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My equipment is: some lovely paint brushes and dollar store quality paints, a knife, a few files and for glue generally always use some wood glue. Oh and I guess a laser cutter. But other than that nothing fancy. You don't really need much. Really just glue, a file or two or some sand paper, brushes, and some paint. That's it, you're set.
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Mar 3, 2015 02:02
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If you can afford to a cheap airbrush it's a decent investment, otherwise just a $10 set of hobby tools and some glue does me fine. The airbrush took me from feeling ok about my work to being quite happy with them on display - it makes it quick and easy to put on an excellent looking paint coat. An airbrush + compressor off ebay like this took me from not really wanting to do another model to looking forward to painting each one. Paint cans work fine too, but in the medium run an airbrush/compressor saves a tonne of cash on paint.
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Mar 3, 2015 03:06
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People shouldn't get hung up on the type or quality of airbrush they use as well. While it's true a high-quality, expensive airbrush will serve you better than a cheaper one, cheap ones are still more than adequate. The top talent at Stan Winston Studio painted the Predator with a Paasche-H, which is considered Babbys First Airbrush in the hobbyist circle. One of their other long-timers that's been with them forever and worked on tons and tons of movies, Shannon Shea, still proudly uses a Testors Aztek airbrush to this day, and the Aztek is treated like a joke in hobbyist circles. It works for him though, and he's done countless pieces of amazing work with it. I'm kind of the same way with brushes. Just about anywhere you read about the hobby, people recommend you use Red/Kolinsky Sable brushes. Sure, they're great, but anything larger the tiniest brushes costs an arm and leg. I find it doubly amusing too that people rave about them for painting acrylics, when the manufaturers of sable brushes themselves don't even recommend them for acrylics. I generally go with Golden Taklon brushes, as they're created for acrylic work, and they're virtually the same as sable at a fraction of the price. Being an artificial brush as well, they'll last a lot longer than Sable too.
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Mar 3, 2015 03:38
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:People shouldn't get hung up on the type or quality of airbrush they use as well. While it's true a high-quality, expensive airbrush will serve you better than a cheaper one, cheap ones are still more than adequate. The top talent at Stan Winston Studio painted the Predator with a Paasche-H, which is considered Babbys First Airbrush in the hobbyist circle. One of their other long-timers that's been with them forever and worked on tons and tons of movies, Shannon Shea, still proudly uses a Testors Aztek airbrush to this day, and the Aztek is treated like a joke in hobbyist circles. It works for him though, and he's done countless pieces of amazing work with it. How cheap are you talking here? My only experience is my two Badger 150 airbrushes, so I'm not calling you out with my broad expertise or anything like that, but I'd be leery of buying some plastic $15 Harbor Freight airbrush. I just kind of get the impression that you are saying that any airbrush is better than no airbrush. I'd think that some cheap $15 Chinese piece of poo poo might do more harm than good. Bloody Hedgehog posted:I'm kind of the same way with brushes. Just about anywhere you read about the hobby, people recommend you use Red/Kolinsky Sable brushes. Sure, they're great, but anything larger the tiniest brushes costs an arm and leg. I find it doubly amusing too that people rave about them for painting acrylics, when the manufaturers of sable brushes themselves don't even recommend them for acrylics. I generally go with Golden Taklon brushes, as they're created for acrylic work, and they're virtually the same as sable at a fraction of the price. Being an artificial brush as well, they'll last a lot longer than Sable too. I've got to agree with you 100% here. I did most of my modeling as an early teen in a low-income household and used crappy tools and paints but still loved it. My best brush was some $4 "artist" watercolor brush and the rest were those lovely Testor's brushes with the white hard plastic handles. When I got back into it 25 years later and had a decent job, I kind of went overboard on buying supplies. I bought the Windsor & Newton Series 7 (Because the internet told me that they were the BEST BRUSHES) round brushes in (I think) 00, 0, 1, 2, 3 for over $100 and the only one I ever use is the 1 for detail work. The tip comes to a hairline point so I've never needed to use the smaller ones. Maybe if you are doing more artistic work like painting eyelashes on space barbies, those small ones would be better, but if you are just painting cockpits or engine compartments I don't think you need anything smaller than a 1 round. I also got a few relatively cheap Dick Blick Bright Brushes (flat tip brushes with shorter bristles than "flat" style) and those are the bee's knees. I mainly use the bright 8 and 12 for drybrushing and applying microset/microsol, but I also let my 5 year old daughter use (abuse) them with her watercolors and tempera paint and they hold up just fine. For brushes, I'd go with the Bright 8 and 12 Dick Blicks and the Round 2 Dick Blick. $26 all said and done. Spend the rest of whatever money you had budgeted on better lighting.
