A Scary Moment
I’m working on my first model in quite a while. It’s a Hasegawa F6F Hellcat and considering my luck with Hellcats, I’m approaching it with shrunken-heads and animal bones at the ready.
So I was not that surprised when I brushed on my ever-faithful Tamiya Flat Base and Future cocktail and it went sideways. The stuff “blushed.” That is to say, the clear flat became cloudy like a heavy frost had settled on it. It looked like Hell.
But, being a “ten thousand hours” guy, I knew it would clear up. And sure enough– it did. It cleared as it dried.
So no problem. My final addition to the Hellcat Trilogy will soon be ready to join the USN Blue Gray and all-over dark sea blue examples.
But, the ugly voice of paranoia crept in.
Hadn’t I seen a model that was all “blushed up” in the past? Hadn’t somebody– at Britmodeller or some place– painted a model with Tamiya Flat Base and Future and then, to their horror, seen it all go up in blush and screamed to the rest of the disco– my model! My model! SOMEBOY SAVE MY MODEL!!!
Then the riot squad arrived and the weeping mother was pulled aside and she pointed directly at me.
“HIM! He’s the one who recommended this devil’s mixture!! GET HIM!!”
Followed by the posting of the awful looking (yeah, it did look awful) model covered in slimy, cloudy, frosty blush and looking like a hot mess on toast.
So our story ends. Somebody suggests putting the model in the sun (can’t hurt). Others suggest shooting it, then promising never to listen to Americans again. Bloody yanks.
But something strange happens. Baby Doll, the little model of the Fury or Sea Fury or Plymouth Fury that was all frosty and crusty, suddenly looks good again. She snaps out of it and there is no damage. Time, my friends, healed the wound. When the flat coat dried, the frost went away.
But…
Does Shermain go back to the forum and declare that her little darling is alright, and that Dan’s suggestion regarding the clear flat was a good one and the frost was only temporary? Does she apologize to me, through a PM, and explain that it was so traumatic that a little hysteria is to be expected, but it won’t happen again.
Well?
No, Shermain does NOT do that. Shermain does not go back and ‘splain what happened. She does not tell everyone that she accused me unfairly and that the Tam/Fut mix does work just fine and if she hadn’t freaked her deke she would have never posted such rot.
No. Because of fear of looking a trifle foolish, she leaves me swinging in the wind.