I have spent many a happy hour over the last 10 or so years "looking" at the Badger airbrush I inherited from father,,, looking is very fitting,,, as that is all I have done with it,, look at it.
I have had several bursts of enthusiasm over the same period,, bought a cleaning station,, numerous wirey pipe cleaner type things,, I have more pipettes and squeezy eye droppers than ICI,, I have also invested in every possible book on the subject of weathering,, and weighty on information and possible downfalls they are too,, but I have never had the nerve to plug the wretched thing in and get down and dirty,,,
well until last Friday.
I am to painting what my pal Sepp Blatter is to common sense,,, I have no confidence in my own ability's at all,, this probably stems from my first attempts at painting an old Dinky Bedford van in about 1954,, I had decided I didn't like the bright yellow and it should be red instead,,,, from memory it was about 6.30am on a Sunday morning and I was well set up with my small tin of red enamel and a 1/2" brush was chosen as the applicator of choice,, and with this little studio all set up on a tray I returned to bed!!!!!
You know what is coming,,,,this 5 year old didn't really have the skills, or authority, to paint on the kitchen table,,, never mind doing it in bed,,, it ended up all over the place,,, in my hair,,, on the pillow,,, the carpet,,, blah blah drip blah,,,,
Father was less than impressed,, and before you could say Terence Cuneo my backside was brighter than the chosen hue for the Bedford,,, after that little episode me and paint had this strange relationship,,, I hated it and was not interested in anything to do with painting after that.
Now active modellers and painting should go hand in hand,,, but not this one,,, it is something I know I have to do but it is usually under self imposed duress,, it has to be done,,, but pleasure is always far away on the horizon.
I was also well into my 50's before I decided painting may be easier if I bought new tins of Humbrol rather than use the vintage rusty jobs I had kept hidden away for yonks,,, it was easier but I still can't say I was enjoying the process,,,
Last Friday after checking my astrological chart,,, tarrot cards,,, wind direction,,, and emptying the full contents of my bowels I flung myself at the airbrush with full gusto,,,, a Hornby N2 was chosen as the unlucky guinea pig,,, as it's in BR livery my logic told me if I made a complete hash of it I could always sell it on Ebay,,, and so to cut what is already quite a long story short I copy pictures of the N2 and as I had so much "fun" I then blasted a DJH J50 in the same manner,,, I do hope you like them.
Now the moral of this is 2fold,,, don't use enamels in bed,,, and,,, 61 years is a longer sentence than the train robbers got,,, so just bite the bullet and get on with it,,,,, I really could get used to this painting lark
