The Model kit thread. (for people who like to paint and build Airfix, Bandai etc)

I was wondering what was happening in this shot.
Thats some pre-shading done. Not sure if i should lay down a dark colour then mask all the rib lines. I hate masking. So boring.View attachment 1324975


Now I understand.
Tonights work done. This time i am building and rigging the landing gear before i attach them. Fingers crossed it makes it less painful than on the Roland.
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The technique looks very convincing :cool:
 
Yea am quite happy with that. Gona fire down a gloss top coat and weather and decal. Still to try and workout all the rigging. Looks better in natural daylight.

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A wee test fit.
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Wow ! Some fiddly work tonight. Half the decals on too. Never did double lair decals before. I take i wait till the first lair is dry before adding second ?
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Hey guys, don't post much but grants work persuaded me to try my hand at this hobby a month or so ago..

To cut a long story short.. after messing about with enamels, failing to brush Tamiya xf paint and generally losing some motivation along the way.. my dad gave me his airbrush and my word I'm like a kid at Christmas!

The results even for a newbie like me are staggering. They are just a joy to use and the clean up is minimal. Anyway, hopefully I'll get some pics up soon.. I've started a Tamiya Corsair 1/100 scale as a guinea pig and so far so good.

Cheers
 
Hey guys, don't post much but grants work persuaded me to try my hand at this hobby a month or so ago..

To cut a long story short.. after messing about with enamels, failing to brush Tamiya xf paint and generally losing some motivation along the way.. my dad gave me his airbrush and my word I'm like a kid at Christmas!

The results even for a newbie like me are staggering. They are just a joy to use and the clean up is minimal. Anyway, hopefully I'll get some pics up soon.. I've started a Tamiya Corsair 1/100 scale as a guinea pig and so far so good.

Cheers
This post is no good without pictures. We need to pics of said airbrush setup etc. Come one Man we are mega Model building Geeks in here. Get em posted !!!
 
Oh and I dont go near enamels, Not a chance in hell am putting them through my Airbrush. I dont even put top coats or primer through my good airbrush, The Poor Neo gets all that pumped into it.
 
Hey guys, don't post much but grants work persuaded me to try my hand at this hobby a month or so ago..

To cut a long story short.. after messing about with enamels, failing to brush Tamiya xf paint and generally losing some motivation along the way.. my dad gave me his airbrush and my word I'm like a kid at Christmas!

The results even for a newbie like me are staggering. They are just a joy to use and the clean up is minimal. Anyway, hopefully I'll get some pics up soon.. I've started a Tamiya Corsair 1/100 scale as a guinea pig and so far so good.

Cheers

Tamiya acrylic is a bitch to brush paint. The problem is that it is not water based but alcohol based. If thinning you should use Tamiya thinners or iso-propyl alocohol.

The alcohol solvent makes it great for airbrushing because it atomises very well and dries very quickly. But even that makes it prone to ‘tip dry‘ (cue Kenneth Williams).

But makes it tough to brush paint because it dries too quickly so you can’t work well without leaving brush marks or lifting off paint that has just dried moments after laying it down.

If you are painting small parts you can get away with it but bigger flat areas are difficult.

You can improve it by putting in acrylic retarder - you can pick this up from art suppliers including Hobbycraft - find it in the art section not model section - Winsor and Newton stuff. This slows the paint drying down allowing you more time to work it with a brush to get an even coverage and for it to level out before drying.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Oh and I dont go near enamels, Not a chance in hell am putting them through my Airbrush. I dont even put top coats or primer through my good airbrush, The Poor Neo gets all that pumped into it.

I still think (and many agree) that enamels and lacquers are the best paints. Many of the best modellers use them extensively, and by far the best for brush painting. Also better for airbrushing but even I have swapped to acrylics because spraying and cleaning enamels (and especially lacquers) is too noxious.

For years many have sworn by using lacquer thinners (essential cellulose thinners or nail varnish remover) to thin Tamiya acrylics for spraying.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Enamels are very much our favour these days. Acrylics are less toxic, but have their own issues. Lawyers are coming back in a big way.

If you want to stick with acrylics, Tamiya are pretty good. Mr Hobby Aqueous is a very similar paint with many more colours available. Both can be thinned well with UMP Airbrush thinner, and cleaned up with their cleaner. It works on most things.

Don't let anybody tell you acrylic is safe to inhale though. If you're airbrushing, a face mask is a basic requirement regardless of what you're airbrushing.
 