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Mar 3, 2015 05:32
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Well, I thought I did a decent masking job.   I'm sure it's salvageable, but I'm still a bit irritated.
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Mar 3, 2015 06:18
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That's why I love tanks. gently caress up painting? Slap some mud on it and you're good!
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Mar 3, 2015 06:38
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Maybe it's me but when painting walls that frog tape you have there always seems to fall off and allow paint under whereas the generic 3m painters tape is fantastic for model masking.
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Mar 3, 2015 07:01
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Raskolnikov38 posted:Maybe it's me but when painting walls that frog tape you have there always seems to fall off and allow paint under whereas the generic 3m painters tape is fantastic for model masking. I used Tamiya 18mm tape for the actual stripes. I found the frog tape laying around in the garage and decided to use it to wrap the rest of the model because it was wider. You're right though, the frog stuff isn't very good.
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Mar 3, 2015 07:09
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I agree that modeling is to a large degree a craft, as in that it is based on a set of skills that pretty much everyone can learn. If you spend time at it and put your mind into improving, you will get good. Then there's that final jump from good to great, where I do believe that raw talent, artistic inspiration or what you might call it, makes a true difference. But a lot of people have a wrong impression of how hard the basics are. Sure, most people won't be a Santana or a Hendrix even if they keep playing guitar, but pretty much everyone can learn to strum along to a song if they just give it a shot. And your models might not be fit for publishing in those fancy modeling magazines, but I bet you can make a passable ship, boat or car if you're just prepared to make small but steady improvements over time.
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Mar 3, 2015 08:50
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SkunkDuster posted:How cheap are you talking here? My only experience is my two Badger 150 airbrushes, so I'm not calling you out with my broad expertise or anything like that, but I'd be leery of buying some plastic $15 Harbor Freight airbrush. I just kind of get the impression that you are saying that any airbrush is better than no airbrush. I'd think that some cheap $15 Chinese piece of poo poo might do more harm than good. I'm sure many cheap airbrushes are worse than the plague, but the one I got along with the ebay compressor was pretty good. I got a hold of an iwata eclipse afterwords, and the only difference I really noticed was spray area. I had a look at the brush included before hand, and it was clearly a knock off of a much more expensive brush - I'd recommend doing the same and trying to get a combo that looks like it has a non-brand version of a better brush, rather than some plastic thing with a leaky rubbish cup and needles like bent tree trunks. It's a gamble, though, and I know some cheap half plastic airbrushes are rubbish through experience. Getting a compressor with a water trap and tank storage is probably just as important.
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Mar 3, 2015 10:04
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Anyone got any tips on painting canopy struts for a beginner? In preparation for this shipbuild I'm going to attempt, I'm doing a few practice runs on cheapo kits to get back in practice. The first one I went for was Airfix's 1:72 Zero starter kit - I've got it assembled and am now on the painting stage, which is mostly going fine but I'm dreading the canopy. Looking around online, people either seem to be freehanding it (which I'm not that confident about as this is my first time painting models in about 12 years and even back then I was never very good) or using special masks (had a look on ebay and these cost almost as much as the whole kit cost me). The canopy for the zero has kind of a tiny greenhouse thing going on, with lots of small panes, so it's kind of a faff. 
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Mar 3, 2015 14:34
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Owlkill posted:Anyone got any tips on painting canopy struts for a beginner? In preparation for this shipbuild I'm going to attempt, I'm doing a few practice runs on cheapo kits to get back in practice. The first one I went for was Airfix's 1:72 Zero starter kit - I've got it assembled and am now on the painting stage, which is mostly going fine but I'm dreading the canopy. Looking around online, people either seem to be freehanding it (which I'm not that confident about as this is my first time painting models in about 12 years and even back then I was never very good) or using special masks (had a look on ebay and these cost almost as much as the whole kit cost me). Are there actually grooves for the struts? If so and you want them black, grey, or brown, there are some Gundam Fine Point pens are used a lot for panel lining on plastic robots. I imagine there is something else people here use.
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Mar 3, 2015 14:47
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Troll Bridgington posted:I used Tamiya 18mm tape for the actual stripes. I found the frog tape laying around in the garage and decided to use it to wrap the rest of the model because it was wider. You're right though, the frog stuff isn't very good. Using a thin coat of Future to seal the tape is a good trick worth knowing.
