Peter s

Post 2: Bucanneers looked like this! /media/tinymce_upload/8363b25386779e3fc419f27988a1210c.jpg I've a few amazing memories of these beasts. On holiday in Scotland we were on the Islay ferry when I noticed 2 smokey dots on the horizon. These came towards us totally silently (because they were travelling so close to the speed of sound) and so low they were leaving wakes on the sea. As they closed on us they pulled up and the sound was like the earth splitting open. Unfortunately the initial airfix release has a slim bomb bay whereas most of the RAF ones I remember had the fatter bay doors with extra fuel (although from the extra holes in the wings you don't use in this build suggest a 2nd release is planned and it won't have just 2 rocket pods under the wings). Coincidentally weeks before Airfix announced the new tool release I'd bought an old Matchbox buccaneer on eBay. Some of these old Matchboxes are really good kits 40 or 50 years on (I can thoroughly recommend the Lysander) but the bucanneer is crude heavy thing that realistically I was never going to build once I'd seen the airfix. /media/tinymce_upload/8173ecb328c9f4a9836ab8453655bb9a.jpg (lots of parts in this kit) /media/tinymce_upload/e1b4079791178ded8562077d4adbc0b7.jpg The airfix bomb bay doors were dumped and the matchbox ones grafted on. The fit wasn't brilliant so this wasn't the neatest job I've done but after plenty of filler and sanding the effect was OK. The rest of the kit went together really well. I had a few issues with the initial naval F4 release, especially with the air intakes and the panel that runs down the spine. The buccaneer goes together perfectly. Its a tail sitter but the nose is big enough for just enough weight. There's also a convenient void space between the air intakes when you fit the cockpit and nose assembly which is about an inch square. To be be on the safe side I put some extra weight in there too.

Post 1: There's some nice buccaneers up here already but apparently no-one is reckless enough yet to try this idea........ I'm seriously hoping I haven't screwed up and overlooked something enormous. When I was born Britain's big carriers were long gone and amazing collection of fixed wing carrier planes were long gone. Sea Vixens and Sea Hawks were things I walked round in museums. Phantoms were pale grey and carried 111 squadron colours. Buccaneers were something else............ More to follow when the mods approve the pics.

I found this link https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/70160-bristol-beaufighter-collector-rings/ which has a couple of pics of the last flying Blenheim. It's a stainless steel ring but engine heat has turned it a copperish colour. A K interactive do metallic waxes. Their copper lightly applied over gloss black worked for me on a Beaufighter.

I bought some 2oz lead deep sea fishing weights on eBay not realising how big they were (about 3" long) . It's turned into a happy accident. Cut a chunk off with side cutters and hammer into shape with a full size claw hammer. The worst Airfix ever to weight down is the tuccano but several others (b25, New buccanneer etc) need lead. Blue tac etc just isn't heavy enough to add enough weight in a small space. I found with the A4 skyhawk that some lead in the very front of the drop tanks helped that one.

I think some of the Airfix figures are under rated. They paint as well as resin figures that can cost the same as a basic 1/72 kit. I'm with the crowd that thinks a pilot figure always enhances a model too. Airfix should maybe copy some of the other model firms and release small sets of hard plastic figures (not the soft plastic ones... Nasty paint proof things). I'm quite happy with the hand on thighs guy (he tends to fit the cockpit) my personal bug bear is when he's included in a fast jet kit or when the fast jet pilot is in a ww2 kit. That's just weird. Equally weird is the decision to give the C 47 2 pilots but no crew in the B17.....

Thanks all! I've often wondered about the red colour but it's used in the few preserved SBDs and was standard on US navy aircraft from Vietnam to the 1980s for the "usually hidden" bits. If anyone wants to counter argue and say "Well the museum's used the 1960s paint" I certainly wouldn't argue with you. In principle a zinc chromate green or yellow would seem logical. Red is high visibility though... There might be a logic to the colour there but I don't obviously see it. Jopres comment about helldivers is timely. I've started the Lindbergh kit of the helldiver as a compliment to the Dauntless. They're similar but with the Airfix a better kit. If the "powers that be" are reading this a new tool helldiver would be a great idea. The FAA rightly hated the beast but it would allow FAA aussie, us navy and post war French decal options (some Airfix big markets) and would really suit the folded wing option Airfix excel at. ps the Lindbergh kit was £9 on ebay, an academy £23 hence the choice. It's one of the worst planes to ever enter service so I didn't want to spend much for the sake of completion