Current (temporary) setup.. had to move into the office because I'm using a pretty loud Clarke Wiz as a compressor.. got one of them AS196 compressors coming tomorrow.

IMG_20200629_204715.jpg


Bombs.. lots of bombs..
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Abandoned (for now) project.. spent lots of time faffing with enamels on this one and I just cant face it at the moment. Still, I learned alot on this small amount of progress.
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Tamiya acrylic is a bitch to brush paint. The problem is that it is not water based but alcohol based. If thinning you should use Tamiya thinners or iso-propyl alocohol.

Sadly for me I found all of this out the hard way :)
 
Current (temporary) setup.. had to move into the office because I'm using a pretty loud Clarke Wiz as a compressor.. got one of them AS196 compressors coming tomorrow.

View attachment 1326339

Bombs.. lots of bombs..
View attachment 1326344

Abandoned (for now) project.. spent lots of time faffing with enamels on this one and I just cant face it at the moment. Still, I learned alot on this small amount of progress.
View attachment 1326345
Tamiya paints with the stickers on the lids really sets off my OCD :rotfl:
 
I need thoughts comments and help !!!!

I’m aiming for a dark winter sort of camo but I’m not sure if this is going to work , my next step was to lighten it with some very light grey , ideas please ....
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I need thoughts comments and help !!!!

I’m assuming for a dark winter sort of camo but I’m not sure if this is going to work , my next step was to lighten it with some very light grey , ideas please ....View attachment 1326358

Very few (if any) Panthers were painted dark grey, but I can’t say that there weren’t any, maybe some of the first ones rushed into Kursk (and mostly broke down before they got there) and besides it is your tank you can paint it however you want.

When winter camouflage was applied (all nationalities) they used a water based white wash that could easily be removed when winter was over. As a result this wasn’t a very tough finish and weathered and wore away very easily.

For modelling you can buy washable white paint like this stuff

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that you paint on and once it is dry you can work with a wet cotton bud to smear and remove it parts.

Obviously that is extra expense, so you could try with well thinned white acrylic and then work at it before it is fully dry.

Experiment on some scrap first.

Another trick, usually used for chipping, is to spray the area with strong hold hairspray and leave to dry well (a day). Then paint over it. Then when the paint is dry work it with a wet cotton bud and parts of it will scrape off - best for chips and scrapes though as you don’t get smearing.

Yet another way is to use weathering powders. The Tamiya stuff that looks like makeup would be easiest but you can also use coloured charcoal sticks - if charcoal then sand to make some dust then apply with a cotton bud. One thing with weathering powders though is that they need to be sealed - best with a spray of matt varnish.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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brilliant thanks , these tanks are for a battlefield that no one has ever heard of somewhere that doesn't exist and they are the lads so it doesn't matter :rotfl:

seriously though , he's happy with whatever and I'm using them as a bit of a dry run for when I do my Leopard A4 , for a first attempt after 35 years the Shermans came out well , looks like a trip to the model shop tomorrow , well it gives me something to do :rotfl:
 
brilliant thanks , these tanks are for a battlefield that no one has ever heard of somewhere that doesn't exist and they are the lads so it doesn't matter :rotfl:

seriously though , he's happy with whatever and I'm using them as a bit of a dry run for when I do my Leopard A4 , for a first attempt after 35 years the Shermans came out well , looks like a trip to the model shop tomorrow , well it gives me something to do :rotfl:


There are a brazillion videos online from some really talented modellers that show how to paint and apply effects to tanks.

Some of the things they do is out of this world and shows me how much it has changed over the years.
 
Bloody hell, rigging does not get any easier.
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Current (temporary) setup.. had to move into the office because I'm using a pretty loud Clarke Wiz as a compressor.. got one of them AS196 compressors coming tomorrow.

View attachment 1326339

Hope you have a good mask or are next to a window. Don't want to be breathing in them paint particles.
 
Thanks , they look darker then they actually in reality , well happy considering the length of time I’ve not done this 🤣🤣🤣
 
So another little challenge today.. getting a good coverage with white acrylic!? I started with no primer but god knows how many coats it would have taken to stop the grey sprue colour coming through.. so gave up and primed. It's a little better now but I'm about three coats in and still not happy with the coverage.

A little research shows this to be a problem experienced by many modellers. Any tips guys? Its pretty boring doing the same coat over and over :)

Progress:
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Airbrushing is all about multiple thin coats of the same colour.

Believe it or not, a black primer is a good starting point, using a "black basing" technique.
 

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