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Mar 3, 2015 17:57
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Babby's first motorcycle (Yama YZR-M1 for those who know that sorta thing):     Fairings are still being painted, but I have a white basecoat down: 
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Mar 3, 2015 19:37
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Owlkill posted:Anyone got any tips on painting canopy struts for a beginner? In preparation for this shipbuild I'm going to attempt, I'm doing a few practice runs on cheapo kits to get back in practice. The first one I went for was Airfix's 1:72 Zero starter kit - I've got it assembled and am now on the painting stage, which is mostly going fine but I'm dreading the canopy. Looking around online, people either seem to be freehanding it (which I'm not that confident about as this is my first time painting models in about 12 years and even back then I was never very good) or using special masks (had a look on ebay and these cost almost as much as the whole kit cost me). I just freehand it. I've actually painted frames onto canopies moulded as flat bubbles too, but I've been painting warhams for far too long now so it's nothing new to me.
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Mar 3, 2015 19:56
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Owlkill posted:Anyone got any tips on painting canopy struts for a beginner? In preparation for this shipbuild I'm going to attempt, I'm doing a few practice runs on cheapo kits to get back in practice. The first one I went for was Airfix's 1:72 Zero starter kit - I've got it assembled and am now on the painting stage, which is mostly going fine but I'm dreading the canopy. Looking around online, people either seem to be freehanding it (which I'm not that confident about as this is my first time painting models in about 12 years and even back then I was never very good) or using special masks (had a look on ebay and these cost almost as much as the whole kit cost me). In my experience you can free hand it and then use a tooth pick when dry to clean up and mistakes and get good hard lines (This works well on untreated caonpies). The second as you say is to get a mask which is infinatly better. I'm in the UK and managed to find one for £1.60 so not exactly breaking the bank. http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/PK72003
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Mar 3, 2015 20:28
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What do you do with all the miniature tanks and stuff when you're done? Does your house just fill up with tiny airplanes and robots and stuff? I have no real interest in owning small versions of things, just in building them.
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Mar 3, 2015 21:12
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Pile of Kittens posted:What do you do with all the miniature tanks and stuff when you're done? Does your house just fill up with tiny airplanes and robots and stuff? I have no real interest in owning small versions of things, just in building them. I have a small display case in my office for my current favs, but the rest I have in boxes stored away. Sometimes I may swap some around or move older kits out. I agree though, for me most of the fun is in the building and painting. 
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Mar 3, 2015 21:20
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I'm a wargamer, so most of my stuff is in scales that I use for that.
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Mar 3, 2015 21:41
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Pile of Kittens posted:What do you do with all the miniature tanks and stuff when you're done? Does your house just fill up with tiny airplanes and robots and stuff? I have no real interest in owning small versions of things, just in building them. Yes. Also work. I've made a few pieces as gifts, but most of my stuff just sits on a shelf
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Mar 3, 2015 21:45
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I scrap and re-start my train layout almost every year because my skills get better and I become embarrassed.
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Mar 3, 2015 22:04
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Owlkill posted:Anyone got any tips on painting canopy struts for a beginner? In preparation for this shipbuild I'm going to attempt, I'm doing a few practice runs on cheapo kits to get back in practice. The first one I went for was Airfix's 1:72 Zero starter kit - I've got it assembled and am now on the painting stage, which is mostly going fine but I'm dreading the canopy. Looking around online, people either seem to be freehanding it (which I'm not that confident about as this is my first time painting models in about 12 years and even back then I was never very good) or using special masks (had a look on ebay and these cost almost as much as the whole kit cost me). If you're not confident enough to freehand it, get some tamiya (or other modeling brand) masking tape. You can make your own mask even at 1:72. Stick the tape on and rub it on hard to ensure you get the indents- even if you can't see them, they're good so long as you can feel them with the very tip of you hobby knife. After you have all of a frame covered, carefully cut it with the tip of your knife, hugging the edges. After you've done that for every single cell, you can just leave the tape on while you spray/handbrush over it. once you've done your final coat, just take the same knife and scrape it off. Just don't assume you can get away with using scotch tape, or you'll be in for gunky hell.
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Mar 3, 2015 22:13
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Owlkill posted:Anyone got any tips on painting canopy struts for a beginner? In preparation for this shipbuild I'm going to attempt, I'm doing a few practice runs on cheapo kits to get back in practice. The first one I went for was Airfix's 1:72 Zero starter kit - I've got it assembled and am now on the painting stage, which is mostly going fine but I'm dreading the canopy. Looking around online, people either seem to be freehanding it (which I'm not that confident about as this is my first time painting models in about 12 years and even back then I was never very good) or using special masks (had a look on ebay and these cost almost as much as the whole kit cost me). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVYRZhRoF_o
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Mar 3, 2015 22:23
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Troll Bridgington posted:Well, I thought I did a decent masking job. That's not a masking fail, some whore's been making out with your Viper.