That's a pretty clever way of solving a problem... New kits tend to have the framing cast in a very obvious way but the Dauntless i recently completed (see elsewhere on the forum) had barely visible marks to overpaint. If I'd seen this post last week I may well have tried decals too. I've generally had good results self printing and applying is no harder than putting bands on bombs

Thanks! Right... the finished job. I've jumped a few steps ahead but none of you need to see my apply some decals. /media/tinymce_upload/a68f6ac52b0fac6ce8a3eca5fb94a69b.jpg I used a little (a pea sized lump) of windsor and newton burnt umber oil paint in 5 mls of Mig odourless thinner (the oil doesn't dissolve well in it and settles quickly). This makes a generic "dirty" filter when it settles or a dark rust coloured wash when the oil is in suspension. I used parallel strokes with a big flat end brush front to back on the whole plane. That dirties up the decals, makes a streaky pattern and has a slight wash effect on panel lines. I did this VERY, VERY gently. Planes leave the factory shiny and go to war where the aquire a bit of dirt and damage but its too easy to weather something to the point of silly. The SBD was used as a scout as well as a bomber and these guys were busy leading up to Midway. However this is as weathered as I'd ever go unless I had a specific archive photo to prove that more weathered was acceptable. I found a better bomb (ready painted) in my parts box too so replaced the kit bomb. I THINK its from my B25 (Airfix) but don't quote me on that. Here's the rest. Two pics get the "Vintage" filter from photoshop which is a really clever effect and requires no effort to apply. /media/tinymce_upload/88b7c441ac2df78ee12f339fabcd7835.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/72cca01cc0bac6e77d9984d81405ee22.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/3062db00cc457f7ee2179e1fbe3dbe87.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/91bcbb9e318f0e53946ce9831d83db80.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/c484559a916a67ef95ad6a1c22a1d508.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/3a7348e9be6264da8e57c9f9db19f879.jpg Overall... it looks like a Dauntless, it was cheap (I've paid more for a beer than this kit), only took a weekend and was loads of fun from start to finish. What more could you ask for? The wire running from the tail to the aerial is 0.2mm brass rod attached with a tiny amount of superglue. The finer wire running from the plane up to the wire (more obvious in the first 2 or 3 pics) is a length of my wife's hair (I often get this stuck to models... this is one of the first times I've intended it to happen!). Wife hair is a free resource in our house and is easily obtainable from most surfaces. The hair, brass wire and tiny quantities of plastic-strut apart this is totally out of the box. Apparently the kit was first released in 1967 (the same year as Sgt Peppers loney hearts club band). Apart from the canopy which is showing its age this kit stands up very well and there's not a lot of choice in 1/72 for this very significant type.

Update. I had a busy weekend. Apparently this kit dates back to 1967 which is pretty impressive. The only parts that are a bit iffy is the canopy. It comes as a large fragile part which is windscreen, gap for the pilots sliding part (but a mm thick strip of clear), fixed section over the gunner. The section that covers the pilot can be made open or close but the fit wasn't good for open so I've gone for closed over the pilot, open over the gunner so the rear guns can be mounted. I don't normally fit canopies at an early stage if I can avoid it but this canopy wasn't going to fit well so its on with lots of filler. I taped the rear section into place too as a "solid mask". If I was going to make another of these I'd cut each section of canopy into individual parts, junk the clear runners and replace with plastic strip. Anyway..... In the absence of cockpit detail the crew fill the gaps nicely so you don't notice smooth sides inside etc. /media/tinymce_upload/3ba8c38603a7f53d6c2175a44b268fdb.jpg Canopy on with lots of Kristal Clear /media/tinymce_upload/4032ab485650b4fdea2eb8d6080d5672.jpg Top coat sprayed. This is a colour I mixed up for a Midway Wildcat based on the pro-model on the back of the Kate/Wildcat dogfight double. Its greyer than usual (probably meant to be sun faded intermediate blue) but this suits whats to come next. I mixed equal quantities of Vallejo model air intermediate blue and dark gull grey to get this shade /media/tinymce_upload/534f440d45f9c557afab6b068d3457eb.jpg Still very monochrome and a bit toylike as a result. I next apply two thin coats of Mig filter (blue for dark grey) /media/tinymce_upload/ac3981fa952b634d2a4edeee9fc6855b.jpg The phone pics don't work too well but this slightly varies the base colour and flows around the rivets without being as intense as a dark wash. What I'm aiming for is this: /media/tinymce_upload/6466d5382e27db5a5a164d6fd736cdec.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/6e93172743f8c805b8c18bc5bd10cbdd.jpg Masked off to spray the underside you can see the filter effects a bit clearer. Light gull grey sprayed next. Red flaps painted by hand....... post painting research then reveals that "apparently" the middle flap was grey and only the outer ones red. DOH! Middle flap then repainted grey by hand. /media/tinymce_upload/57f3b0f070a656922c974d505df22ffd.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/17cf723483438f427d92c84204e155a2.jpg Taken outside the final shading shows up better. It may not look it but this is 90% complete at this stage. BTW the instructions for the SBD-3 version say ONE .30 cal (options for 1 or 2 are provided) but my research says SBD-3 had 2 .50 cals in the nose and 2x .30 cal in the back. This model certainly has two .50 cal up front so I'm fitting twin guns in the rear. Hopefully final pics uploaded before the end of this week as work as banishing me to Crewe for a whole week of Health and Safety training next week............

