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SyHopeful posted:What's a good basic workflow that you folks use? My work flow is very different on different models, but I can give you some tips on things I have learned the hard way at least. Since I don't know your experience level maybe some of this is really basic, but here goes. Test the fit of the major parts by just taping the kit together. If it doesn't fit, make sure you find the exact spot where the parts don't fit. I have accidentally removed tons of material in one spot just to realize that it was actually a bit of flash somewhere else that was in the way. Use masking tape when filling. At least Tamiya's white putty wants to go all over the place, when I really just need a tiny bit right on the seam. Wet sand. It's less dusty and seems to make sanding paper last a bit longer. And don't use too rough paper, be patient and work that fine paper for longer if necessary. Use extra thin glue. It goes into the seams like magic and has some other uses too, like leveling out sharp details or sanding/cutting mistakes. Don't hold the model together with tape when using it though, it will get sucked up underneath the tape and destroy the surface. Be careful with canopies also, It will cloud the clear plastic if you drop on too much. The smaller the model, the lighter the shade of paint. Colors seem darker on smaller objects so the "correct" color for a certain aircraft may be too dark on a small model. If your are brush painting, make sure you thin the paint properly. Multiple thin coats will look amazingly much better than one really thick and goopy layer. If you are airbrushing, make sure you thin the paint properly. Some say certain paints can be used straight from the bottle. This may be true in some cases but most often is not. Don't rush to finish. When the model starts to look good I always tend to rush the last parts when I really should stop, take a step back and do the finishing touches with patience. Get an airbrush. Even cheap ones can do amazing things with a bit of practice. Especially when you combine it with masking techniques.
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Nov 15, 2016 22:42
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SyHopeful posted:What's a good basic workflow that you folks use? Step 1 - Buy a chunk of wood. Step 2 - Invest a ridiculous amount of money in tools. 
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Nov 16, 2016 02:22
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PirateDentist posted:Have tiny vandals mid-act rappelling from the roof. A tiny spray paint can in hand. Maybe they're vandals who are really good at planning, and they stole a cherry picker, and some safety vests and cones to mark out the area. ANARCHY, and safety, in the UK.
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Nov 16, 2016 04:52
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:Maybe they're vandals who are really good at planning, and they stole a cherry picker, and some safety vests and cones to mark out the area. If you think about it, no one would really question a crew like that rolling up to a building. It's the advanced version of confidently walking around with a clipboard and hard hat.
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Nov 16, 2016 05:01
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PirateDentist posted:If you think about it, no one would really question a crew like that rolling up to a building. It's the advanced version of confidently walking around with a clipboard and hard hat.
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Nov 16, 2016 12:53
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makka-setan posted:My work flow is very different on different models, but I can give you some tips on things I have learned the hard way at least. Since I don't know your experience level maybe some of this is really basic, but here goes. Thanks! I've been slowly rebuilding my tools over the last few weeks, including some of the recommendations here. I also just picked up a Paasche that is in great shape. I'm going to start with this kit that I've had for a while. I bought it because I used to fly on Alaska's 727s back when they still operated them, so I have a soft spot for them. Also, the kit isn't of a very high quality, so I don't mind sacrificing it to the learning gods. I'm going to follow your taping route to get an idea of where to start. This model has clear plastic strips for the windows that get installed from inside the fuselage. This means I'll have to mask them for painting after gluing the fuselage together - is this a good application for liquid mask?
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Nov 16, 2016 17:49
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SyHopeful posted:This model has clear plastic strips for the windows that get installed from inside the fuselage. This means I'll have to mask them for painting after gluing the fuselage together - is this a good application for liquid mask? Are you going to paint it like on the box? Even if there are decals for the blue/green lines I would paint them on. This gives you a perfect opportunity to paint the fuselage before putting the windows in, and then you can work on the seams with the windows protected by tape. This tape could also be the mask for painting the colored lines. Perfect windows and the lines might even look better than decals. Long thin decals are hard to get perfectly straight anyway. It might not work with the cockpit windows though.