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Mar 3, 2015 23:27
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Pile of Kittens posted:What do you do with all the miniature tanks and stuff when you're done? Does your house just fill up with tiny airplanes and robots and stuff? I have no real interest in owning small versions of things, just in building them. I know that a lot of ship builders will give them away (or sell them). I'm single and own my large (to me) house, so I plan on just planting them around the house and my office until I get tired of them.
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Mar 4, 2015 00:01
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The Locator posted:I know that a lot of ship builders will give them away (or sell them). Make your next ship one of the big, complex kits, and then donate it to a library/city hall/whatever. Then you'll get your name on a little plaque and all the kids and boat fans that see it will think your awesome.
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Mar 4, 2015 01:35
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SkunkDuster posted:How cheap are you talking here? My only experience is my two Badger 150 airbrushes, so I'm not calling you out with my broad expertise or anything like that, but I'd be leery of buying some plastic $15 Harbor Freight airbrush. I just kind of get the impression that you are saying that any airbrush is better than no airbrush. I'd think that some cheap $15 Chinese piece of poo poo might do more harm than good. Yeah, even a cheap $15 chinese "piece of junk" can serve some use. You won't be mottling and shading with any great skill, but it can be good for laying down primer, or topcoats made of lacquer/enamel that you don't want to put through a more expensive brush. Some people buy cheapies for spraying latex paints on to masks and silicone appliances, as latex will usually kill an airbrush dead if you let that stuff dry inside of it. For first time hobbyists I'd probably recommened spending a bit more than $15, but there's no need to go out and spend hundreds either. I have a nice, and expensive, Harder & Steenbeck for my main work, detail stuff, but I still use an old low-end Paasche I got used for cheap, for laying down big base coats and primer. It's got a cool fan-cap for it too, so I can lay down a 3-inch swath if I need to on big pieces.
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Mar 4, 2015 02:26
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big_g posted:Is that a 1:48 McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle? It looks lovely. What make is it? I've always wanted to try one. F-15 DJ by Hasegawa. It's actually 1:72, and I'm kinda disturbed at just how big jet fighters actually are.  The cockpit is almost the size of a Sherman E: And of course I've stuffed up the painting so far. Didn't thin enough so there's serious brush marks left over. Gonna sand them smooth then re-coat before doing other colours.
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Mar 4, 2015 08:20
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Fighter jets are insanely big. When I was younger we were taken on a tour of the Carl Vinson by a couple of senior pilots, and I got to have a good poke around the flight deck. I'll never forget just how huge the F-14 was - the landing gear was about twice as tall as I was at ~15, and the whole plane felt enormous in a way passenger aircraft just didn't. I'll also probably never forget arguing with one of them about how much better the F-14 was than an F-16.. (still true ) I try and stick to 1:48 scale just to keep this feeling going, here's a BF-109G, F6F-3, and F-111 for comparison (with dude):  Also drat the F6F is a fat bastard. The BF-109G looks petite next to it (mind, it's also pretty small next to a spit or hurricane).
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Mar 4, 2015 10:03
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Pile of Kittens posted:What do you do with all the miniature tanks and stuff when you're done? Does your house just fill up with tiny airplanes and robots and stuff? I have no real interest in owning small versions of things, just in building them. I'm strapped for space, so I mostly give them away to friends and family. It helps that I like to build cars. This also means that I'm mostly building stuff I expect them to like. In fact, the two models I'm building right now have been specifically requested, one is a VW Beetle dressed up as Herbie for MY GIRLFRIEND, the other one is a Hummer H2 for a local bar owner who wants it kitted out as a party model with his logo all over.
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Mar 4, 2015 10:24
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George Zimmer posted:Babby's first motorcycle (Yama YZR-M1 for those who know that sorta thing): Hells yeah. Is that one of the Tamiya kits? I've got one that I started a while back and haven't touched in a while. I think I have 5 or 6 of their bike kits built.
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Mar 4, 2015 14:56
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Hells yeah. Is that one of the Tamiya kits? I've got one that I started a while back and haven't touched in a while. I think I have 5 or 6 of their bike kits built. It is indeed! This is a really high quality kit so far, pefect fit. I'd really like to build the RC166 in the near future.