Thanks to the mod who approved these pics so quick! This is almost modelling in real-time (I've been working crazy hours so I'm taking a few days leave to "relax" ie. build and paint a lot). As I've been saying on some of the other threads these older kits are pretty decent. I've attached wings to fuselage and needed just the tiniest smear of filler at the wing root. The extra plastic strip I fitted over the lower dive brake fitted perfectly. I'm doing a midway version and I believe they only carried the centre line bomb due to range limitiations so I've filled the holes for the two smaller wing mounted bombs. The bombs are a bit chunky so I may see if I have a better one in my parts box. The fuselage glass is heavier and not quite as clear as a newer kit too but its probably good enough with a bit of Kristal Klear (a new favourite product I learnt about on this site). Lack of cockpit detail can be largely offset with some good figures so the two crew in this one will need carefully painting. Generally Airfix figures are pretty good. Resin figures are available in 1/72 and they are good but they'll cost as much as the rest of the kit. I've a pile of Tamiya "rattle cans" left over from when I modelled on a bigger scale and I'm gradually using them up as primer. I've painted the whole model in a mid blue to minimise the amount of "real" paint I'll need to apply tomorrow. /media/tinymce_upload/c64456481785a51b032dba69a3b46cd7.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/05b16f9742b7bc825d45f8d07c9176c7.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/2fa5944c02c91580ab2ea09651903c43.jpg The paint already started to fill those holes (you can see it on the right hand upper brake in the final pic) so I've a loose 1mm drill bit I keep using to open the holes manually.

With the internet it should be easier. Oddly I don't seem to see that many new tool Airfix kits being built by some of the widely published pro-modellers like Brett Green or Mig Jiminez etc. (I'm not saying they haven't, just that I've never seen them). Tamiya have various magazines and are very good at self promotion (which is ironic because in 1/72 scale their kits are decent enough but generally pretty basic.... I've done their 1/72 Spit V recently. Its OK... the new tool airfix I/IIa/Va is better quality) I HAVE been caught out with some older airfix kits in the new red box (I've got a Stuka upstairs thats the old tool in a new box.... its good enough but its not a patch on the new tool. I think I may use it for a crash diorama or something expendable) Maybe just putting "NEW TOOL!" stickers on the actual new releases might help? Before it finally shut (the owner was genuinely about 90 when he quit) my local hobby shop had a mix of older (decent enough stuff... Dauntless, Arado etc) and new kits together on the shelf. If you walked in off the street it wasn't in your face obvious the quality of the kit inside the box. With airfix re-releasing some of the vintage kits the confusion between a 2019 mould and a 1979 mould isn't going to be any clearer to a casual buyer.

