Who Is Into Scale Modelling?

[Dr_PepPeR]

When the parts are fully dry, spray a coat of primer over the area you're working on. You can either choose to buy special primers (such as Painter's Touch Gray or Mr Surfacer), but for the casual modeler, a white or light gray acrylic or enamel paint will work just as fine. The priming is very important for several reasons: it will seal the putty and help you discovering rough areas that still require some attention and it is also a far better base for the final paintwork than the bare plastic.

 

Before priming, don't forget to cover the cockpit opening with some masking tape and plastic foil, or your finely detailed cockpit might catch some primer overspray. It is also very important that the model is absolutely clean from any sanding residue. If any dust remains on the parts, you will get a lumpy and ugly surface as result. If you wash the model under running water to get rid of the dust, make sure that no water is left inside the wings and the fuselage when you paint to model, because any water trickling out from some hidden orifice of the aircraft while painting will create a real mess!

 

When the primer is dry, use an even finer grade sandpaper (1200 or even 1500 grade) to even out minor imperfections and remaining rough areas. You may even have to use some more filler. Keep on filling and sanding until no evidence of the join line remains even in a strong light falling from the side.

 

Some areas can be quite hard to reach with the sandpaper, and you may have to improvise a little. You can for instance wrap a strip of sandpaper around one end of a popsicle stick or an ice-cream stick and use this tool to get into corners. Other areas are even harder, such as the dreaded jet intakes on the A-7 Corsair and the S-3 Viking aircraft. You will have to utilize all your skills to come up with a good result. If you have any tips, you're more than welcome to share them with me!

 

Most model builders - like myself - find this part of a model building project the most boring one. A lot of waiting is involved, which slows down your building progress most considerably.Nevertheless, I still advise you to take your time. Every minute you spend here will pay dividends later on when it's time to paint the model!

 

If you think it's too much waiting, work on more than one model at a time. I know that I keep repeating this advice during the course of this web site, but it's because it is a far better solution than rushing on impatiently and risking to ruin your masterpiece.

 

Unfortunately some surface detail is inevitably lost during the sanding process, like rivets or panel lines. If you wish, you can try to restore the lost panel lines by carefully recarving them with a scribing tool or knife, but I must admit that I have never really been very successful with this technique. An easy way to protect delicate details and panel lines around the area to be sanded is by simply covering them up with masking tape.

 

For major filling and reshaping work, you can use epoxy putty instead (such as Milliput). This putty is somewhat more difficult to work with because it consists of two different chemicals that must be mixed before use. The benefit is that it is stronger and smoother than single-component putty, and does not crack quite as easily when applied in heavy layers.

 

I feel that a fair word of warning should be issued though - all putty contains a plastic solvent to help it bond to the plastic. As this solvent evaporates in air, the putty hardens and almost becomes a part of the plastic. But if you completely fill a large area with putty without enough exposition to air, the solvent will melt and distort the plastic parts!

 

I was once building a 1/32 Tornado fighter aircraft, and I had to put some weight into the nose of the aircraft to make it sit correctly on its landing gears. Squeezing a large amount of putty, I filled the entire nose cone with putty and then I pushed in a few nuts and bolts. Guess what: the next morning the entire nose cone had turned into a puddle of plastic with a few protruding nuts and bolts... I didn't k*ll myself laughing at that time!

 

Sometimes model putty is not enough to fill some gaps, and you may have to improvise, using other methods and materials. Other gap-filling material I have used with some success are scrap styrene plastic and even Tip-Ex correcting fluid.

 

Superglue can also be used to fill gaps very efficiently. It also dries very fast without shrinking or leaving bubbles and will bond very well to the plastic. The only problem with superglue is that it is much harder than the surrounding plastic, so care must be taken while sanding, so that you won't erode the plastic around the filling.

 

Styrene plastic cards are very useful for scratch-building or for filling large gaps, which unfortunately can occur on many older and cheaper models. You can buy styrene cards in various thickness and sizes in most model shops. Since these cards are made of the same material as injection models, you can easily modify them to the desired shapes using the same tools and techniques as the regular model parts. You even use the same kind of cement to glue them together and onto your model. It's also very cheap material, so don't shy away from purchasing some.