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Mar 4, 2015 15:57
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Wow, the hundreds of tiny plugs are drilling time well-spent. They really make the decking look real and solid I'd love to have the space for toys like these.
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Mar 5, 2015 01:41
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In 2013 I ordered a deal off of the "All Quiet on the Martian Front" kickstarter. It's only now just finally all come in and in all honesty I got a bit carried away and ordered a bit too much. If any UK Goons want some models to try out then let me know here and I'll happily send you some stuff your way. Here is a platoon of MKIII Steam Tanks I painted up in white wash for an idea of what they are like.    
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Mar 5, 2015 21:46
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So I'm working through my first time airbrushing a model and I have a few questions. 1. I'm spraying Tamiya acrylics in Tamiya thinner. Right now I'm spraying white on a dark gray primer and it takes a lot of coats to cover up the primer. How long should I wait before applying another coat (the Tamiya bottles mention 1 hour)? 2. I've read some mentions of smoothing the surface after painting. What grit sandpaper is used for this? 3. What can I use for matte and semi-gloss clear coats? Does Tamiya sell bottles of this stuff?
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Mar 5, 2015 21:52
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Pile of Kittens posted:What do you do with all the miniature tanks and stuff when you're done? Does your house just fill up with tiny airplanes and robots and stuff? I have no real interest in owning small versions of things, just in building them. Most of my tanks and such are for wargaming, so they get stored at the club for everyone to use. Robot stuff becomes presents to my nephew.
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Mar 5, 2015 22:05
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Casyl posted:So I'm working through my first time airbrushing a model and I have a few questions. 1. Try to use Tamiya light grey primer (87064) instead. I use it for almost all priming now a days. I would still only really expect 2 to 3 coats of Tamiya white to cover though. I would use a 50/50 mix sprayed at about 1 to 1.5 Bar pressure. I would only leave a few minutes in between coats as this should dry fast with it being atomised by the airbrush. 2. I have never done this or ever felt the need to. If you are airbrushing and the mixture is right then the coats will be fine and no extra bite will be needed. 3. For anything gloss I use Pledge Floor Care and for matt coats I use Army Painter Anti Shine. Also Vallejo do decent varnishes, and I've had good results putting a few drop in with the paint mixture whether it be gloss, satin or matt.
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Mar 5, 2015 22:26
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Casyl posted:So I'm working through my first time airbrushing a model and I have a few questions. 1.) Spraying a light color over a dark color generally will take more coats than the reverse, but it's largely dependent on the paint itself. Some brands just coat better than others. Waiting an hour seems a bit excessive, for acrylics at least. I don't spray Tamiya myself, but the paints I use are generally dry to the touch in a few minutes. As I'm typing this though, I just recalled that Tamiya "Acrylics" are not actually true acrylics in some regions. In some places their acrylics are closer to a lacquer, and may actually need a longer drying time. 2.) You can certainly smooth the surface between coats if you want or need to, but it's only generally done when you want the model to have an ultra-smooth finish. Something like a tank doesn't need that, but it could help on a airplane you want to have a flawless surface that you'll spraying some Alclad aluminum onto for a bare-metal look. Generally you start with at least a 300 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and go up from there in successively finer grits. You can go all the way up into thousands in grit fineness, but going that high is generally when you want a mirror finish in the end. You can generally find this type of sandpaper at autobody shops. You can also get some Novus polish if you ever want to polish canopies or other clear parts that have become scratched. 3.) Most hobby paint manufacturers do sell matte/satin/gloss finishes, but if you want more bang for you're buck, you can go to an art-supplies store and buy a huge bottle of the stuff for almost the same price you'd spend on the tiny bottle of hobby grade finish. Something from Golden or Liquitex would work for you. You'd probably have to thin them a little, but that just stretches your buck even farther. Golden also make a bunch of really cool finishing mediums in different viscosities, for doing different effects. If you want to make water ripples or even big choppy waves, they have clear mediums ranging from stuff you can pour all the way up to stuff that's like thick frosting and holds peaks. You can also get Future Floor Polish, which works as a decent, very cheap gloss medium. They may have changed names though, so maybe someone else could chime in on that.
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Mar 5, 2015 22:28
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:They may have changed names though, so maybe someone else could chime in on that. I recently bought my first bottle of the stuff from Ace Hardware. This is the 2015 label, apparently. 
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Mar 5, 2015 23:44
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Got the windows in my building finally. I'm glad my first set broke because it let me go back and do this double-layer system with the white frames around the black windows. 
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Mar 6, 2015 07:18
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