Airfix

pieman109 said:
Had a rummage earlier and found these pics:

I made these a few years ago along with the F4 Phantom I posted a pic of earlier in the thread. Thinking about it, I must have made hundreds since 1986 when I first started.:D
A mixture of tamiya and hasegawa I think, 1.48 scale, finished in xtracolor paint and humbrol matt varnish
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They are fabulous! Would you mind listing here how you went about making them look as good as they do? Like how did you make the panel lines so defined? And I would love that mossie! It's £120 though!! I have a magazine here which is going through the build of the very model. It looks stunning.
 
philstanbridge said:
They are fabulous! Would you mind listing here how you went about making them look as good as they do? Like how did you make the panel lines so defined? And I would love that mossie! It's £120 though!! I have a magazine here which is going through the build of the very model. It looks stunning.
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No problem mate, I'll knock up a brief resume as to how I did them later on today, I'm doing a different kind of painting today atm, the front room needs decorating, but when the first stage of thats finished I'll post here with the details. One word of advice I would give is to try and aquire a copy of this book:

"On plastic wings" by a guy called Francois Verlinden, a Belgian. If you wanna see some great models with explanations as to the various methods used. They materials he used are different but the methods are the same, drybrushing, spraying, washing and weathering, etc.:)
 
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philstanbridge said:
They are fabulous! Would you mind listing here how you went about making them look as good as they do? Like how did you make the panel lines so defined? And I would love that mossie! It's £120 though!! I have a magazine here which is going through the build of the very model. It looks stunning.
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Hi Phil, still got tied up with the decorating unfortunately, but I'm puutting together a quick guide for the the air cadets where I'm a civilian instructor on how to build plastic models in the next coupla days, so I'll either post it here and/or email you a copy of it.:)
 
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I have been reading this thread with great interest, unfortunately i am now going to spend a lot of money probably. :D

Having never built any kind of scale model (other than a few RC Cars) do you more knowledgable chaps have any suggestions for a starter package?

Ideally it would be one of the kits that have everything in them that i could need to build a first model.

Should also mention that i am not really interested in building Tanks but aeroplanes, cars and boats are all fine....american muscle cars would be especially good.
 
Halfords primer is very good, make sure you don't apply it from a distance as the particles will dry before hitting the surface, creating a rough sandpapery texture that will require a lot of wet n' dry to smooth out - this is particularly important around fine detail areas.

This video shows you how to apply paint / primer from a spray can - the results are well worth the technique.

 
Funnily enough I've never used any form of primer on any of the models I've built in the past 23 years. These are only aircraft btw, but I find as long as the plastic surface is clean, smooth, dry, and all join seams, etc have been filled correctly (anyone here tried superglue and baking soda?:D) I don't see any need meself, but other ppl here will probably have different ideas/techniques, procedures, etc.
If I can get to it, I had an article printed in the "Tamiya model magazine" a good few years ago where I converted the "Airfix 1/24 focke Wulf A2/3" into a "D9" variant and skinned that in aluminium Litho plate, with transparent pvc used for plunge moulding the compound curved gun panels, etc. Took me about 3 months to build that and involved a lot of reasearch and work, nice result though and well worth the effort. If I can dig out ther magazine, I'll scan the picturs and post 'em here.
Edit: Found the mag. Just checked the date, it was 1995!, god I feel old






 
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Well I've semi-completed my first ever 1:32 model - Mk1 Hawker Hurricane. It was not the easiest model to start with. The instructions were pretty poor, and the wings supplied were for the MkII and not the MkI so I had some serious dremelling to do. I had quite a lot of cutting/filling to do and even now it isn't overly authentic but it's not bad for a first attempt. I tried to make it look legit, and used the proper colours. One problem I have though is weathering. I know it's subjective, but I can never really get the effect I desire. I have got some Pro modelling wash here and I just don't like it :confused: Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I will have to practice.

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Final touches are aerials/glass and some aesthetics - I am going to add some pastel weathering to the cowling and engine.
 
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Excellent looking Hurri, even though it sounds like you had a trial with it. What problems are you having with the pro-modeller wash ?
 
Skii said:
Excellent looking Hurri, even though it sounds like you had a trial with it. What problems are you having with the pro-modeller wash ?
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Thanks mate appreciate it! It has taken me quite some time if I'm honest. More time than I realised.. It's waiting days for the varnishes to dry really that's the worst part.

Yeah with regards the wash - I shake the bottle, stir it even, and apply it as per the video I've seen. I leave it for a while, then wipe it off with a damp tissue. It seems to leave a very obvious clay residue rather than emphasising the panel lines. It just looks generally dirty rather than the effect I have seen in photos and I cant understand how they achieve it. I did attempt pre-shading for the first time which was laughable - I then over-painted the camouflage which covered it all up :p I realise its all trial and error and I'm happy with that, but this is the fourth model I have attempted with the pro wash. Same result. I wonder if I apply to much Klear initially..

Edit: You can see in that first pic where i used the flash - look at the tail. That's the sort of thing I'm up against. I'm using the dark dirt wash.
 
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philstanbridge said:
Thanks mate appreciate it! It has taken me quite some time if I'm honest. More time than I realised.. It's waiting days for the varnishes to dry really that's the worst part.