 

Clear parts, such as canopies, are sometimes quite badly scratched and optically distorted. This is even more usual for older and cheaper kits. In modern and more exclusive model kits the transparent parts are often separately bagged inside the box. Clear parts can also be sanded, even if you probably don't want to do that on your first model. Apart from removing scratches and minor damages, quite often I like to sand off out-of-scale frames too. I avoid sanding the inside of curved canopies though - because of the higher curvature, it can be nearly impossible to polish back the clarity later! Usually I start sanding with 1200 grade sandpaper and work my way down to 2000 grade sandpaper.

 

At this point I have a very smooth canopy almost free from scratches, but which of course is totally fogged up and cloudy - scary the first time! You would think that the canopy is ruined, but it's not! I now just use kitchen tissue and some polishing compound, such as microgranulate toothpaste or metal polish, and start rubbing the canopy. After about ten minutes, the clarity of the canopy is restored to a much higher degree than it ever was.

 

In the end I carefully dip the whole part in Future Floor Wax (or Johnsons Floor Wax for plastic floors, as it is called here in Sweden) and let it dry overnight. The result is short of a miracle: the canopy usually ends up so shiny and transparent that it's hard to believe that it is the same part! I recommend you to try it one day!

 

When the major parts of the model are assembled, the join lines are filled, sanded and primed, it's time to add the fins, stabilizers, pylons and the rest of the main parts to the model. This is quite a relaxing and pleasant step of a model building project. Work slowly and carefully, and enjoy how all those plastic parts slowly turn into a single entity.

 

Some parts need to be painted before they are glued in place and you better read the instructions for your model so you don't miss adding a part that cannot be fitted later on. Some minor assemblies may also require you to perform some filling and sanding.

 

With all the main details in place you should prime the entire model in a light gray or white color. I like to prepare for the final paintwork already at this stage, so if I am going to simulate faded or dirty paint on the final camouflage, I spray fuzzy, dark gray zones along the panel lines. This technique is called pre-shading. When the final camouflage is sprayed on, the underlying darker and lighter areas will affect the hue of the camouflage and give the impression of the paint being sun-bleached. Remember to keep the dark areas approximately two or three nuances darker than the final camouflage, or the effect may be too strong and unrealistic.

 

When the primer is fully dry, it's time to load the airbrush with the final paint and start painting. Painting is a very important part of any model building.

 

Painting is a very big and important part of any model building project. A well-done paintjob will immediately draw attention to your model and give it a sense of realism.

 

To create a decent model, you must paint every single little part correctly and with great care. The main rule is that the only parts to leave unpainted are the clear parts, such as windows and windscreens.

 

Always use paint specially designed for plastic models. There are many other kinds of paint, such as car paint, but most of them will react poorly with plastic materials - they might for instance melt or "eat" the surface of the plastic and thereby ruin your model.

 

There are lots of different brands of model paints, such as Humbrol, Tamiya, XtraColor, AeroMaster or Gunze Sangyo. But it all breaks down into basically two different kinds of paint: enamel paints and acrylic paints. Enamels are mineral spirit based, and acrylics are waterbased.

 

Both types have their benefits, but if compared, I believe that acrylic paints are the clear winners. They are non-toxic and cleaning up is a breeze - you just use regular tap water to clean your brushes and painting tools. They are fast drying, easy to thin with distilled water, and have the same silky smooth finish as enamels. Even though they are water-based, they are totally waterproof when dry.

 

Different modelers swear by different brands of paint. I have tried many brands myself, and in my opinion nothing even comes close to matching the AeroMasters WarBird series of acrylic paints.

 

You can imagine my disappointment (shared by good many model builders I'm sure) when I found out that AeroMaster for some reason decided to discontinue their excellent range of paints. But a quick research soon revealed that the virtually same paint can be purchased under a different name, as "Poly Scale Acrylics". Unfortunately there is no retailer for this series in my hometown (duh!), so now I have to order my paints by mail from Rebell Hobby here in Sweden, or from Hannants in the UK.

 

I have also had some success with Gunze Sangyo acrylics and Testors enamels, while so far I have only had trouble with Humbrol and Tamiya paints.