This is a case of many things coming together in one thread. I've recently mentioned on another thread that some of the older airfix kits now out of production still stand up against many kits in current manufacture and even if they need a bit of detail adding its not hard to do so and can appeal nicely to a more experienced modeller. At about the same time my US modelling pen-pal Gary (until recently West coast based) asked me why I never seem to do any Pacific theatre aircraft (he really asked why I don't do any Japanese ones). My answer that I buy them.... I just never glue them together and paint them was a bit of a kick up the backside. I've gone Pacific big style not least due to the terrible August (either boiling or wet). I've a P40, Wildcat and TWO zero's coming along nicely but I fancied getting my tools out and having a play with this older SBD-3 Douglas Dauntless kit thats been (literally) gathering dust for a few years in my stash. Its an older kit but part fit is good and the only areas that maybe need updating are some thinner canopies and a bit more cockpit detail. First up take a large electric drill plus 1mm bit and drill out something like 250 holes..... /media/tinymce_upload/c4ebb688fc766edcf761ceb9192417c9.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/66580906a7cd98a156459c435c7baf9d.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/49936f81b4c65e5f4b2fd45ac4b8e3f3.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/48beb197271b04ebf203981ef5fdaf46.jpg Use a razor saw and carefully score out the panel lines around the dive brakes. Remove them and glue them in the open position. I've put a little strip of plastic strip into the back of each exposed brake to stop you staring into a hollow wing and make the open brakes a bit stronger. There's a strip of very thin plastic insterted into the wing half's to blank off the cockpit floor. This will probably need a little filler when I add the fuselage. The holes look better "in real life". I've cleared them out somewhat but I'm well aware they'll need cleared again (probably several times) during painting.

KitBasher666: have you tried writing to the RAF museum at Hendon? My great-uncle was a bomb aimer in 4 engine bombers during the war and flew on some of the great raids. When he died we found his log books and donated them to Hendon. They've got a huge archive of historic sources and if you got a good contact there they might go above and beyond for you. I researched my great-grandfathers WW1 records (to try and confirm an old family myth) and the staff at the Royal Artillery museum and at the current incarnation of his old unit were amazing. They found old officers diaries that mentioned him etc... loads of stuff you'd never find online. My only advice would be to provide as much info as you possibly can. Service number, dates etc. Some of these archives are a bit of a mess.

Palitoy were only in charge from 1981 to 1985, Borden/Humbrol took up owbership 1986 to 1993 when Heller took over. Allen, McGuire & Partners Ltd took up ownership in 1994 and Hornby Group in 2006. It is without doubt that Palitoy ran Airfix down, closing the R&D Dept and practically stopping all new tool kits. But they were only in charge for four years before they sold the business on. Humbrol started R&D again, but as we know, this takes time (even more time in those days), probably 3 years from concept to shops. Heller's ownership again was not to Airfix's advantage. Moving production to Trun caused QC problems and it wasn't until Hornby took over that the corner was turned. Yup. That was back when I started modelling. As a kid I prefered matchbox kits to Airfix. 30 odd years later I've bought a few of each for nostalgia. The matchbox ones are a bit variable (the Lysander is still a damned fine kit) but the Bucanneer (which is the same kit Revell sell) is heavy and crude. The Heller vintage airfix are OK-ish but the Palitoy vintage kits I've bought are "as I remember".... When I got back into 1/72 aircraft I was reluctant to buy an Airfix based on those memories but the new tools are something else...... The beaufighter X is better than the Tamiya Mosquito and thats saying something. Regarding the finances I quoted for the Humbrol parent. I couldn't easily find a break down for Airfix but the principle stands. If the parent company is in the red any profitable parts of the company will be wanted to be even more profitable and the way to do that is to shift LOTS of kits. The way to shift lots of kits is to make a highly desirable product at a fair price that appeals to the widest market possible. In reference to Colin's original post a friend sent me a Heller era Airfix P38 and its not that bad at all. I built a Hasegawa one a few years ago (came in a combo with a very good B26) and the Hasegawa is only marginally better. Depending what else is on the market it might make sense for airfix to do an earlier or a later version (in the way they've done a B25- B/C/D rather than a later war version) of the P38 to avoid direct competition. The heller/airfix one is quite an early model.

For what it's worth I built exactly the same kit as yours as a bomber too! (and a very nice build it was too) Not hard to work out how the bomb bay works even without instructions. It strikes me as utterly crazy to give the modeller all the parts for fighter and bomber versions but not provide decals and instructions for both. Apart from the nose glass you've got all the parts for the Mk1 bomber AND fighter in that box too. Why Airfix doesn't include the glass too and let you build mk 1 or 4 rather than release the same kit 4 times beats me..........

