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For the last 18 months my airbrush has not been working well. Evidently this is because I was not using the right cleaner , ie mineral turps instead of metho and one of my needles was busted. When I went out to Expo I saw the lovely gentleman from runway13.com who cleaned it up and supplied me with a few needed extras. Bottom left is a pack of various spares such as O rings, above this is a tray for securing small parts when airbrushing. I will report later on how effective this all is. In the middle at the top is a new 0.2mm needle etc with my brush set up with a standard 0.3mm needle. To the right are the other needles which didn’t need replacing. Bottom right is a tool to clean out gently the inside of the front end after painting.

Now a little gossip – Hearn’s have changed hands with a much younger owner and team running it. I even spotted a kid in there with his family buying a model kit, he even knew what a Sopwith Triplane was, very unusual. Most noticeable at Expo was who wasn’t there. Hyland;s Bookshop were having a 50th anniversary sale and stayed away as did Showcase Models, perhaps costs are rising a bit too much at the Sandown site. Also pared back were Aeroworks with less to sell and Platypus Publications was also absent. The 3D printer guy from last year did not make an appearance either. Hobby HQ was there with plenty of stock – more later but I heard that his company were involved in a court case , possibly an angry competitor given his prices. Given the pervasiveness of the net I think most retailers are fighting to survive and are very price sensitive. Crowds seemed similar to previous years , many of us were returning visitors in the queue to get in.  The new incarnation of Axis Eagles – Warbirds AMG were also there but that’s one club I will not be getting involved in. I’ll be a little interested to see whether it tanks!

The next update will cover some kit purchases.