F10
Jimmy Hendrix – Fender Stratocaster – an old friend!
I was reunited with some long lost photos of an “old friend” recently – a Fender Stratocaster guitar I had the pleasure of painting! About five years ago I was asked to re-paint an old electric guitar which had been well and truly “rocked to pieces” with very little of the original paint remaining and very badly scratched through to the wood – in fact, it looked a lot like one of the “Rory Gallagher” tribute fenders which are now available. It looked to me like it should be thrown in a skip, but I was told it was a … Continue reading Jimmy Hendrix – Fender Stratocaster – an old friend!
Revell Ferrari F10 – Tropicana finish!
I used Humbrol Ferrari red from the canister to apply about four light coats, but unfortunately the finish is something the people at Tropicana would be proud of – ORANGE PEEL texture!!  I wasn’t really surprised, as it’s always difficult to avoid this result when using aerosols. So I’m busy using a sanding stick to bring it back down to something a little more smooth before I give it a couple of coats of Johnsons clear.  I also used a can of aerosol to spray a chrome effect on the wheels – not a bad finish for €7.00! It … Continue reading Revell Ferrari F10 – Tropicana finish!
Napoleon – 28mm Wargame – Foundry Miniatures
I didn’t have much time today to spend painting, so I grabbed another of the primed wargame figure I have near my bench and whenever I had a few moments during the day, I painted this little figure of Napoleon Bonaparte. This is from a set produced by Foundry Miniatures of Bonaparte and his Marshals – the set consists of 12 foot figures including some of his well known officers and aides. Once again, I enjoyed just mixing the colors and getting it done in the day – so one down and eleven to go!  I’ll paint up some others … Continue reading Napoleon – 28mm Wargame – Foundry Miniatures
Tamiya 1/20 Armco crash barrier
As an addition to the base for some of the 1/20 driver figures I’m building at the moment, I’m going to use a piece of Armco barrier from the plastic Tamiya pit set (see pic of set from Tamiya site). The contents of the set are quite good and it still stands the test of time since I bought it over 20 years ago!  When I bought it back then, I was building a Tamiya kit every couple of months and I must have intended doing some sort of diorama with all the cars I’d collected, except I ran … Continue reading Tamiya 1/20 Armco crash barrier
Wonderful Motorsport photo’s by Gerald Swan
I was researching the Brabham BT26 as I’m just about to start building a 43rd scale model of one, and I came across the most wonderful collection of photographs by a gentleman by the name of Gerald Swan. All wonderful images from the Golden era of British motorsport (1969 – 74) – wonderfully archived by event and location – including evocative races like “Race of Champions” and the “Guards Throphy” – all great stuff when it comes to researching any number of cars from that era – many thanks Gerald. As a follow-on to my last post, I thought I … Continue reading Wonderful Motorsport photo’s by Gerald Swan