Yeah with regards the wash - I shake the bottle, stir it even, and apply it as per the video I've seen. I leave it for a while, then wipe it off with a damp tissue. It seems to leave a very obvious clay residue rather than emphasising the panel lines. It just looks generally dirty rather than the effect I have seen in photos and I cant understand how they achieve it. I did attempt pre-shading for the first time which was laughable - I then over-painted the camouflage which covered it all up :p I realise its all trial and error and I'm happy with that, but this is the fourth model I have attempted with the pro wash. Same result. I wonder if I apply to much Klear initially..

Edit: You can see in that first pic where i used the flash - look at the tail. That's the sort of thing I'm up against. I'm using the dark dirt wash.
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Hi Phil, personally I wouldn't use "KLear" meself, I tried it years ago and hated it. Heres a suggestion:

This only works with kits that have "engraved panel lines, not raised ones for obvious reasons. Paint the model as per instructions, allow to dry and apply decals and again, allow to dry and harden (theres an important note regarding the decals and removing the carrier film later on in the post)
Then spray the entire model with "Tamiya" clear gloss varnish ( I'll explain me choice of that product shortly) and allow to dry for at least 8-10 hours.
Go to an artist's shop and pick up a tube of "raw umber" oil based paint in a tube.
Mix some of this oil paint with some white spirit until it has the consistency of thick milk. Take a brush and coat the entire surface of say, the upperside of the left wing and allow to settle for about 10-15 mins. It'll look like you've completely ruined the model, but the finish is protected by the layer acrylic varnish sprayed on it earlier.
After 10-15 mins take a cloth moist with white spirit and start wiping the wassh off the wing forwards front to rear, you'll see the wash wipes off vwery easily due to the smooth surface of the varnish. as you keep wiping, more and more of the wash is removed, but theres always a very layer left o the wing. this discolours the finsh and tends to settle in the panel lines. Allow to dry and repeat the procedure except wipe off inboard to outboard of the wing and you'll find the wash will settle in the panel lines that run perpendicular to the first lot.
that should give a far more pleasing effect, but you have to make a judgement call as to when to stop as the more you wipe off the more the effect lessens, so personal taste comes into play here.
One problem with this procedure is that you can get a build up of wash on the decal carrier film (that transparent edging that surrounds all of the decal) aso before applying the decal its adviseable to remove it totally either with scissors or a scalplel blade)
The next procedure is to pick out the panel lines and try and go for a "fuzzy" edge over them. Using the raw umber wash again, and using a fine paintbrush, paint some of the wash into the panel line about 2-3mm in width, allow to settle for about 10-15mins and with a "cotton bud" remove the excess wash from the panel line by wiping along the panel line but rotating the cotton bud "against the direction of travel, this stops the wash piling up in front of the cotton bud and stops a sort of "faded saw tooth" effect over and along the panel line, also, keep replacing the cotton bud often as it'll get clogged very quickly. What you'll end up with is a panel line that has a deep layer of wash in it, and around either side of it, a sort of faded darkened area. This area can be faded even more by use of the cotton buds again to wipe it off and make the effect more subtle (but you must avoid the panel line itself or you'll remove that was as well.

Hope this lot helps, its not gospel as most modellers have different ideas on how to do things, I find the above procedures gives me reliable results enabling me to almost predict what the model is gonna turn out like although never extactly which is nice as sometimes its better than expected:D
 
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philstanbridge said:
Well I've semi-completed my first ever 1:32 model - Mk1 Hawker Hurricane. It was not the easiest model to start with. The instructions were pretty poor, and the wings supplied were for the MkII and not the MkI so I had some serious dremelling to do. I had quite a lot of cutting/filling to do and even now it isn't overly authentic but it's not bad for a first attempt. I tried to make it look legit, and used the proper colours. One problem I have though is weathering. I know it's subjective, but I can never really get the effect I desire. I have got some Pro modelling wash here and I just don't like it :confused: Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I will have to practice.

Christ not another one finished already !!!

Well my 1/32 Zero is about 90% finished and I have been using both Pro wash
as well as Klear without any major issues.

After I was happy with the paint ( i am still using a brush) i put a layer of
Klear on then weathered the panel lines.

I used a bit of kitchen roll to get rid but only slightly dampened it if the marks were not coming off easily.

I then sealed it with another coat of Klear.

Just got to weather the decals a bit (as I was scared that my panel lines
were going to fade if I put decals then another coat of Klear before the weathering) then I will put
another layer of Klear then finish with some Klear / Tamiya Matt combo to
finish.

How deep is your panel lines as I would have thought the light underside
would have came up nice ?


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What make is that kit mate, looks like its one of the newer ones, not the original tamiya or hasegawa ones, or did you do the panel lines and rivets yourself? Nice job if you did.:)
 
If only my Dad and Uncle were on this forum, they'd have a field day in this here thread. My Uncle and Dad make tonnes of models together, for one my Father has a shed in our back garden deciated to making his models in as my Mum disallowed it in our house. :D If it is any help, they both make diorama's now, however before they would create models of battleships and things. Myself have made a few but would have no idea to what extents you can go to with it...

I could try and egt my Dad in on this thread. :D
 
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