 

Paints can be either glossy or flat. Cars are almost always shiny and glossy, unless they are very dirty. But most military vehicles have a rather flat finish to avoid being easily spotted by the bad guys. This is the surface you should be attempting to achieve.

 

Professional model paints are most often bottled in small, unbreakable glass jars with a printed label stating the name and number of the color. There are many different color numbering systems around, but if you just use the name as reference - for instance "Light Ghost Grey", you will seldom go wrong.

 

Open the jar with your fingers or a jar opener. If the lid of the bottle won't come off, you can use a pair of adjustable plumber's pliers. Be careful not to deform the lid, or you may not be able to tighten it back when you're finished painting.

 

A paint consists normally of two ingredients: a solvent and the pigment. The solvent is the thinner, or the "fluid" in the paint. The pigment consists of the color particles floating in the solvent. The pigment is usually more heavy than the solvent, which means that it will sink to the bottom of the paint jar. Before you can use the paint, you must therefore stir the jar well.

 

Shaking the bottle is not recommended because it will not mix the paint and might create air bubbles in the paint, which will make it more difficult to obtain an even paint surface. Use a toothpick or an ice-cream stick to really mix the paint with the solvent. Use a separate toothpick for every color, or you will be mixing the colors. Make sure that you reach all the way to the bottom of the jar!

 

Model paint is unfortunately very expensive, but usually you will have some paint left in the jars when you have finished a model. After a while you will have amounted a nice collection of paints. Keep the bottles in a shoebox or a toolbox, so you can find the one you need later. A good tip is to store the bottles upside down. This way the solvent will not evaporate so easily even if the paint is stored for a long time. Also keep empty paint bottles - they may come very handy when mixing or thinning paints.

 

I always write a descriptive text on a piece of masking tape, and attach this to the jar. A description like "Light gull gray, airbrush-thinned" will help me finding the exact color I will need on the next model building project.

 

It should also be mentioned that there are two groups of paint that are slightly different: varnishes and metalizers.

 

A varnish is a clear (colorless) paint. These are used to "seal" the underlying paint surfaces along with the decals, and also to change the glossiness, or sheen of the model There are various degree of shiny varnishes, from high gloss varnishes to completely flat or dull varnishes.

 

Metallic paints are actually colorless paints mixed with microscopic metal particles. When painted on top of a colored surface, they will give this surface a metallic sheen. We will look into metallic paints in a minute!

[buttakkal]

dr. pepper boss...thanks sa tip...ill post my models once they are finished.

 

i been buying models at harrison plaza and greenhills virramall....mura don...i dont know saan pa iba...

 

anybody knows of somebody selling a Avro Lancaster (see attached pic). Ito daw ang dumedo sa battleship na Tirpitz.

[Yu-gi-oh]

how I wish I have ur patience.............

[Dr_PepPeR]

dr. pepper boss...thanks sa tip...ill post my models once they are finished. 

 

i been buying models at harrison plaza and greenhills virramall....mura don...i dont know saan pa iba...

 

anybody knows of somebody selling a Avro Lancaster (see attached pic). Ito daw ang dumedo sa battleship na Tirpitz.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I guess at Harrison Plaza you buy from Natalie's shop, the name is NM something Hobbies. Natalie is the wife of Roel who manages Hobbies and Comics, another store that sells kits in Makati Cinema Square. The only shop I know in Greenhills is the toy store in Virra Mall but what they have are old ESCI kits. Why don't you try Lil's Hobbies in Parksquare (old Quad carpark) or Megamall basement? Tamiya, DML and Trumpeter kits are a bit cheaper there.

 

What scale is the Avro Lancaster ýou want? In 1/48, there were two versions by Tamiya, a regular Lancaster BI/III and the Dambuster version. Both are now out of production but recently Tamiya came out with the Dambuster Lanc with the motorized propellers.

 

In 1/72, all I remember is the Hasegawa kit.

[buttakkal]

that shop at Harrison Plaza is really nice.

 

I made five bi-planes this summer. Fokker DR1 -very hard as it is a tri-plane actually, Swordfish Mk I/II, SPAD XIII, Sopwith Camel and the biggest of em all Antonov An-2 colt. Sabay sabay kung pipinturahan ito. Ill post them here as soon as im finished!!

