In the course of making small miracles we often run into the challenge of round things. Engine cowl openings, wheels, and windows just to name a few . . .
Meet Mavis, she needs four symmetrical cowl openings! Yikes! Here the elves succeed where we often flounder.
Then there are the wheels! You can avoid these as long as you only make float planes:
The canvas
Behold the tool of our victory! The humble paint brush, but we are not interested in the bristle end . . .
Choose the brush with the other end in mind
The diameter of the brush just past the rounded end needs to be about the size of the round we desire, 1/8" for a 1/8" diameter round . . . hold the round end vertically over a nice sanding block of around 220 grit
Whilst holding the brush upright proceed to sand the end of the brush flat, the desired result
A nice celebratory libation is in order! Now you have the neccessary magic tool! Proceed to put a bit of paint on a flat plastic surface, here the color is black since the round wheel hub of desire is to be in fact black. It is good to note here that most WWI vintage aircraft had grey rubber tires and the WWII crew will be wanting black tires.
The paint blob will want to be spread a bit making a shallow pool of paint. The now flattened end of the paint brush is carefully dipped vertically into the said pool of paint, now you have a nice dimensionally controlled round paint stamp!
Practice using it on a card or heavy paper to get the feel of the process, a quick stab downward followed immediately by a similar lift off will/should produce a nice black round shape on the paper. Repeat until perfection is achieved supplementing and celebrating each success
Now if you are sober enough you can move onto the model canvas. Here we are back to the wheel we started with. The stamp is charged with paint, the wheel is presented with the tool. A quick landing is suggested, then holding it in place to check, a thin line of paint should be seen all around the point of contact, then quickly lift the stamp off, again vertically so as not to pull the paint off center.
And that is it! If you mess up, let it all dry and repaint the back ground, then repeat the process. This works well for other shapes as well. A rectangle stamp can make easy windows and again the round dowel or fine tipped tooth pick can be carved into say, a skull . . .
Enjoy!
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