I've two email model friends : Shaun in Australia who regularly builds Airfix and Gary in the US who after a little encouragement bought a few new tool 1/48 Airfix and has been really impressed. Courtesy of eBay etc buying international has become a lot easier. The brand is well known abroad but some still judge by the standards of the 80s palitoy era...baby blue plastic etc On a grimmer note Hornbys financial position isn't good. Last year they took in approx £30m but lost £10m. Ie for every pound spent on hornby they lost 30p. Plenty of companies accept this as part of their long term plan (on paper Amazon barely make a profit even now) but in reality Airfix can't focus on the UK market only and stay in business. Realistically they need to make kits the whole world wants not just brits. If I was in charge id go for a new tool 1/72 B24 variant that can be coastal command or USAAF and a 1/72 and/or 1/48 hellcat with FAA and US navy markings for starters. Appeal to brit and wider markets with the same kits. The new tool B25 was a really good example of doing this (even if US and RAF variants were separate releases which doesn't make sense to me when so many kits contain extra parts for future release anyway) The new tool kits are good enough to go toe to toe with any other kit maker! The fact one kit maker makes plane X shouldn't be a reason for Airfix not to do a better version. Revell make a B17, a Lancaster and a Shackleton among others.... The new tool Airfix kits are better.

I'm going to be really pragmatic. My favourite Airfix kit is the 1/72 hurricane XII which comes in the club kit operation torch double with a swordfish. That gives the option of a sea hurricane or land version with 8x or 12x .303 OR a 4x 20mm wing (2 different wings in one kit). Also TWO tropical filters because that's on each wing sprue. With that kit and your parts box you can do so many later war hurricanes it's not true.... That kit should be reissued on general release. also do the same with the 1/72 Spit Va kit and include a type C wing and a tropical filter. Rather than being a cynical reboxing of the Spit IIa kit this would let you do Malta spits, Soviet spits, New Guinea RAAF spits... All for 5-7 extra parts that Airfix were making previously. If they're really generous toss in 2x 250lb bombs. I've just finished "another manufacturer" hellcat. A mini version of the new 1 /24 would make sense and complement the zero and wildcat too. All of these would be relatively cheap. If a larger more complex kit is on the horizon id love a B24 of a type that could be adapted to coastal command or USAAF of the same standard as the new tool B17 or Lancaster. A B25 G (with possible gun ship variant) would be nice too. The current D kit hints at the possibility Airfix have thought about side gunners but it'll need a new fuselage sprue to pull off.

It's impossible to tell. I've got Mig Jimenez's FAQs book which to highlight this issue shows a yugoslavian t55 in black and white... It looks one colour... Then a colour pic next to it which shows the hull in pea green and the turret in primer red. In B&W the green and red are so similar they look the same. In the absence of solid sources go with your instinct... No one can prove you wrong if there isn't a solid source. Regarding weathering MOST military vehicles are well maintained (or they break down) and very new (combat life expectancy of a plane in ww2 was weeks) but in sun olive fades to tan fast, exhaust residue can build up very quickly and you get rapid wear and tear around access areas. with some projects I try to weather as "art" (I know that sounds a bit pretentious... I'm not an artist) but equally i do many of mine factory fresh/Air show polished. Certain projects- Japanese planes on islands especially - lend themselves to serious weathering. The real things were often sandblasted. Your 109 looks "right". Great job. It's a tiny model and getting the colours right isn't easy. I've spoilt more German planes than enough not quite getting the shades of cammo patterns quite right.

