Ooh shiny!

I finally got over to Frome Model Shop last weekend and got hold of a bottle of Humbrol Clear gloss varnish. I decided to opt for this one in the end because it was advertised for use with both acrylic and enamel paints. It’s very thin and requires 2-3 coats to build up a decent gloss finish. It has the added advantage that it can apparently make Perspex look like glass which would be handy if I was building model aeroplanes, which I’m not.

I’ve also been developing my new technique for painting buttons and have progressed from using a pin to using wooden cocktail sticks. By just nicking off the end with a craft knife, you can create a nice little button shaped stamp which when correctly loaded with paint turns painting buttons from a chore to a pleasure. By cutting the other end slightly shorter I was able to add the white buttons on the coat of my Prussian Cuirassier by putting a white dot over a larger black dot – an effect I could never have managed with a paint brush.

Painting progress has been slow for the last couple of weeks but I have managed to spend a little time on the bugler – more of that in the next post.