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Nov 16, 2016 19:27
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makka-setan posted:Are you going to paint it like on the box? Even if there are decals for the blue/green lines I would paint them on. This gives you a perfect opportunity to paint the fuselage before putting the windows in, and then you can work on the seams with the windows protected by tape. This tape could also be the mask for painting the colored lines. Perfect windows and the lines might even look better than decals. Long thin decals are hard to get perfectly straight anyway. It might not work with the cockpit windows though. Planning to, the whole reason I got this specific kit was the Alaska livery. Not a bad idea on painting the lines! It does come with decals, but haven't even begun to mentally tackle their application. Why not mask and paint?? So I'd like to mask/prep/paint the fuselage as a whole instead of two halves. How would I accomplish that without gluing the pieces together or using external clamps that would get in the way? Or would I suck it up and paint it in portions, using external clamps? The cockpit windows will be a challenge, since they are one-piece that includes part of the fuselage, but molded in clear plastic. So in addition to painting the white plastic fuselage, I'll have to color match the clear plastic cockpit while masking off the windows and window trim.
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Nov 17, 2016 01:16
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This kit is a real piece of poo poo, so I figured I'll make it look the part. Still to come: an enormous amount of mud to conceal the worst vinyl tracks I've ever seen.
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Nov 17, 2016 03:59
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Looking good so far, man. I've always felt a high-quality modeler can make a crap-kit look good, and you're certainly pulling that off here. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
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Nov 17, 2016 04:51
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SyHopeful posted:So I'd like to mask/prep/paint the fuselage as a whole instead of two halves. How would I accomplish that without gluing the pieces together or using external clamps that would get in the way? Or would I suck it up and paint it in portions, using external clamps? Not sure if I understand what you mean. Why would you want to paint the fuselage as a whole but not gluing it together. I can't see any advantage over working with the individual halves separately, gluing it and then fix the seam line.
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Nov 17, 2016 08:07
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makka-setan posted:Not sure if I understand what you mean. Why would you want to paint the fuselage as a whole but not gluing it together. I can't see any advantage over working with the individual halves separately, gluing it and then fix the seam line. Yeah I didn't word that very clearly. It's a workflow issue - when I get home I'll try to take pics. I did start fitting and gluing some of the minor components together! The Tamiya extra thin cement I got is loving brilliant. I used to use that goopy Testors crap. This is so much better.
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Nov 17, 2016 17:39
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So I'm really excited to try this "blue stuff". It looks really easy to deal with and is reusable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVZLXLaidjQ I've done mold making in the past, it's expensive and messy and uses terrible chemicals you don't want on your hands, then pouring liquid resin is a pain too and you have to deal with bubbles and poo poo. This guy's methods look so simple and easy. Has anyone worked with either the blue stuff or the 2-part putty? Also this guy has a tutorial on doing your own photo-etching, you almost need a dark-room and some nasty chemicals but it's totally something you could do at home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NntLi4KcLlI Good youtube channel in general, worth "czeching" out.
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Nov 17, 2016 22:09
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Baronjutter posted:So I'm really excited to try this "blue stuff". It looks really easy to deal with and is reusable. Me too! I need to duplicate a wheel on my Tamiya Jeep but I'm not sure how well it will work on rubber parts. It's not very expensive so I'll probably get some to try out eventually. Also Plasmo is very talented and tenacious, I can't imagine how much time he spends off-camera to prepare these videos. SyHopeful posted:Yeah I didn't word that very clearly. It's a workflow issue - when I get home I'll try to take pics. Yeah, pictures would be great 
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Nov 17, 2016 22:14
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Baronjutter posted:So I'm really excited to try this "blue stuff". It looks really easy to deal with and is reusable. Wow thats great. I almost never need to use a mold more than a few times so this seems perfect and it would be nice not having to go through all the bullshit of the smooth on mold stuff. I use Aves Apoxie sculpt which is a two part epoxy for all of my custom action figures are the stuff is amazing. It sculpts like clay and air dries hard enough that you can drill it and sand it but its not flexible. If I need something to be flexible I use a two part called Procreate which is really similar to green stuff but is easier to work with. I ordered some Oyumaru/Blue stuff from ebay. I'll let you know how it goes. TouchToneDialing fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Nov 18, 2016 |
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Nov 18, 2016 16:27
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TouchToneDialing posted:Wow thats great. I almost never need to use a mold more than a few times so this seems perfect and it would be nice not having to go through all the bullshit of the smooth on mold stuff. The same people who make the bluestuff make Milliputty which seems to be similar to what you describe, 2-part epoxy that dries hard like clay and is sandable and such. They also make "green stuff" which comes out more plastic-like and slightly flexible. Does anyone know a casting material that comes out crystal clear? What I'm wanting to do is 3d-print some N-scale vehicles, and fill the car body with some sort of plastic prism. I've seen some nice commercial N scale vehicles that do this for the glazing and the prism effect at such a tiny scale gives the illusion of some sort of interior. The big problem with any 3d-printed or cast vehicles is always the glazing though. Some people use Kristal Klear for the smaller side windows and some very perfectly cut glazing for the windshield, but it's hard to get good results.