Combination of the paint being a little too thick and the brush starting to get dirty. From experience I've found it a bigger issue with really expensive super fine airbrushes. These days I buy £10 double action chinese ones from ebay (often several at a time) and bin them when they stop performing. I've a £150 Aiwa which is more trouble than it's worth. I reserve it for super fine work like blotches on late war German fighters and even then the cursed thing spits! On topic the C47 looks amazing. I did exactly the same kit in Brit colours earlier in summer and it came out OK. Wing d day stripes were easy but I had some issues on the fuselage (the door panel was a bit paint resistant and the "spine" where the tail fin meets the fuselage was a touch tricky to mask). I ended up hand painting some of the stripes which actually worked out fine but it wasn't as smooth as planned Ps try FROG tape "delicate" for masking large areas. It's identical to Tamiya tape but much wider. Homebase and eBay both sell it at a fraction of Tamiya prices. Cheap tin foil is even cheaper and can cover wings too

Thank you! Done nearly ten years ago when I worked in huge scale for at least cost recovery. My advice for anyone is don't make your hobby a business especially when you have a full time job. I stopped doing these because the pressure of making models like this for customers (many the guys who did CGI for discovery channel type docs) sucked all the fun out of it. I didn't model for 2 years then got back into it via 1/72 planes (I started on those aged 5) The figure was straight out of the box. A verlinden 120mm scale (resin). Yup, the idea was a late war storm trooper to compliment the tank. Approx 12cm tall so you can scale the whole thing.

/media/tinymce_upload/9cb72b83701cf65417b5f9ce8705334f.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/1ad2bbfbc66648054e569b38d3c5192e.jpg /media/tinymce_upload/ff2b73686b920fdc79ac723af4667ea9.jpg There's some pics. As you can see i basically obliterated all the track detail but in context you don't really notice. The individual track plates were held together with duct tape and bits of brass rod. The mud bound them strongly to the wheels..... In fact I think sections don't even have track, just strips of plastic card. It would have been a total disaster without the resin mud. basically the story here is that dodgy or even missing tracks aren't the end of the world.

This MIGHT be helpful based on previous experience with brittle (ie too old) resin tracks: Repairing is often impossible. I've done the odd "hit a mine" diorama but the easiest way to hide a fault is to weather the hell out of it. Mix equal quantities acrylic resin, mig pigment and plaster (polyfilla is ok) and apply to the tracks, wheels and undersides. Done well it's extremely effective mud and dries rock hard strengthening everything. It tends to dry A LOT lighter so make the mix much darker than you want the final shade to end up. Adding gloss varnish makes wet mud. I've used this to hide the join on a hetzers vinyl track but also to salvage a 1/16 scale A7V resin WW1 tank. The tracks on that were useless and I was building for a paying customer... Fortunately he loved the effect. It's especially suitable for world war one models.

Have I offended you elsewhere? It seems whenever I post on this forum i get this sort of reply from you. For a moderator it's highly unprofessional. Generally I've found new Airfix kits £ for £ better than anything on the market but if you can't highlight problems you might as well axe the reviews and forum.

UK Customer Law says "In the event of problems/missing parts return to vendor". Airfix's spares service is "above and beyond". If you live in a non-EU market I'd suggest that your issues are with vendors or importers, who are not within Airfix's control. It was bought from a model shop in Nottingham but by the time I started it i'd lost the receipt. Hardly unusual given most of us have a stash. Airfix customer support messed me around for weeks. btw I'm not sure what the suggestion I'm none EU is meant to mean. I'm British born and have lived here 41 years. Given the time return on my emails I was clearly dealing with india.... Where the kits are moulded As you will see from Alan's use of the word "interogated" that's two of us don't think airfix customer support is " above and beyond". Who the hell would go to this much effort to defraud them of some vinyl tracks or a spitfire cockpit??? Must be 20p worth of plastic..... Well, Peter, "If you live in a Non-EU market" means that I don't know where you live, and hence what consumer rights legislation applies! If you find that offensive "get over yourself"! Yes. I find it offensive that your first assumption was that I was none-eu. I got really bad service and apparently I should just shrug it off and pretend it didn't happen....Despite you agreeing it was below that expected by UK consumer law.

Taking a great pic is an art in itself. I've got a natural light bulb in my lounge ceiling to help but it's not perfect. I've just heavily (probably OTT )chipped the wing roots of a1/72 hellcat but you can barely see it on a pic my "cheat" for bare metal chipping is to effectively dry brush with silver but with a little bit of foam rubber rather than a brush. Blotted almost dry on paper towel first the pores in the foam make great chips. If I want to trash a model hairspray/chipping solution DOES work but it's harder than foam and usually a bit unrealistic even if it looks good. I've got 100 kids nursery brushes for a few quid on ebay and the stiff brissles are good too if blotted dry.silver I'll go light with the next azure!