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

Yup I hate painting in white. Loads of Gundam's come in white hence the reason I almost always custom painted them. I can't see me ever doing a white Biplane.
 
Oh and vallejo white always seemed to stay tacky for ages.
 
Welk i done it. I painted the rigging aluminium. Was fed up with it being near impossible to see even if it is in scale. What do you think ?
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What’s my best option to achieve a camo finish without an airbrush , I’m happy with what I’ve achieved in the little tanks , the 1:35 scale is going to be a different proposition I reckon .....
 
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What’s my best option to achieve a camo finish without an airbrush , I’m happy with what I’ve achieved in the little tanks , the 1:35 scale is going to be a different proposition I reckon .....
When i did my Spitfire RoboBassa i used maskol. Its like a paint on latex. Made it very easy.
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Just the underside to rigg, weather and propeller and done. I held it up against black so you could see all the thread.
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What’s my best option to achieve a camo finish without an airbrush , I’m happy with what I’ve achieved in the little tanks , the 1:35 scale is going to be a different proposition I reckon .....

What sort of camouflage did you have in mind? There are plenty of different techniques - freehand, blu-tak, masking tape, masking liquid, and more.

This is quite a nice little reference site for tanks.


Here is the entry for the Panther, if you scroll down to the bottom there are loads of plates that are great for paint scheme ideas.


If brush painting it is best to stick with schemes that have hard edges rather than feathered ones, you really need an airbrush for the latter.


Cheers,

Nigel
 
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Simple and quick approach for small scale armour (1:72 counts as small scale).

Example, the Sherman.
  • Paint overall in olive drab
  • Paint any other bits - guns, tools, exhaust, tyres etc
  • Cover the entire vehicle in a dark brown wash
  • Dry brush the vehicle with a lighter olive drab (mix some yellow in with the olive drab)
  • Dry dab some earth/sand colour with a fine sponge, heavier at the bottom, lighter to the top
The wash is a very watery mix of paint - you can get ready made stuff such as Army Painter strong tone - but you can use very thinned down paint. This wash runs into all the crevices and around fittings and accentuates the detail.

Dry brushing - use a stiffer old brush - cheap art ones from The Works are fine - you can make brushes stiffer by cutting the bristles shorter. Use a considerably lighter version on the main main, put a little on the brush and then working into some kitchen towel so there is barely any paint left on the brush and then lightly work the brush over tank. This hits the high points with a very delicate amount of lighter colour which further accentuates the detail.

Dry dab - similar to dry brushing but using a small piece of small sponge (the thick kitchen sponges that have the scourer on one side are ideal. Paint on sponge, dab most of it off on kitchen towel then dab on model. Heavier on the tracks and running gear, lighter as you work up.

Another free trick. Hold the flame from a candle against a saucer and soot will quickly appear (makes you realise just how much crap candles put into the air). Anyway applying this soot with a cotton bud makes great marks from exhausts or guns.

Another free trick. Sand some pencil lead to get graphite dust. Paint metal gun parts black and then use a cotton bud or finger tip to rub the graphite dust onto the black. Detail will pop out and it will have a realistic sheen like gunmetal.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Thank you , I have had an idea , but I’ll keep it a secret until I do a test run 🤣🤣
 
I've tried masking with PVA before. It's just too fluid. It won't stay where you put it.
Blu-tak works.

Even better use silly putty - that children‘s toy, a sort of plastic dough that bounces.

Or you can buy Panzer Putty that comes in a tin with fancy printing, the putty is black - but essentially it is the same stuff as silly putty but about 6x more expensive.

Blu-tak also works, but while most say they have no problems a small number claim it can leave an oily residue. You also have to replace it more often than silly putty as the paint seems to impregnate it more.

I can’t see how PVA would work except on flat smooth services - it’s adhesion is too aggressive and if it finds any recesses or ridges or detail to grip onto it would be a bugger to remove.

Many actually use PVA for securely attaching transparent parts or photo-etch.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Gave up with the white coats and bought some AS20 lacquer. Fuselage painted..

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Happy so far but I need to improve my gap filling skills.
 
Well I suppose its about time I posted something in here. Seing as I've now actually finished something, I guess there's no better time.

Tamiya's 1/48 Corsair (although I forget exactly which one) painted in Mr Hobby Aqueous paints.

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Well I suppose its about time I posted something in here. Seing as I've now actually finished something, I guess there's no better time.

Tamiya's 1/48 Corsair (although I forget exactly which one) painted in Mr Hobby Aqueous paints.

Wow thats stunning mate. Love the chipping effect you got and the smoke/burn effect on the gun areas. I have one WW2 kit to build in my stash but it looks way out my skill level due to all the extras that came with it. Will go take some pics and let you see.
 
Kit came with so much extra PE and resin. Dont think i would know where to start.
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Wow thats stunning mate. Love the chipping effect you got and the smoke/burn effect on the gun areas. I have one WW2 kit to build in my stash but it looks way out my skill level due to all the extras that came with it. Will go take some pics and let you see.
Thanks!

Most of the chipping was done with the hairspray technique. This is what it looks like underneath...
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That's super thinned Citadel silver of some kind brush painted on with Tamiya XF-4 patches on top. Some of the chipping is done with paint sponged on later in the process, but it largely looks a bit rubbish.
 
ow
Kit came with so much extra PE and resin. Dont think i would know where to start. View attachment 1327446View attachment 1327447
Wow that's a lot of PE! I wouldn't bother with that.

Eduard also don't always put their own plastic in the box, so there's no telling a) how well the kit will build up and b) how well that PE will actually fit.

There's a bunch of 1/48 Tamiya ww2 aircraft that you really can't go wrong with, mostly around the £20 mark. I've built this Corsair and a Spitfire, but there's others too.
 
My plan was to finish the rigging tonight but after one more section i feel done in.
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Two? I spotted a Lysander amongst your WWI kits :)

Cheers,

Nigel
Oops yea I forgot about that wee Bugger. The wings flung me off.
 
So after screwing up the paint on this Corsair (some things are best left alone) and generally unhappy with the lack of perfection (panel lines covered by 10 coats of paint) I've scrapped the Corsair and will start fresh tomorrow on something new.

Ah well.. for a £3.50 guinea pig I've learned a lot.
 
So after screwing up the paint on this Corsair (some things are best left alone) and generally unhappy with the lack of perfection (panel lines covered by 10 coats of paint) I've scrapped the Corsair and will start fresh tomorrow on something new.

Ah well.. for a £3.50 guinea pig I've learned a lot.
Be sure to post lots of build pics. I have ran out of 2mm rigging. Still got about 6 lines to do, Have more in the post or could drop back to 1mm. Mmmm what to do. Oh and I bought this today, Not bad for £25 shipped....
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