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Nov 18, 2016 16:35
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If you have a Michaels near you, they carry a few brands of clear casting resins that should suit your needs, like EasyCast Clear Casting Epoxy, or Castin' Craft Clear Polyester Resin. I used the Easy Cast to do the water on my AT-ST dio. If you want to step up in quality, you could go with a Smooth-On product like Crystal Clear. Definitely pricier and harder to find, but they're top quality. If used some of their products in the past, and they've always worked great.
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Nov 18, 2016 16:52
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Baronjutter posted:The same people who make the bluestuff make Milliputty which seems to be similar to what you describe, 2-part epoxy that dries hard like clay and is sandable and such. They also make "green stuff" which comes out more plastic-like and slightly flexible. Yeah Milliput is very similar. They are each a bit different to work with though so it comes down to personal preference but both are very good. Clear casting is a huge pain in the rear end if you don't have a pressure pot to deal with bubbles inside the cast. I had a really hard time getting even mediocre results when I tried it.
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Nov 18, 2016 17:26
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I picked up some 3/8" steel bearings to use as paint agitators in larger (4+ ounce) bottles of paint and primer. They work great in the plastic Alclad primer bottles, but I found out the hard way not to use them in the glass bottles. A brand new bottle of white primer down the drain (and that was my only bottle of white  )
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Nov 20, 2016 21:38
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SkunkDuster posted:Paintpocalypse. Well, poo poo. And I thought I was having a bad day painting the ordinance of the A-10 the wrong color.
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Nov 20, 2016 22:50
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SkunkDuster posted:I picked up some 3/8" steel bearings to use as paint agitators in larger (4+ ounce) bottles of paint and primer. They work great in the plastic Alclad primer bottles, but I found out the hard way not to use them in the glass bottles. A brand new bottle of white primer down the drain (and that was my only bottle of white I see you're going for a Pollock camo.
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Nov 21, 2016 20:55
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SkunkDuster posted:I picked up some 3/8" steel bearings to use as paint agitators in larger (4+ ounce) bottles of paint and primer. They work great in the plastic Alclad primer bottles, but I found out the hard way not to use them in the glass bottles. A brand new bottle of white primer down the drain (and that was my only bottle of white Well if you ever decide to paint your floor, that one area is ready to go.
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Nov 22, 2016 03:29
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Just tried some Gravity Colors paint over the weekend and it's extremely good stuff. Highly recommended for my fellow auto modellers out there.
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Nov 22, 2016 19:21
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Is there a particularly recommended white lacquer or spray? I got a Ghostbusters kit as my first non-robot kit (and was surprised by how much needs painting), plus a gunnedman with a similar shade of white.
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Nov 22, 2016 20:00
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I can safely say that testor's gloss white is poo poo.
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Nov 22, 2016 20:02
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Baronjutter posted:I can safely say that testor's gloss white is poo poo. Hear him, friends, hear him Is that the model master stuff? The acrylic stuff?
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Nov 22, 2016 23:01
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Neurolimal posted:Is there a particularly recommended white lacquer or spray? I got a Ghostbusters kit as my first non-robot kit (and was surprised by how much needs painting), plus a gunnedman with a similar shade of white. Tamiya white primer if you don't need it to be glossy. If you do need glossy, then Tamiya Pure White works well.
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Nov 22, 2016 23:50
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Neurolimal posted:Is there a particularly recommended white lacquer or spray? I got a Ghostbusters kit as my first non-robot kit (and was surprised by how much needs painting), plus a gunnedman with a similar shade of white. Mr. Color's gloss white is really great if you can get a hold of it. You need to spray if through an airbrush though and, as it really is a lacquer, you need a spray booth or some such.
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Nov 23, 2016 14:23
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Yeah I have an airbrush, and by the time I get ahold of it a lacquer-safe paint booth, thanks for the recommendations!
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Nov 23, 2016 14:44
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George Zimmer posted:Just tried some Gravity Colors paint over the weekend and it's extremely good stuff. Highly recommended for my fellow auto modellers out there. Checking them out now. Is this stuff airbrush ready or does it need thinned first?
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Nov 23, 2016 14:49
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Checking them out now. Is this stuff airbrush ready or does it need thinned first? Airbrush ready! It takes a few coats for the color to build up, but the finish is ultra smooth.