 

Boss Dr. Pepper...okay ba magpintura kung tag-ulan na....di ba maaapektuhan ng humidity ang paint?

 

wala na yata bi-plane or tri-plane na binibenta maliban dito.

 

Im planning to shift muna sa WWII bombers at sea planes. Tsaka baka barko.....hehehehe.

[Yu-gi-oh]

Better check that out.....

[floppydrive]

dr. pepper boss...thanks sa tip...ill post my models once they are finished. 

 

i been buying models at harrison plaza and greenhills virramall....mura don...i dont know saan pa iba...

 

anybody knows of somebody selling a Avro Lancaster (see attached pic). Ito daw ang dumedo sa battleship na Tirpitz.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ahh the Lancaster! Had a 1/72 scale kit 27 or 28 years ago. It was either a Revell or Airfix. Nice kit! Of course, it was gone in 5 year's time - too many crash landings, hehehe.

 

Try looking at Lil's. They have the most extensive line of planes. If no luck, try the internet. Good luck!

[Dr_PepPeR]

that shop at Harrison Plaza is really nice. 

 

I made five bi-planes this summer.  Fokker DR1 -very hard as it is a tri-plane actually, Swordfish Mk I/II, SPAD XIII, Sopwith Camel and the biggest of em all Antonov An-2 colt.  Sabay sabay kung pipinturahan ito.  Ill post them here as soon as im finished!!

 

Boss Dr. Pepper...okay ba magpintura kung tag-ulan na....di ba maaapektuhan ng humidity ang paint?

 

wala na yata bi-plane or tri-plane na binibenta maliban dito. 

 

Im planning to shift muna sa WWII bombers at sea planes.  Tsaka baka barko.....hehehehe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes, Natalie's shop is in some ways better than Roel's. They also sell kits on consignment, so sometimes you find an out of production kit being sold there. It's just that in HP I tend to get distracted by the other things for sale, especially in the afternoons..

 

You are a better man than I am sir, I have always been afraid of building biplanes because I don't think I will have the patience to do the rigging, except perhaps for the Fairey Swordfish for Tamiya, which have photoetch rigging that can be purchased separately.

 

In addition to the biplanes you mentioned, there is also the Italeri Henschel 123 in 1/48, and the 1/48 biplane series of Roden, which includes the Gloster Gladiator, Fokker DVI and DVII, Nieuport 28, RAF SE5, Bristol F2 Brisfit, Sopwith Strutter and Sopwith French Bomber. If you are building in 1/72, I bow in respect to you.

 

For WWII bombers, I'm waiting for the Trumpeter Wellington in 1/48. That would really be a big kit and will stay unbuilt until I'm able to buy a new house.

[Yu-gi-oh]

How about big bike scale model...meron kayang interested. .45 scale model ng lightsaber?

[Dr_PepPeR]

How about big bike scale model...meron kayang interested. .45 scale model ng lightsaber?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Tamiya already has 1/9 scale big bike models, but I haven't heard of any scale models of the lightsaber.

[Yu-gi-oh]

Meron from master replica. Thinking of selling di ko pa lang alam ang cost ko. .45 lang iyon. and there is a case wherein u can use to keep it

[buttakkal]

im buying a B-29 .....so excited!!!!

[buttakkal]

doc pepper...rigging? i dont know s@%t about it hehehehe...whats that ba?

[moxman]

Calm water is easy, just paint the base green/brown and apply gloss clear paint over it.

 

For sea water effects it is a bit more difficult. You have to use a sculpting medium, like sculpey, milliput, plaster of paris etc, and try to form the waves, then paint it appropriately, using white for the froth. One of the simpler ones I've seen was using resin, like the way they used to make the decorations for papier mache vases. You mix the fluid resin together, apply color to it then pour it into the base a few layers at a time (you have to do it in stages so that the plastic kit embedded in it will not melt). After pouring the top layer, put crumpled aluminum foil over it, this will simulate the ripple effect of a vast expanse of sea. Let it cool and viola! Seawater effect!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yeah i've read a lot about this "milliput and sculpey" where can i get one?

 

planning to build a small ship first 1:400

[Yu-gi-oh]

hi guys........