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Nov 23, 2016 15:52
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Speaking of, some testors experience that might help others: the Model Masters line is supposedly "airbrush-ready", but that has only been like, 50% true for me. It seems to separate into brushable fluid at the top, and airbrush-destroying gunk at the bottom (I did shake and stir to be sure). I had decent luck using the top layer, then when that was gone mixing the gunk with thinner to get some more out of the jar. This hasn't been an issue with MM metallizers and metallics so far: -izers are ready out of the jar, and -ics accept thinning very well (and come out gorgeous, MM Chrome Silver might be the nicest non-lacquer metallic I've seen). (Beyond ease of use, why is "airbrush-ready a selling point anyways? It seems like you're getting less paint in a same size jar than unthinned paint.)
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Nov 23, 2016 18:07
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George Zimmer posted:Airbrush ready! It takes a few coats for the color to build up, but the finish is ultra smooth. Neat. Did you get it straight from them or pick it up locally? I don't see any dealer info on their site. E: gently caress, the airbrush question is on their FAQs page. Durr. Boaz MacPhereson fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Nov 23, 2016 |
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Nov 23, 2016 18:11
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Neat. Did you get it straight from them or pick it up locally? I don't see any dealer info on their site. Straight from them, ships from Florida.
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Nov 23, 2016 18:44
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Look what I did section: I picked up a Revell "Micro Wings" Hawker Typhoon in 1:144 a while back but after opening the box I immediately dropped the canopy on the floor and crushed it with my desk chair. Last week I got the inspiration to stretch-form a new one. I glued the old canopy together and sanded the cracks. Then, instead of vacuum forming I just heated some plastic from a piece of packaging and stretched it over the canopy which I had mounted on a stick with some blue tack. The result is a super thin, very clear and not too oversized canopy. Some detail is lost but hey, it's a 1:144 and the kit sucked rear end anyway.  Question section: How do you choose kits to build? I want to shop at local shops but they don't keep store inventory online, and I need to be online to check scalemates and/or kit reviews. Life is too short to struggle with bad kits that needs a lot of filling and sanding, and I absolutely will not do a kit with raised details unless it's a cheap little crap plane in 1:144 (see above).
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Nov 23, 2016 21:55
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I just google kits that catch my eye when I'm out picking up paints and whatnot. Half the fun of IRL shopping is stumbling upon neat things you didnt know to look for.
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Nov 23, 2016 22:42
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I mostly buy exotic old poo poo from collections. The store I go to has a pretty good flow of "second-hand" kits (sometimes even new stuff at severely reduced prices). Scalemates is instrumental since a lot of old kits are awful.
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Nov 23, 2016 22:55
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I tend to have a small list of kits I certainly want to build sometime in the near future, and other than that I'll check Scalemates on my phone to see if a kit is totally awful. Haven't come across many of those thankfully, and even then I might buy a kit and put in the effort to at least clean it up a bit because the subject matter is interesting enough(like the Revell 1/144 F-19) or the kit is small and cheap(The Micro Wings stuff, or the Revell 1/1200 Titanic) and it's something I can build alongside a bigger kit to keep myself a bit busy while paint or glue is drying. My current workspace is a bit too small to work on multiple larger kits at once. I do have one apparently lovely kit with raised details in my stash though, and it's bad enough to have a raised copyright date on the outside of the fuselage. It's The Revell P38 Lightning, in 1/72. I mainly got it because it was cheap, and I need more 1/72 in my life. I've been building too much 1/144 already. Smoke fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Nov 23, 2016 |
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Nov 23, 2016 23:34
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makka-setan posted:Question section: Check scalemates to see if a kit exists for the scale and subject I want. If so, check reviews. Google "trumpeter 0224 build" or whatever to try to find actual build reviews instead of just in-box reviews. Especially with airplanes. Place order online. I don't have a local hobby shop (Hobbytown USA doesn't really count), so it kind of forces my hand to do it that way.
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Nov 24, 2016 01:03
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I primarily build kits to play wargames with my friends, and the number of brands for WW2 tank kits in 1/48 or 1/56 is pretty limited so... But I want to try to build some more detailed 1/35 tanks or even some airplanes next year, if I can get the time for it. I just have about a dozen British tanks to paint up first. I recently subscribed to a bunch of Facebook groups about scale modeling, and it was a nice way to get inspired by cool looking kits. Also, don't underestimate browsing Pinterest. It's not all scrapbooking and interior design, but actually a great way to find cool dioramas and extremely well painted models. lilljonas fucked around with this message at 13:26 on Nov 24, 2016 |
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Nov 24, 2016 13:24
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